How Glycemic Index Influences Your Sugar Level?

The glycemic index or GI is a system that measures food containing carbohydrates and how it can raise your blood glucose level. This is especially vital for diabetic patients, who need to be careful about rising sugar levels. A food with a high GI value increases the level of glucose in the blood compared to a food with a GI that is medium or low. 

You must know that carbohydrates with a low GI value (55 or less) are more slowly digested, absorbed and metabolized and cause a slower rise in blood glucose, these are divided into 3 categories.

Following are the categories: 

• Low = GI value 55 or less
• Medium = GI value of 56 – 69 inclusive
• High = GI 70 or more

Foods with low GI include:

• 100% stone-ground whole wheat or pumpernickel bread
• Oatmeal, oat bran, muesli
• Pasta, converted rice, barley
• Sweet potato, corn, yam, lima/butter beans, peas, legumes and lentils
• Most fruits, non-starchy vegetables and carrots
• Foods with high GI include:
• White bread or bagel
• Corn flakes, puffed rice, bran flakes, instant oatmeal
• Short grain white rice, rice pasta, macaroni and cheese from mix
• Russet potato, pumpkin
• Pretzels, rice cakes, popcorn, saltine crackers
• Melons and pineapple

By keeping a check on the glycemic index, you can manage your overall health very well in many ways. A diet that consists of low glycemic foods will help in:

• Losing weight 
• Keeping your diabetes under control
• Burning more calories
• Insulin resistance
• Reducing your risk for heart disease

Other factors that you should know:

Although glycemic index value tells you about the type of carbohydrate in a food however, it says nothing about the amount of carbohydrates that are consumed. The portion size of your meal is still relevant to manage blood glucose. Typically, the GI of a food is different when consumed alone than when it is combined with other foods. To balance out the effect on blood glucose levels, what you can do is, combine a high GI food with other low GI foods. Balancing the GI with basic nutrition principles is very important.
 
So, the type of carbohydrate and the count play an integral role in keeping your sugar level under check.