Taking a Look at the Glycemic Index of Food
Okay, a new topic: the glycemic index.
There is a lot of focus today on what is called the "glycemic index" of food: that is, the ranking of carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Basically, proponents of this system urge people to only eat foods with a low glycemic index (GI) because they will only produce small fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels, which is turn will prevent weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, etc. I personally have two problems with that approach. I'm not a doctor nor am I licensed or registered anywhere to give medical advice, so take this for what it is: one woman's personal opinion.
One, let's take the sweet potato as an example. Bad choice if you look at the GI because it's full of natural sugars. A sweet potato can range anywhere from 44 to 78 on the GI scale, which is quite high. If you were only looking at a food from its GI ranking, you'd run for the hills and never eat one. And that would be a bad thing, because the sweet potato is one of the healthiest foods in the world. They actually help to stabilize blood sugar levels, not cause them to increase. They are loaded with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, magnesium, and are a great source of iron, potassium, vitamin B6 and dietary fiber. They have potent antioxidant effects and serve as a natural anti-inflammatory. In a nutshell, sweet potatoes are one of the best and most healthful foods you can ever eat. The GI never takes all the other potential health benefits of a food into consideration, however, leading people to believe a "bad" food according to the GI is a "bad" food in general. I personally find that a dangerous assumption to make because it could cause you to cut very beneficial and healthy foods like sweet potatoes from your diet.
Number two: the GI only takes into an account the effect of a food WHEN IT IS CONSUMED BY ITSELF. Let's look at my beloved sweet potato again. The average sweet potato carries a GI of around 50, if you eat it alone without anything else. Consume it with a steak or chicken or another heavy-duty PROTEIN, however, and the GI effect of the sweet potato is actually lowered. If you have a meal of salad, steak, a sweet potato and green beans, for example, only the sweet potato has a high GI; all of the other foods in the meal carry a very low GI. Consequently, they will cushion the effects of the sweet potato so the overall impact is maybe a 30 or a 35 - not nearly as impactful as the GI itself would lead you to believe.
Personally, I believe relying solely on the GI for information on how a particular food will impact your insulin and blood glucose levels is inaccurate and misleading. Frankly, I never pay attention to it, since I believe just about any food in its natural, unprocessed state will provide you with an enormous amount of nutrition and health benefits. Maybe you'd like to talk to your doctor or registered dietician about this and ask him/her what their opinion of this theory is and let me know the verdict - I'd be interested in hearing the opinions of medical professionals other than my own (who is inclined to agree with me for the most part, by the way).
In other news: school is going wonderfully and I am outlasting a bunch of kids half my age ... LOL. All the weight lifting and strength training has paid off so far - I can keep my arms elevated for long periods of time with very little discomfort. Next week is my first time in the clinic working on real people (God help them), so we'll see how well I do when the rubber hits the road :)
There is a lot of focus today on what is called the "glycemic index" of food: that is, the ranking of carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Basically, proponents of this system urge people to only eat foods with a low glycemic index (GI) because they will only produce small fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels, which is turn will prevent weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, etc. I personally have two problems with that approach. I'm not a doctor nor am I licensed or registered anywhere to give medical advice, so take this for what it is: one woman's personal opinion.
One, let's take the sweet potato as an example. Bad choice if you look at the GI because it's full of natural sugars. A sweet potato can range anywhere from 44 to 78 on the GI scale, which is quite high. If you were only looking at a food from its GI ranking, you'd run for the hills and never eat one. And that would be a bad thing, because the sweet potato is one of the healthiest foods in the world. They actually help to stabilize blood sugar levels, not cause them to increase. They are loaded with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, magnesium, and are a great source of iron, potassium, vitamin B6 and dietary fiber. They have potent antioxidant effects and serve as a natural anti-inflammatory. In a nutshell, sweet potatoes are one of the best and most healthful foods you can ever eat. The GI never takes all the other potential health benefits of a food into consideration, however, leading people to believe a "bad" food according to the GI is a "bad" food in general. I personally find that a dangerous assumption to make because it could cause you to cut very beneficial and healthy foods like sweet potatoes from your diet.
Number two: the GI only takes into an account the effect of a food WHEN IT IS CONSUMED BY ITSELF. Let's look at my beloved sweet potato again. The average sweet potato carries a GI of around 50, if you eat it alone without anything else. Consume it with a steak or chicken or another heavy-duty PROTEIN, however, and the GI effect of the sweet potato is actually lowered. If you have a meal of salad, steak, a sweet potato and green beans, for example, only the sweet potato has a high GI; all of the other foods in the meal carry a very low GI. Consequently, they will cushion the effects of the sweet potato so the overall impact is maybe a 30 or a 35 - not nearly as impactful as the GI itself would lead you to believe.
Personally, I believe relying solely on the GI for information on how a particular food will impact your insulin and blood glucose levels is inaccurate and misleading. Frankly, I never pay attention to it, since I believe just about any food in its natural, unprocessed state will provide you with an enormous amount of nutrition and health benefits. Maybe you'd like to talk to your doctor or registered dietician about this and ask him/her what their opinion of this theory is and let me know the verdict - I'd be interested in hearing the opinions of medical professionals other than my own (who is inclined to agree with me for the most part, by the way).
In other news: school is going wonderfully and I am outlasting a bunch of kids half my age ... LOL. All the weight lifting and strength training has paid off so far - I can keep my arms elevated for long periods of time with very little discomfort. Next week is my first time in the clinic working on real people (God help them), so we'll see how well I do when the rubber hits the road :)
posted by Tiffany Anderson @ 6:51 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home