Living with diabetes can be mentally hard to deal with for some people. However, it need not be something to fear. Diabetes, although chronic, can be effectively managed with little tweaks in our lifestyle and diet. But how do we know exactly what we should eat to manage our diabetes? Some might say cut out sugar entirely, others cut out carbohydrates entirely, some might even subject you to bland food all your life now that you’re diabetic. However, many diabetics have gone on to live happy and healthy lives without compromising on the taste of their foods.
Substituting your favourite foods with simple healthy swaps can help you manage your blood sugar as well as help your taste buds adapt to a palette that will benefit you in the long run. Doctors recommend diabetics should include foods that have a low glycemic index. Having a glycemic index chart in place can help you choose what foods to include and what to limit in or eat in limited portions in your diabetic diet. Understanding the glycemic index of foods helps you assess how much each food affects your blood sugar levels. Once you have that knowledge, it is easier to plan your meal accordingly.
The glycemic index not only helps you be aware of what you are putting in your body but also helps in maintaining your weight loss journey and keeping your cholesterol in check. So let us take a detailed look into what glycemic index is, how it affects our diet and how it helps us control our sugar levels?
WRITTEN BY
Dr. Nikita Toshi
BDS, Assistant Manager (Medical Review)
REVIEWED BY
Dr. Ritu Budania
MBBS, MD (Pharmacology) Head, Medical Affairs
REVIEWED BY
Dt. Ami Shah
PG Clinical Nutrition (Cardiac & Diabetes), Registered Dietitian and Diabetic Educator
Glycemic Index Meaning
What you need to know
The Glycemic Index is a rating tool or a measuring system that gives you an idea about how much a particular food can increase your blood sugar levels. It is used to promote healthy eating habits and help diabetic patients increase awareness of what to eat in order to keep their weight, cholesterol and blood sugar levels under control.
The glycemic index of a food is determined based on various factors such as nutritive composition, ripeness of the food, how processed it is, sugar content and its cooking time and method. Foods are generally rated from 0 – 100 and are called low, medium or high glycemic food based on their ratings.
The three glycemic index ratings are:
- Low glycemic foods – 55 or below
- Medium glycemic foods – 56 – 69
- High glycemic foods – 70 or above
For better understanding, the lower the glycemic rating, the longer the food takes to digest, bringing a slower rise in your blood sugar levels.
Foods with a high glycemic index are usually digested quickly which makes you hungry sooner. If you eat more high glycemic foods, you will end up eating more unhealthy foods which would result in weight gain and high blood sugar levels.
Glycemic index vs Glycemic Load?
While the Glycemic index is used to determine how much a particular food increases your blood sugar levels, it does not reflect on the quantity of the food. For this purpose, researchers came up with the idea of a Glycemic load.
A Glycemic Load shows the number of calories you will be consuming, in a serving of that particular food. This helps you determine how much to eat in a serving in order to maintain your blood sugars.
According to Sydney University’s table of GL values, the three glycemic load ratings are:
- 10 or lower – Low Glycemic load
- 11 – 19 – Medium Glycemic load
- 20 or higher – High Glycemic load
In a Nutshell
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- A Glycemic index is a rating tool or a measuring system that gives you an idea about how much a particular food can increase your blood sugar levels. So you know what to eat in order to keep your blood sugar levels in check.
- The lower the glycemic rating, the longer the food takes to digest, bringing a slower rise in your blood sugar levels.
- A Glycemic Load shows the number of calories you will be consuming in a serving of that particular food. This helps you determine how much to eat in a serving in order to maintain your blood sugars.
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Glycemic Index and Diabetes
Benefits of Low GI Foods For Diabetes
One of the most crucial ways to control diabetes is by monitoring your blood sugar levels. Only if you are mindful of what you eat and how much of it you eat, will you be able to control and maintain your weight, blood sugar levels and a number of other health complications that arise with diabetes. And ultimately, the only way to be mindful of your meals is by calculating the Glycemic index and load of each meal.
What happens when you eat foods with Low GI?
Foods with a low glycemic index often keep you full for a longer period of time since they take a longer time to digest. These foods are high in fibre and protein while high GI foods consist of hidden sugars and refined carbohydrates. Therefore, it is advisable for diabetic patients or any person who’s trying to maintain their weight, to swap high GI food for low GI food.
Some benefits of swapping high GI foods for low GI foods are:
Improved blood sugar regulation
Recent studies have suggested that a low GI diet plan has improved blood sugar levels in diabetic patients and has also helped them understand the process of carbohydrate counting. Keeping your blood sugar levels under control is absolutely crucial for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes since uncontrolled levels give rise to many health concerns like kidney and nerve damage, loss of eyesight, hearing impairment and cardiovascular diseases.
Speeds up weight loss
The idea of the Glycemic index is to help people control their blood sugar levels. And when blood sugar is controlled by eating low GI foods, weight is bound to drop. As mentioned earlier, low GI foods tend to take longer to digest, which means you feel fuller for longer and can refrain from binge eating. A low GI diet plan can be useful for a diabetic person but it is not certain that it is better than other low-carb or low-fat diets followed by healthy individuals.
Decreases cholesterol levels
High blood sugar levels directly affect cholesterol levels which are also called Very Low-Density Lipoprotein (VLDL). Generally, High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) is considered good cholesterols and Low-density Lipoprotein are considered bad cholesterols. HDL carries cholesterol to the liver where it is removed appropriately, whereas LDL develops fatty deposits in your blood vessels. Eventually, VLDL can lead to too many fat deposits in the arteries, making it difficult for blood to flow normally. This results in blood clots, heart attacks and or heart disease. Therefore, it is absolutely vital to keep your blood sugar levels under control in order to regulate healthy cholesterol levels and this is ultimately done by following a low glycemic index food chart plan.
Improves Blood Pressure
With uncontrolled blood sugar levels, blood with high glucose travels all over the body damaging vital organs like the kidney and blood vessels. Damage to these vital organs gives rise to high blood pressure thus, increasing the risk of many other health complications. A glycemic index and glycemic load diet is likely to improve blood pressure because it subsequently helps reduce blood sugar levels.
Therefore, it is evident that controlling your blood sugar ultimately controls a variety of other serious ailments that are likely to occur when a person has diabetes. This is where a GI and GL diet comes into handy. If you or anyone you know is at risk of developing type 1 or 2 diabetes, it is highly beneficial to swap to a diabetes diet plan to avoid further complications in the future.
In a Nutshell
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- Paying attention to what you eat helps control and maintain your weight, blood sugar levels and a number of other health complications.
- Keeping your blood sugar levels under control is absolutely crucial for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes since uncontrolled levels give rise to many health concerns like kidney and nerve damage, loss of eyesight, hearing impairment and cardiovascular diseases.
- A glycemic index and glycemic load diet can also improve blood pressure because it subsequently helps reduce blood sugar levels. So understanding the glycemic index becomes your best friend as you fight against blood sugar.
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Low Glycemic Index vs High Glycemic Index
What is the difference and how to identify it in my food?
What are the primary differences between High GI and Low GI?
The primary difference between high and low GI food is their GI rating. The higher the rating, the easier it is to digest and spike up your blood sugar levels. The lower the rating, the longer it takes to break down, resulting in a gradual release of glucose in your bloodstream. It is important to have a steady increase and decrease in blood sugar levels especially if you are diabetic.
A high GI diet will contribute to an uncontrolled, unhealthy and unsteady rise in blood sugar levels, even with proper medication and insulin therapy. A good glycemic index chart will assist you in differentiating good carbs from bad carbs so you can accurately count your calories and keep fit and healthy.
How to identify the GI index in packaged food?
Packaged foods tend to be more processed and rank high in the Glycemic index charts. This is because packaged food contains a lot of hidden sugars and sodium. In order to identify the GI in packages, look out for the following factors in the “Nutrition Facts” food label of the package:
Carbohydrate content – Most of the sugars, sodium, starch is usually hidden under the “Total carbohydrate” content of the package. The higher the carbohydrate content, the higher the glycemic index of the food package.
Fibre content – Fibres are usually included in the carbohydrate count but since the body cannot digest it, it does not contribute to calories and does not increase your blood sugar levels. Fibres include both soluble and insoluble fibres. Therefore, consuming 100-calorie high fibre food will reduce appetite and keep you full for longer.
Fat and Protein content – Fat and protein have very little effect on your blood sugar levels. If the fat and protein content is higher than the carbohydrate content, the food is generally considered low GI. Similarly, consuming a good portion of protein with a high GI food can reduce the over glycemic index of the meal.
Changes in Glycemic Index of Foods
Depending on some factors, a low GI food can turn into a high GI food. This happens in the following cases:
The ripeness of food – Unripe fruits and vegetables contain complex carbs that break down as sugars when it ripens. During the ripening process, the resistant starch content decreases to a large extent. This decrease leads to fruits with a high glycemic index making them unfit for diabetic patients.
The way it is prepared – The longer a particular food is cooked, the quicker its glucose will be digested and absorbed by our bodies. Foods that are digested quickly are usually high GI foods.
Other foods are eaten together – Sometimes, a combination of two foods increases the GI value of the dish. For example, cheese is a low GI food but a simple pizza with parmesan cheese and tomato sauces has a very high GI. Similarly, a pizza with a wheat base, mozzarella cheese and vegetable fixings has a low GI.
Making the dietary switch from High GI to Low GI: 8 Useful Tips & Tricks
Swapping from high GI food to low GI food only needs determination. If you are diabetic or at risk of developing the condition, it is advisable to stick to foods with a low glycemic index for people with diabetes to keep your blood sugar low. To do this you may:
#1 Be mindful of what you eat.
#2 Make a glycemic index food chart or an entry in your journal listing all the low GI foods so you don’t find yourself frantically asking the internet if a particular food is a high or low GI when preparing a meal.
#3 Journal your meals and their GI rating so you can count your calories at the end of the day which will give you the motivation to keep going.
#4 Avoid toast or cornflakes and opt for rolled oats with fruit or Greek yoghurt with muesli.
#5 Ditch the chocolate for dark chocolate.
#6 Include more lean meats, seafood or poultry since they have no glycemic index and can be consumed in a low glycemic index diet.
#7 Satisfy your hunger pangs with vegetables, nuts and low glycemic index fruits which will keep you fuller for much longer and will also aid in weight loss, glowing skin and healthy hair.
#8 Remember that a low GI diet plan does not have to be boring. Research and educate yourself on the many low glycemic index food meals and snacks that will keep your blood sugar low and also taste great.
In a Nutshell
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- A good glycemic index food plan will assist you in differentiating good carbs from bad carbs so you can accurately count your calories and keep fit and healthy.
- Packaged foods tend to be more processed and rank high in the Glycemic index food charts. So it’s always better to avoid such food as much as possible.
- Swapping from high GI food to low GI food only needs determination. A small step will lead to a giant leap for you.
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Glycemic Index Food Chart For Diabetes
What to eat and what to avoid
What happens when you eat food with High GI?
Foods with a high glycemic index digest quicker and cause rapid changes in blood sugars. In order to keep blood sugar levels under control, it is extremely vital to ensure that your blood sugar and insulin levels rise in a steady manner. This is only possible when you follow a low glycemic index diet where the body breaks down glucose from complex carbs slowly and then converts it into energy.
Consuming a high GI diet regularly, especially with diabetes can lead to serious health complications. This is because blood with high glucose levels travels throughout the body and damages important organs in the process. This includes kidney disease, nerve damage, diabetic eye problems like retinopathy, heart diseases, high blood pressure and hearing impairment.
