Learn how to Did you know that knowing the glycemic index (GI) of foods can help you lose weight or reduce the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease or developing diabetes?

The explanation given by the experts at Ysonut, a laboratory specialized in nutrition and health, is that the higher the GI of a food, the more capacity it has to increase glucose (sugar) in the blood. For this reason, we recommend replacing half of the foods with a high GI with low GI, and eating at least one food with a low glycemic index at each meal. But let’s see what blood glucose is and how it affects our body following the advice of experts.

What is blood glucose?
In the 1980s, the notion of the glycemic index (GI) appeared, which establishes a food classification system based on its carbohydrate content. The GI is used to measure the evolution of the blood sugar level in the 2 or 3 hours after a meal with various types of carbohydrates. To do this, glucose is taken as a reference, for which a GI = 100 is established. It is considered that the higher the GI of a food, the more it can pose a danger, not only for weight management, but also in case of diabetes. Three categories are distinguished: low GI (<55), medium GI (55-70) and high GI (>70).

What influence does it have on our health and our weight?
Various studies have shown that a low GI diet promotes weight loss and fat oxidation, which helps reduce fat accumulation in tissues. It also acts on satiety and improves insulin resistance. Weight loss resulting from a low GI diet improves insulin sensitivity and helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

How should we correctly use the glycemic index in the diet?
In practice, to use the GI correctly in our diet, we must:

• Replace half of the high GI foods with low GI foods.
• Eat a low GI food at every meal.
• Eat more legumes.
• Choose low GI vegetables and fruits.
• Choose those foods that are less processed.
• Eat bread with yeast, which, due to its acidity, reduces gastric emptying and slows down digestion.
  What foods are high glycemic index?
  – Refined foods rich in simple sugars have a high GI. In addition, other factors influence the GI, such as the nature or physical state of the food, as well as the cooking of foods rich in starch (overcooked pasta, since gelatinized starch is digested more slowly).
  – Peeled vegetables and fruit have a higher GI than if they are eaten with the skin; When peeling food, we lose a good part of the fiber, which induces an increase in the GI.

Which ones have a low glycemic index?
Protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs, and foods made from plant-based milk have very low GIs. Low GI foods like fruit and whole grain foods contain some soluble fibers. It is better to consume, as we said, unpeeled fruit and vegetables, so that the GI remains low. You have to wash the fruit before eating it with skin. It is also important to preserve the al dente texture of the vegetables by avoiding overcooking them…

Helpful tips
In reality, what we have to take care of is the composition of each meal itself: we must avoid adding sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, galactose…) in large quantities and, at the same time, guarantee the intake of a sufficient amount of fibers. We must also limit the cooking time of foods rich in fiber to slow down the enzymatic activity of carbohydrates and thus avoid an insulin spike.

Low GI food example
– Assorted vegetable salad with dressing
– Omelette with courgette (with skin and cooked before al dente)
– Wholemeal bread (or basmati rice)
– Yogurt with soy milk (plain)
– Papaya