The Glycemic Index: What's the Big Deal?

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The Glycemic Index: What's the Big Deal?
The Glycemic Index ranks foods on how they affect the blood
glucose levels. It measures the amount of increase in your
blood glucose levels two to three hours after eating.

The Glycemic Index shows how quickly a single food will
turn into blood glucose on a scale of 100. Pure glucose is
given a value of 100.

The Glycemic Index was created with the diabetic in mind.

You see, insulin spikes can be deadly to the diabetic.
This fueled the need to develop a chart showing the insulin
effects of certain foods. Clearly diabetics don't want
large spikes in insulin when preparing meals.

Before 1981, scientists believed that avoiding table sugar
was the goal as it raised the glucose levels quickly.
Current studies show that some foods actually have a higher
blood glucose level than table sugars!

While it's still a good idea to avoid empty sugar calories
there's many other foods that can spike the blood glucose
levels.

Clearly not all foods are the same and they don't have the
same insulin effects on the body. Today it's still favored
to have a diet high in carbs and fibers and to avoid sugars.

Now get this: A baked potato ranks higher on the Glycemic
Index than table sugar at 64! While some pastas rank lower
than a baked potato and even table sugars.

But that's not all...

You can see it's value to a diabetic but using the Glycemic
Index as a primary tool for choosing food can create
problems.

First...

As you know, the Glycemix Index ranks how a single food
breaks down in your body and is convered to blood glucose
after eating. But if you follow the rules of performance
nutrition, you should be eating a 'complete' meal:

* that consists of a lean protein
* a starchy carbohydrate
* and a fibrous carbohydrate

Not a single food by itself.

This changes the Glycemix Index of that meal!

Second...

When you consume proteins with carbohydrates, it can
greatly lower the blood glucose effects of that food. A
baked potato's score 85 on the Glycemic Index when combined
with a protein is much lower.

Third...

There are flaws of the Glycemic Index like:

* Limited data. Only about 5% of the foods are listed in
the Glycemic Index. And there is a very limited number of
researchers that currently do testing.

* The numbers on the Glycemix Index are an average of the
responses of groups of people. This explains the variation
in some charts. The numbers listed are not exact values.

* A wide variation of in the actual Glycemic Index
measurements. For example, a baked Russet potatoes have
been tested with a Glycemic Index as low as 56 and as high
as 111!

* Food preparation methods like microwaving, grinding,
frying, baking, etc. There's even differences in the GI
when boiling pasta for 10 minutes or 15 minutes.

* Food combinations can affect the Glycemic Index of a
listed food. While the Glycemic Index is based on single
foods, we often consume foods in combinations. This can
affect the overall Glycemic Index of that meal. Figuring
out the precise Glycemic Index of foods after being mixed
is less accurate.

* Individual differences in a response to a food on the
Glycemic Index. People simply have different blood glucose
responses. Without monitoring each person's actual blood
glucose levels, results can and often will vary.

* Reliance on the Glycemic Index can lead to over eating.
If you only rely on the Glycemic Index to pick and choose
foods you can end up consuming too many fats and excess
calories.

In any event, the Glycemic Index is useful to people with
certain dietary needs. But it's service to the bodybuilder
is vague. There's no way that refined pasta is better for
you than nature's own potato.

Basing your choices only on the Glycemic Index can lead to
over consumption of high calorie foods. And with the
limited data and varied testing results, your own
reactions to a particular food may vary greatly.

Needless to say...

If you follow the rules of performance nutrition and eat
complete meals your goals will be much better served.

----------------------------------------------------
Marc David is a bodybuilder and author of the, Beginner's
Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding. You can get info on
Marc's e-book at: http://www.Beginning-Bodybuilding.com To
get Marc's free e-zine, visit http://www.justaskmarc.com

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