Page 58 - The Skinny On Your Diet Plan

For instance, high glycemic foods include sugar, candy, breakfast

cereal and bagels. Lower glycemic foods include legumes, whole grains, and

vegetables. When blood glucose goes up quickly, insulin usually responds
quickly. The amount of insulin released usually matches the amount of

glucose present. This has led some people to suggest that a low-GI diet is a
healthy one. While an interesting measure of the physiological response to

carbohydrate in the diet, the GI doesn’t tell the whole story. First, we don’t
eat most foods by themselves. (When was the last time you ate a plain slice

of bread as a meal?) Since protein, fat, and fiber all change GI, eating food

as part of a meal will change the GI. Then there’s what’s called the
Glycemic Load (GL).

Researchers often use the glycemic load as another, more realistic

measure. The glycemic load of a food is based on the glycemic index

multiplied by the serving size of the food. While this gives a better picture
of how fast or significantly blood sugar may go up after a meal, GL still has

some of the same problems as GI. And it too doesn’t take into account the
other elements the food may have to offer (fiber, water, phytochemicals,

macronutrients, etc.). While GI and glycemic load are somewhat useful in
determining overall glucose load, they aren’t the best predictors of insulin

response to a meal, which is the measure most closely correlated with

health.

Another index, the insulin index (II), measures the amount of insulin
the body produces in response to a particular food. Interestingly, the II does

not always match the GI. You may be surprised to know, in fact, that high-
protein and high-fat foods can stimulate greater insulin responses than you’d

expect, while some high-GI foods produce surprisingly low insulin

responses.

Niction Nutrition Fitness Academy LLC 57
NictionFitnessAcademy.com