Many of you are following the Low GI (Glycemic Index) diet, which sorts food based on their potential to raise blood glucose. The approach I hear many on this diet use, is very black and white; in other words, if a food has a high GI, it's not to be eaten. Unfortunately, this may be overly restrictive and not entirely reflective of how food acts in the body. The glycemic load of a food is far more important.
Glycemic index for a given food is calculated when a food is eaten all alone, without any other foods. We simply do not eat that way. We eat foods in combinations, and what really matters is how the combinations of foods affect our metabolism.
The glycemic load of a food takes into account the amount of a food consumed as well as the amount of glycemic sugars (net carbs) it contains. Nutritiondata.com has a nice explanation of the concept, and for each food in its database, the glycemic load is provided.
A really good example of the importance of looking at the whole food is to look at the glycemic loads for 4 ounces of fat free ice cream vs. 4 ounces of regular ice cream. Four ounces of fat-free vanilla ice cream, the option many people would think would be best…has a glycemic load of 16, and four ounces of regular vanilla ice cream has a glycemic load of 8. That is because the fat in the regular ice cream helps to slow down the rate at which the sugar in the ice cream is absorbed into the bloodstream.
If you were to assume that because the regular vanilla ice cream was a better choice, however, and overindulge, it would only take a double serving to erase the difference.
Bottom line:
--Variety in food choices is as important to your overall blood glucose as is types of foods
--Too much of any food will eventually affect your blood glucose…there is no such thing as healthy bingeing or low glycemic food comas!
--When you eat a food with a high"glycemic index", eat a small amount in conjunction with foods that make it harder to have an immediate opportunity to raise your blood sugar.
--I have also found that"high glycemic" foods are best tolerated if eaten earlier in the day, so they have a better opportunity to be used in conjunction with your physical activity, rather than late in the day, when you're just not burning as many calories.
Nutritiondata.com recommends that glycemic load for a day be kept below 100. I would add to that, that the more the total can be spread across the day, the better.