WHAT DOES THE GLYCEMIC INDEX MEAN?

by | May 14, 2021 | Nutrition |

When we refer to the glycemic index (GI) it is a numeric score attached to a food based on how it makes your blood sugar rise. The scale is based on a 0 to 100 reading with pure glucose or sugar given a value of 100. It’s ideal to have a lower glycemic index which means that the slower blood sugar rises after eating that food, the better. The more processed a food is, the higher the GI. Conversely, the more fiber or fat in a food, the lower its GI.

Although the glycemic index of a food is important to know, it’s important to know how high your blood sugar could go when you actually eat the food. To truly understand a food’s complete effect on blood sugar, it’s important to know how quickly the food makes glucose enter the bloodstream and how much glucose per serving it delivers. This is referred to as the glycemic load.

Here is the Glycemic Index and Carbohydrate count for some common foods:

  1. White potato (medium)-34 g of carbs, GI range-56-111
  2. Sweet potato (medium)-24 g of carbs, GI range-44-78
  3. White bread (1 slice)-14 g of carbs, GI range-64-83
  4. Whole wheat bread (1 slice)-12 g of carbs, GI range-52-87
  5. Apple (medium)-15 g of carbs, GI range-28-44
  6. Banana (medium)-27 g of carbs, GI range-46-70