Glycemic index of products - what is it?

The glycemic index of products is important to regard as an element of the component, but the main choice for food for people with unstable blood sugar. Almost every product contains carbohydrates, which are necessary to saturate the body with energy. They are easy to digest. And the glycemic index of food products indicates the rate of breakdown of carbohydrate compounds by the human body, increasing its blood sugar level. The indicator is abbreviated as GI.

What is the glycemic index of food: scale and units

This parameter is indicated by the acronym GI and is calculated in units on a scale of 100 points. A zero indicator is the absence of carbohydrates at all, 100 points - a rich content of those, numbers from 1 to 99 indicate strong or weak saturation, depending on whether the product is on a scale closer to zero or a hundred. Products with a high glycemic index contain digestible carbohydrates, which, when ingested, are broken down within 2 hours. Energy transfers to the body quickly, food is digested within an hour.

If the product index is high, then there are also a lot of carbohydrates. Fiber is necessarily present in the composition - it slowly splits and gives energy to the body for a long time. A typical menu of products with GI products above 60 units is digested within 8-10 hours.

Frequent consumption of such food leads to the following consequences:

• Metabolism is disturbed.
• A negative effect on the blood structure is formed.
• Blood sugar rises.
• Overweight appears.

Also, a person may notice that a feeling of hunger appears more often than in the case of consumption of foods with low GI. It’s all about the “behavior” of complex and simple carbohydrates.

What is the difference between a complex carbohydrate and a simple one?

A fast or simple carbohydrate is absorbed at a high speed, increases sugar levels, leads to excess weight and metabolic disorders. For example, a light breakfast in the form of a sandwich will give a quick boost of energy. Carbohydrates fulfill their purpose, a person becomes physically active, but after an hour he again experiences hunger, although carbohydrate residues can still be processed without giving out the necessary level of “charge to feed” the body. After the next meal, undigested carbohydrates accumulate, which leads to the appearance of excess weight.

Complex carbohydrates in their composition contain saccharides and hundreds of additional elements that are useful and necessary for a person for long-term mental and physical work. In the stomach, they are digested slowly, gradually and evenly filling the body with energy. The main advantage of such products is the systematic appearance of hunger, which gradually increases, without interfering with the person concentrating on work. Mental activity does not decrease during the day, and children do receive a charge of energy for the whole day.

Frequently consumed foods by humans - what is their index?

A long-term sense of fullness is a feature of complex carbohydrates, and a table of values ​​is presented below: the sugar content in the total amount of carbohydrates and its percentage, as the severity of the high glycemic index of products.

Thus, it can be noted that cereals and bakery products consumed daily can be the main component of good nutrition. Sweet foods, such as sodas, juices and ice creams, are best excluded from the daily diet, minimizing their consumption.

Why are fast carbohydrates dangerous?

Fast carbohydrates due to the content of glucose, fructose, sucrose and lactose when they enter the digestive tract (gastrointestinal tract) are transformed almost immediately into sugar, getting into the blood. An increase in sugar level negatively affects the circulatory system, and the body tries to neutralize it by eliminating the danger by producing insulin in huge quantities. The easiest and safest way is to convert carbohydrates into fats. Sugar levels begin to fluctuate, and a person experiences hunger. Wanting to eat something sweet, he bites, and does not eat fully. There is a vicious circle - a person is gaining weight, but can not give up sweets, because it becomes insulin-dependent.

It can also cause type 2 diabetes - an acquired type of ailment due to the consumption of foods whose glycemic index exceeds the norm acceptable for humans. Try to exclude:

• Jams, preserves, honey.
• Marmalade, sweets.
• Sugar, soda, juices.
• Pastries and bread made from white flour.
• Sweet fruits are a large part of them.
• White rice.

You should also include in the daily routine exercises or half-hour sports. This will help to quickly get rid of simple carbohydrates, which did not have time to "settle" in the tissues in the form of fat reserves.

And why do we need fast carbohydrates - maybe there is some sense in them?

Fast carbohydrates are saturated with glucose, which is given in excess. Unspent energy is stored in the form of fats. Some people still need similar products for weight gain, due to which you can gain a little weight. High GI provides:

1. The energy expenditure of the body throughout the day is necessary for trainers, athletes who work in the halls for hours.
2. Glycogen replenishment is the main source of muscle growth. Also needed by some athletes in their sports.
3. The accumulation of reserves for building mass - this may be interested in wrestlers, whose sport is associated with high body mass.

Immediately after training, such products will be beneficial - muscle mass builds up, strength in them increases, tissues become more elastic. Otherwise, extra sugar is not needed. It provokes excessive production of insulin, which subsequently may not be produced at all, and you will have to take insulin in the form of medications.

What are complex carbohydrates?

A complex carbohydrate is distinguished by the presence of starch - the main source of energy charge for a long period of time. Starch is a carbohydrate of plant origin, which is already considered less dangerous than animal fats. Glycogen, as the main source of muscle life, is indispensable, so it should be enough in the body. Cellulose is dietary fiber, which is both useful and important in the digestive system. To break down a set of simple carbohydrates (a complex type of carbohydrate), you need not only time, but also energy. Sometimes it is withdrawn from the reserves that a person has - adipose tissue. Fiber consists of many compounds and is only partially broken down in the stomach, and the remainder goes to the processing of food into human waste products.

If you need to calculate the glycemic index of products for weight loss, then you need to know: it must be kept within 25 units. Complex carbohydrates of such GI include:

• Whole grain cereals.
• Durum wheat pasta.
• Green vegetables.
• Brown rice.
• Beans and other legumes.

The simpler the composition, the lower the index, which indicates that the product belongs to the type of complex carbohydrate. Once in the blood, it saturates the cells evenly and for a long time, which prevents the level from “jumping” and causing severe hunger.

Product Comparisons

As an example, the product is identical in name, sometimes in appearance, to a product that is a complex or fast type of carbohydrate.

As much as one would not like to buy something “dietary” in the store, one should take into account the fact of production of products and raw materials that are not extracted from plants. There, of course, stabilizers and other E-components are added. Therefore, if you need to lose weight, you need to roughly calculate the glycemic index of diet products for each meal. Moreover, this should be done regularly.

Tips for diabetics

Since insulin depends on the level of blood sugar, the GI indicator is interrelated with sugar content data. Therefore, every diabetic should know how to determine the exact glycemic and insulin index of products. An important method is the preparation of the product, a combination with other food, the processing temperature and not only. To understand the relationship between the two parameters, we need to highlight a rule - the glycemic index indicates the degree of sugar entering the blood, and the insulin index indicates the rate of absorption of this degree of sugar. The complete glycemic index of products in comparison with the insulin index (II) is presented below:

The last column shows the insulin index values. At the same time, products with high AI and low GI are the acquired “new” components that formed after several heat treatments. They include alcoholic beverages. A complete list of products with a glycemic index can be found in medical articles on this topic, it is more difficult to find it by AI.

The insulinemic response of dairy products

Separately, dairy products should be distinguished, since they are the results of the processing of animal raw materials. However, the same AI of cottage cheese is 120 units, and its GI totals only 30 units. Therefore, glycemic indices of products for diabetics are not as important as insulin parameters. Sour-milk products do not allow the body to burn fats, since lipase is blocked - a powerful fat burner. Insulin is produced, although blood sugar does not increase. Fats are deposited because iron reacts to the dairy product as an excess of fat components. In this regard, insulin release causes the hormonal system to change slightly.

How to combine products for diabetics?

In order for diabetics to be able to eat cottage cheese, it needs to be combined with complex carbohydrates - splitting will occur slowly, but fats will not be stored. An ideal breakfast would be oatmeal porridge in milk or water with the addition of granular 5% cottage cheese. When combining low-fat foods with those that have low levels of GI, in the aggregate food will have a high glycemic index. For example, low-fat cottage cheese and porridge will give a splash of GI, although in the previous example, milk of normal fat content was used.

Scientists research

Harvard University studies have found that dairy products always cause insulin production, so people with type 2 diabetes should be careful about choosing foods to combine with dairy raw materials. Milk protein, surprisingly, does not cause an insulin response. The exception is whey, which is added in the manufacture of infant formula. It will be especially beneficial for diabetics to eat such foods with low AI and GI.

The diabetic serum protein caused an insulin response in the form of a 55% hormone release, and the glucose response decreased to 18%. The subjects were offered bread with milk, and after eating the food, the AI ​​increased to 67%, and the GI remained the same, which did not cause a jump in blood sugar. Pasta with milk gives out 300% of the hormone release, and sugar does not change. As a result, it was concluded that the body reacts differently to milk and products with its content.

GI for dairy products

It is worth considering that the glycemic index of dairy products is very diverse. You can verify this if you carefully consider the table presented in the photo below.

Important! Sometimes the fat content of a dairy product affects GI and AI, so special attention should be paid to the percentage of fats.

Dairy products: glycemic index and calorie content

Fat also determines the calorie content of the product, especially for dairy products. In their dependence is GI and AI. So, for example, some types of cheese can be absorbed up to 98.9%, without raising the sugar level by a single gram:

• Suluguni.
• Brynza.
• Adyghe.
• Mozzarella.
• Ricotta
• Hard cheese.

Processed cheeses, tofu and feta cheese have high fat content and GI. Much depends on the type of processing, additives and method of preparation.