From 100%Health:
Forget about simple and complex carbohydrates. The new yardstick in nutrition is the Glycaemic Index of foods. Known as the GI Factor, this is a direct measure of what effects food has on your blood sugar balance. Eating low GI foods keeps your blood sugar stable and is consistent with good energy levels. Eating high GI foods equates with fluctuating energy and moods, weight gain and risk of diabetes and heart disease.
High GI foods are ‘fast-releasing’ in that they raise blood sugar quickly while others are ‘slow-releasing’. The fast-releasing foods are like rocket fuel. They give a quick burst of energy with a rapid burn-out. It is important to choose foods which are low GI and ‘slow-releasing’ as they are much more sustaining, giving a consistent energy level throughout the day. What makes a food slow or fast-releasing depends on many factors. Foods contain different kinds of sugars. Wholegrains, for example, such as wholemeal pasta, rice and breads, are rich in slow-releasing sugars. Most fruits are rich in slow-releasing fructose - fruit sugar. Sweets and sweet foods contain fast-releasing sucrose or glucose which shoot the blood sugar up too quickly giving us that consequent slump.
But how do you know what is fast- or slow-releasing? The very measure of a food’s fast or slow-releasing effect is linked to the degree to which it raises your blood sugar: this can be worked out on a scale called the glycaemic index (or GI for short). It involves measuring how much a food raises your blood glucose levels, and for how long. If a food raises blood sugar level significantly, and for some time, the GI score is high. Conversely if a food hardly raises blood glucose levels at all, and only for a short time, the GI score is low. Glucose, the fastest releasing sugar, is given a value of 100, and other foods are scored in relation to this.
The chart below gives the glycaemic index (GI) score of an average serving of common foods. Check out what you eat for breakfast. If you start your day with raisins and puffed rice cereal, both of which have a high GI score, you’re setting yourself up for a rapid burn-out. On the other hand, kick off with oat flakes, sweetened with a chopped apple, both of which are slow-releasing, and your energy will last for longer.
You'll notice that the best foods for keeping your blood sugar even are lentils and beans. While white rice is high (72), brown basmati rice is much lower (58) and therefore better for you. White wheat bread is high, with a baguette scoring 95, while pasta is lower especially if it's wholewheat (42). Oats are the best cereal, while apples, pears, plums and cherries are the best fruits. While most vegetables have a low GI score potatoes and parsnips are high. These vegetables are best eaten only with a protein source, such as fish, since protein also helps to stabilise your blood sugar level. So, salmon and basmati rice or tofu and wholewheat pasta would be a perfect combination.
Generally, foods with a GI score below 50 are great to include in your diet, while those with a score above 70 should be avoided or mixed with a low-scoring food. Those with a score between 50 and 70 should be eaten infrequently and only with a low scoring food. For example, bananas are quite high, with a score of 62. Oat flakes and skimmed milk are low, with a score of 49 and 32 respectively. Having a bowl of oat flakes with skimmed milk and half a banana for breakfast would help to keep your blood sugar level on an even keel, while eating cornflakes (scoring 80) with raisins (scoring 64) would be bad news.
The Glycaemic Index of Common Foods
Food Score
Sugars
Glucose 100
Maltose 100
Honey 87
Sucrose (sugar) 59
Fructose (fruit sugar) 20
Fruit
Watermelon 72
Pineapple 66
Melon 65
Raisins 64
Banana 62
Kiwi fruit 52
Grapes 46
Orange 40
Apple 39
Plum 39
Pear 38
Grapefruit 25
Cherries 25
Grains & Grain Products
French baguette 95
White rice 72
Bagel 72
White bread 70
Wholemeal bread 69
Ryvita 69
Crumpet 69
Brown rice 66
Pastry 59
Basmati rice 58
White spaghetti 50
Instant noodles 46
Wholegrain wheat bread 46
Wholemeal spaghetti 42
Wholegrain rye bread 41
Barley 26
Cereals
Cornflakes 80
Puffed rice 73
Weetabix 69
Shredded wheat 67
Muesli 66
Kelloggs Special K 54
Kelloggs All-Bran 52
Porridge oats 49
Pulses
Baked beans 48
Butter beans 36
Chick peas 36
Blackeye beans 33
Haricot beans 31
Kidney beans 29
Lentils 29
Soya beans 15
Dairy Products/Substitutes
Ice cream 50
Yoghurt 36
Whole milk 34
Skimmed milk 32
Vegetables
Parsnips (cooked) 97
Potato (baked) 85
French fries 75
Potato (new) 70
Beetroot (cooked) 64
Sweetcorn 59
Sweet potato 54
Peas 51
Carrot 49
Peanuts 14
