The glycemic index is a ranking system designed to express how quickly the sugars and carbohydrates from foods are absorbed into your blood stream. Highly refined foods tend to have a higher glycemic index(GI) and therefore cause your body to over-react and excrete unusually high amounts of insulin to absorb all the free sugar. What ends up happening is that your body over-compensates and excretes too much insulin. This pushes your blood sugar back down again, increasing your hunger level, and causing you to eat even more.
If you have ever been eating a high sugar snack, and wondered why you did not get full, well, that is the reason why. Insulin is more than a hormone telling your body to absorb sugar, it also controls your hunger level, and too much of it can create a cycle of over-eating.
Below is a list of high GI foods which can be reduced or eliminated:
| Food | GI Score (1-100) |
|---|---|
| Soft Drinks | ~63 |
| White Bread / Rice | ~70 |
| Potatoes (Excluding Sweet Potatoes) | ~80 |
| Beer | ~66 |
| Cake | ~40-80 |
| Commercial Cereals | ~80 |
Do I really need to eliminate all these foods? What can I do to help reduce glycemic load? In general, you do not have to eliminate these foods and pairing them with low GI foods (i.e. fats and proteins) will help slow their absorption in your blood stream and regulate your hunger level. For example, try eating your cereal with milk and nuts. Choose cakes that have no icing and a mixture of fruits. Also, try to choose whole wheat products over refined products, as the bran in whole wheat products helps to slow absorption to your blood stream.