Fri, Jul-28-06, 11:48
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Senior Member
Posts: 164
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Plan: no sugar, no flour
Stats: 175/146/140
BF:31
Progress: 83%
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Yay for Virgin
As a member of Virgin's wellness program, I can access their "library" of nutitional and awareness articles to promote well-being.
One article, titled "Carbohydrates" is as follows:
Quote:
During the early 1980’s, scientists began to study the effect that different foods, particularly carbohydrates, have on the blood glucose responses of hundreds of people. This is done by giving people real foods to eat, and then measuring blood glucose (blood sugar) levels at frequent intervals. To record the results of the effect different foods have on blood glucose, the term glycemic index (or GI) was created. Glycemic index is simply the ranking of foods from 0 – 100 and indicates whether a food will raise blood glucose levels dramatically, moderately, or just a little.
The response to each different food is compared to our response to glucose. Glucose is absorbed rapidly from the intestine, and causes blood sugar to rise very quickly. It is given a score of 100. Foods with high scores (70 – 100) therefore have a similar effect on our blood sugar levels to that of glucose, i.e. they will cause blood sugar levels to rise rapidly. Foods with a low score (0 – 55) cause a slow, gradual rise in blood glucose levels.
Benefits of Eating Foods a Low Glycemic Index
Carbohydrates that break down and release glucose slowly into the blood stream have a low glycemic index. The slow digestion and gradual rise and fall in blood glucose after a low GI food, helps control blood glucose levels in people with diabetes.
The slow digestion of low GI food also helps control appetite, which can help promote weight loss and can prolong endurance in athletes if eaten appropriately before an event. New research suggests that a diet consisting of predominantly low GI foods may also have beneficial effects on cholesterol levels, keeping triglyceride levels low, while maintaining an acceptable level of HDL (‘good’ cholesterol).
Factors Affecting the Glycemic Index of Foods
The GI of a food represents its ability to raise blood sugar levels. Foods that are broken down (or digested) slowly, will have a low GI, while those that are digested quickly will have a high GI. Various factors affect the speed at which a food is digested:
Fiber: the ‘roughage’ in our diets is resistant to digestion, and high fiber foods (wholegrain breads, cereals, nuts and seeds) are generally digested more slowly, giving them lower GIs.
Soluable Fiber: this is a special kind of fiber found in oats and oat bran, legumes (dried beans and pulses), barley, some fruits (apples, citrus) and vegetables. Soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a gel. This slows the rate at which food is emptied from the stomach into the small intestine for digestion, and therefore lowers the GI of foods considerably.
Protein: Although protein-rich foods (meat, eggs, chicken) do not generally contain carbohydrate, and cannot therefore be given a GI of their own, they do lower the GI of any carbohydrate that is eaten along with it. Protein also slows the rate at which foods are emptied from the stomach, thereby slowing digestion. Remember that we only need small amounts of protein in our diets, and that the protein we do eat is low in fat. You should, however, eat a small amount of protein with each meal.
Processing: Modern processing methods make our food far more digestible: flour is milled until it is a fine powder, and the products that are made from it (such as breads, cereals, crackers etc) are therefore quickly and easily digested. Unfortunately this means that they will also have a high GI. Flour that has been stone-ground or milled to a rougher texture takes longer to digest, producing products with a lower GI. As a rough guideline, foods that are easy to chew and eat (white bread, potatoes, saltines etc) will have a higher GI than foods that are more difficult to chew (muesli, All bran, sweet potato). Foods that are quick to cook (quick rice, 2-minute noodles etc) will also have higher GI values.
Type of Carbohydrate: starchy foods are made up of 2 main types of molecules. One of these molecules consists of long chains of glucose; the other is a branched molecule (it looks like a small tree). These different types of starch have different glycemic responses. This is the reason that ordinary rice has a high GI, whereas Basmati rice has a lower GI. Basmati is made of a different type of starch. Similarly, South African wheat has a high GI, but Durum wheat (grown in Europe) has a lower GI.
Use the glycemic index as another tool to help you on the road to good health, but don’t forget other tried and proven aspects of a healthy diet. A diet consisting primarily of foods with a low glycemic index should also be low in fat (especially saturated fat) and should contain significant amounts of fiber (preferably soluble) which has been proven to lower both blood sugar and blood cholesterol levels.
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http://www.virginactive.co.za/get_h...caemicindex.htm |
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