How the Glycemic Index Works

Are you looking for a very simple and extremely effective way to lose weight or maintain your healthy figure? If so, then you need to learn about the Glycemic Index and how to use it in your daily life.

In short, it is a listing of numbers that tell you how fast your blood sugar level will raise after eating particular foods. The faster it spikes the worse that food is for your weight loss and health efforts.

In the recent past everyone was trying out diets that completely eliminated carbohydrates, but luckily that fad has been replaced with more sensible thinking. Your body needs carbs for energy, but not all carbs will do the job. It’s a matter of selecting your carbs wisely, not cutting them out completely.

The Glycemic Index is the only tool that will help you quickly determine how a food is going to affect your blood sugar. This is not only important for those with diabetes, but it is crucial for anyone looking to lose weight. Thousands of other people have already used this one tool to lose considerable amounts of weight.

Even better: To hear is that most of them kept those eating patterns and the weight stayed off long term.

For starters, it is important to understand how the Glycemic Index is designed. It only covers carbohydrates, so protein sources will not be listed. The carbohydrate category actually includes a wide variety of foods from vegetables, fruits, and whole grain pasta, bread, and rice to refined white bread, pasta, bread, and all types of sugary sweets that are made from any variety of flour.

There are currently just under 2,500 foods listed in the index.

Each food listed in the Glycemic Index is given a value. The higher the value, the faster that food will raise your blood sugar level. The lower the value, the slower your blood sugar level will be raised.

So, as a guide, it’s best to eat more of the foods with a lower GI rating, and eat less of, or avoid, as much as possible, those foods with a higher Glycemic Index rating.

It is quite mind blowing for most people to realize how much of what they eat on a daily basis is a carbohydrate. Since this one category of food makes up the bulk of most people’s diet, it is obvious why cutting it out completely is so difficult to stick with long term.

While carbohydrates are often criticized because they have sugar content, this sugar is actually not the problem. All carbs have some natural sugars, but not all of them are broken down the same by your body.

Whole grain sources of carbs and vegetables, fruits, and beans are broken down slowly in your system. The fiber must be separated from the natural sugars, which are then slowly released into your blood stream. The result is a slow, steady supply of energy that helps your body function properly.

Refined carbs such as white bread, pasta, rice, and sweets like cupcakes and donuts are processed quite differently. During processing they are stripped of their natural fiber, so your body doesn’t have to do that work. The problem is the sugar goes quickly into your blood stream, creating a huge surge in energy. But, it quickly goes away and leaves you with a drop in energy and a big craving for more food.

If you are trying to lose weight, this spike and drop in blood sugar is going to work against you. Not only is this unhealthy for your body, but it can lead to brutal cravings for more refined carbs which will cause weight gain.

If you choose wisely and eat mainly from lower Glycemic Index foods, you will maintain an even, consistent blood sugar level and avoid those cravings. Your body will also receive more of the nutrients it needs from the natural fiber.