Glycemic Index Myth Unveiled

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The GI was originally meant to help diabetics know that if they ate more high GI foods, they were most likely going to need more insulin because they would have a quicker and higher blood sugar response. The thought was that if they focused on lower GI foods, they could manage their diabetes better by always maintaining lower and more stable blood sugar levels. This concept has also crossed over into the fitness industry with many diets promoting that you focus on lower GI foods in order to lose body fat. Take note that the one time of day that you can benefit from eating high GI foods would be immediately after a workout to promote an insulin release and replenish your muscle glycogen stores that were depleted during the intense workout.

While the GI is basically a good thing to understand if you want to lose body fat, there are problems with it and reasons why it can be misleading. First, the GI of food is measured using a set dose where the quantity of each individual food must be the same. Therefore, while a certain food like cooked carrots may have a high GI, you’d have to an unrealistically large quantity of carrots to get enough carbohydrates to cause a significant blood sugar response. This is one reason I contend that the GI is not that important if the quantity of the carbohydrates are relatively low. It’s just not logical to think that something as healthy as carrots or bananas, which provide many important nutrients for the body, are going to stifle your weight loss efforts, unless of course, you overdo the quantity.

Also, another reason I contend that the GI of individual foods should not be relied on too heavily is because how you combine your foods into a meal controls what type of blood sugar response you get from the meal. For example, if you combine a higher GI food such as a banana into a meal with portions of protein and healthy fats and/or an additional fibrous food, you’re not going to get as quick of a blood sugar response as if you ate the banana alone.

Also, you can generally assume that the more fiber a product contains, the slower your blood sugar response to that food. You generally want to look for products that contain at least 1.5-2 grams or more of fiber per each 10 grams of total carbohydrates. So, if a carbohydrate source contains 30 grams of total carbohydrates, it would be best if that carb source had at least 4-5 grams of fiber. Whole unrefined grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans are the best sources of carbohydrates to maintain a healthy diet.

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Glycemic Index(GI) And Bodys Response

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Insulin today is considered as a demon and has gotten a bad reputation since high levels of it within the body tend to promote fat storage and make it harder to use body fat for energy. However, insulin is also a very anabolic hormone that can help shuttle nutrients into your muscle cells and promote muscle recovery. When you eat carbohydrates, they are broken down in your system and raise your blood sugar. 

Your pancreas secretes insulin to remove the excess sugar from your blood and deposit it into fat stores  muscle glycogen stores, or liver glycogen stores. If your muscle and liver glycogen stores are already full, the excess blood sugar will be stored as fat. If your muscle glycogen stores are depleted such as after an intense workout, insulin secreted in response to a high carbohydrate meal will push the excess blood sugar and other nutrients into your muscle cells. This is one time when insulin is very good and helps promote muscle protein synthesis (recovery). The degree to which ingested carbs will raise your blood sugar depends on the quantity of carbs you ate and how fast they are digested. Factors such as the quantity of fiber the carbs contained, along with how much protein and fat you ate in combination with the carbs all affect how quickly the carbs are digested.

Generally speaking, the more unrefined and fibrous the carbohydrate source, and the more protein and fat eaten with the meal, the slower the carbohydrate will be digested, and the lower and more steady the blood sugar and insulin response. Slow and steady carbohydrate sources are ideal because they give you steady energy levels, reduce cravings, and allow your body to utilize fat for energy in addition. More heavily refined starches and sugars where the fiber has been removed will be digested much more quickly and cause a higher blood sugar spike and subsequent crash after insulin has done its job. People who eat a lot of refined processed carbohydrates typically go through these cycles of blood sugar spikes and crashes, which causes them to crave more carbohydrates and leads to body fat gain. 

A little known fact is that carbs are not the only food substrate that can promote an insulin response. Large doses of certain free form amino acids and quickly digested proteins such as whey protein also can trigger an insulin response.

One of the methods that was devised originally to help diabetics manage their blood sugar properly was the glycemic index (GI) of foods. The GI basically categorizes foods (generally carbohydrate sources) into low, moderate, or high on the GI scale.

 Basically, foods that raise your blood sugar quickly will have a higher GI and foods that raise your blood sugar slowly and to a lower degree will have a lower GI. 

Examples of foods with high GI’s are white rice, white bread, white potatoes, corn flakes, crispy rice cereals, sugars (except fructose), ice cream, bananas, cooked carrots, candy, and any other refined carbohydrates where the fiber has been removed.

Examples of foods with lower GI’s are most dairy products, most fruits and vegetables, whole unrefined grains, sweet potatoes, barley, beans, and most other higher fiber carbohydrate sources. 

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