For decades, doctors advised their diabetic patientsto stop eating carbohydrates. It was thought that all carbohydrates had the same effect on glycemia, ie blood sugar levels, leading to recommendations for sugar-free diets.
However, in 1981, US scientists found that not all carbohydrates had the same impact on glycemia. Foods were subsequently ranked according to their particular effect on raising blood sugar levels.
This is the glycaemic index (GI): quite simply, the more a food elevates blood sugar levels, the higher its glycaemic index (1).
In this way, the researchers established that glucose, sucrose, fructose, starch, etc. (so the various carbohydrates) had a different glycaemic index.
According to this ranking:
In an effort to refine this approach, doctors more recently developed a new measure: the glycaemic load (2).
In fact, the glycaemic index only calculates the impact on blood sugar of 50g of carbohydrates. It does not take into account:
As a consequence, carrots, which contain fibre and are only 10% carbohydrate, emerged as having a GI of more than 90! However, to reach this score, the participants in the original study had to eat ... 500g of cooked carrots.
That’s why now, the recommendation is to concentrate on the glycaemic load. Using this measure, cooked carrots score just 6 for glycaemic load.
Though doctors were initially interested in the concept of a glycaemic index and glycaemic load in relation to treating their diabetic patients and developing suitable diets for them, recent research has shown that glycemia is also a factor in obesity, sleep problems and mood disorders (3-5).
Eating high GI foods produces a spike in blood sugar levels, which the insulin secreted by the pancreas may be unable to completely absorb.
In short, spikes in blood sugar have a considerable negative impact on our general health, and so we should all try to avoid eating too many high GI foods.
Here are some tips for eating a low carbohydrate, and thus low GI diet.
Below is a short list of low GI fruits, though first, it’s worth remembering a few key points:
Low GI fruits include:
Basically, fresh fruits with higher acidity have the lowest glycaemic index.
Conversely, grapes, watermelon and melon have medium or even high GIs.
Similar rules apply to other foods:
Foods to include in a low GI diet:
There are also some highly-effective natural remedies that can help control your blood sugar levels:
Characterised by chronic hyperglycemia, most cases of diabetes in the West are linked to lifestyle choices. The good news is that certain dietary supplements can help regulate blood glucose levels.
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