The
glycemic index
The
glycemic index is an attempt to classify foods by the extent to which they raise
the blood sugar. In fact different foods with the same caloric value can cause
markedly different elevations in the blood sugar causing an increase of insulin
blood level. It has been defined as the area under the 2-hour blood glucose
response curve for each food expressed as a percent of the area after taking the
same number of calories as glucose. In general complex carbohydrates ,
especially in fiber-rich foods, have low glycemic index. The lowest glycemic
indexes are seen with soybeans and other legumes. Interestingly, some simple
sugars, such as sucrose,
have lower glycemic indexes than some starches, such as potatoes. Beans
and lentils are
much lower on the scale than bread, sweets, and potatoes, but eggs, meat, fish
and fowl are virtually zero. As a matter of fact the suggestion is to use foods
with low glycemic index because foods high on this index, without protein or fat
to buffer their response, are known to cause excessive outpouring of insulin
which in turn raises the triglyceride level.
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