The GI Factor – what the hell is it?

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So the aim of the game is to keep our blood sugars between 4 & 8 – or is that 4 & 10?  Whatever.  We often talk here in these pages about all the extraneous things that play havoc with sugars: stress, sex, drugs, ya know.  Well let’s be honest: what you put in your mouth contributes too.  For a long time I dismissed the GI Factor as the latest fad from those nutty live-by-the-book dietitians.  But once you wade through all the tables of figures and bizarre theories, maybe the GI Factor could be useful.  Well, what the hell is it?
     The GI Factor is a method of ranking foods in terms of how fast they cause our blood glucose levels to rise and fall.  It really shows how fast foods can be digested and converted into energy. It is measured in terms relative to pure glucose which is given a value of 100.  The actual numbers tend to just complicate the whole matter so people generally talk in terms of Low GI Foods, and High GI Foods.

Low GI Foods (less than 55)

• Make blood sugar levels rise slowly and remain in our system for a long period of time.

• Good to have as main meals or before exercise.

• Foods with large particles that our bodies take a long time to digest and hence release their energy slowly: lentils, soy beans, cherries, yoghurt.

High GI Foods (more than 70)

• Make blood sugars rise & fall rapidly.

• Good for hypos!

• Small particles that are digested and start providing energy quickly: coco pops, parsnips & roll-ups

The surprises:

• Fruit juices have a medium GI so are no longer recommended as good hypo fixes.

• All dairy products have a low GI.  A glass of milk before bed, like nana says, will provide a long slow release of energy and might avoid those overnight hypos and morning rebound highs.

• Foods vary greatly by variety ie. dark rye & wonderwhite breads have a very high GI factor (86,80), while soy & linseed bread has a very low GI (19). 

• Baked potatoes have a high GI of 85 – not far off glucose!

• Rice, although a complex carbohydrate, actually has a high GI. Basmati rice is the lowest choice.

If you want to get into the GI, it’s really about choices like knowing that blood sugars will fluctuate less by having multigrain instead of white bread, pasta & legumes instead of calrose rice, all-bran instead of coco-pops. 

Reference: The Pocket Guide to the GI Factor for people with diabetes, $8.70.

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