Glycemic Index
Let food be your medicine.. Hippocrates
The Glycemic Index or GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood
sugar levels
Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and release glucose
rapidly into the bloodstream have a high GI; carbohydrates that break down more
slowly, releasing glucose more gradually into the bloodstream, have a low GI
The current validated methods use glucose as the reference food, giving it a
glycemic index value of 100 by definition. Foods with GI above 65 can be
considered high GI foods.
Glycemic Index of Some Common Foods:
White bread 70
Corn Flakes 83
Coca Cola (USA) 63
White Rice 58
Almonds, raw 10
Walnuts, raw 10
Peanuts 14
Baked Potato 85
Apple 36
Peach 28
Peach (canned) 58
Avocado 12
Broccoli 15
Cauliflower 15
Cherries 22
Natural, unprocessed foods usually have low glycemic indices.
Processing foods almost always increases their GI.
Mixing carbohydrates with fats and proteins reduces the overall glycemic index
of a meal
Boiled white rice has 0.2% fat and a GI of 58; a meal of white rice, grilled
salmon, salad with olive oil dressing has a GI of 18
Healthy oils and protein are a vital component of low glycemic index meals
Many modern diets are based on low-glycemic foods
and healthy oils such as the South Beach Diet.
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Consuming low glycemic meals is the easiest way to minimize the risk of obesity,
diabetes, heart disease, stroke and macular degeneration.