Quick quiz, which will raise your blood sugar faster, a Snickers bar or instant oatmeal? The answer is instant oatmeal. Shocked? To clarify, it’s because of the glycemic index (GI). I will go over what the glycemic index is and how it can help diabetics manage blood sugar levels.
Glycemic Index (GI), also called Glycemic Load, measures how quickly a food raises blood glucose after you eat it. Low-glycemic foods have a minimal impact on blood-sugar levels, while medium to high GI will have a large impact, causing blood sugar levels to rise.
Low, Medium, and High GI Levels
Food with an index of 55 or less is low glycemic. Most non-starchy fruit and vegetables such as leafy greens and berries have a low GI. Meanwhile, food with an index of 56-69 is a medium such as bananas and pineapples. Finally, a GI of 70 or more is high. Processed food, such as pretzels and cereal, will have a higher GI. In addition, food containing sugar and flour also has a high GI.
What About Carb Grams?
Many diabetics count carbs when managing meals. Because carbs will raise your blood sugars many diabetics follow a low-carb diet. While this is useful, you should also consider a food’s GI. To illustrate, in my post, Can Diabetics Eat Fruit? I mention I can’t eat some low-carb fruits such as watermelon without my blood sugar rising. Even though watermelon is low carb, it has a high GI which will increase blood sugar levels quickly. Therefore, it’s useful to consider both the carb grams and GI of a food.
How to Reduce the GI of a Food
But what if you can’t live without mangos like me? No one wants to limit food in their diet, especially if it’s a popular or comfort food. As I mentioned in the blog, no fruit should be forbidden fruit. So, how can you reduce the GI of medium and high food? Here are some tips.
First, pair food with protein, for example, eat an apple with peanut butter or cheese. Protein and fat can delay carbohydrate metabolism and, therefore, delay blood sugar from rising. In the example above, a Snickers bar has a low GI because it contains fat which takes longer to digest.
Second, use acidic foods such as adding vinegar to a salad, or drinking lemon water with a meal. A French trial confirms that lemons have beneficial anti-diabetic properties. In a randomized trial, volunteers consumed bread with lemon juice. As a result, the lemon juice lowered peak blood glucose concentration and delayed that peak by over 35 minutes. The study concluded that eating something acidic like lemons with starches slowed down the digestion of starches (Study: Lemon Juice Reduces The Glycemic Response–Limoneira).
Third, portion size matters. Eating half of a banana will have a lower GI than consuming a whole banana.
Fourth, cooking preparation makes a difference. When pasta is cooked al dente it will have a lower GI. Also, boiling a sweet potato longer will lower the GI. That is, boiling a sweet potato for 30 minutes as opposed to 8 minutes will lower the GI value (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sweet-potato-glycemic-index#sweet-potatoes). Also, slow-cooked oatmeal will have a lower GI than quick oats.
Fifth, it’s no surprise that sweet foods will raise your blood sugar. Choose fruits that are not overly ripe; pick Greek yogurt as opposed to sugary yogurt; choose dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate; and eat foods in their natural state, such as whole fruit, as opposed to dried fruit or juice. Also, sweetened beverages with monk fruit or stevia instead of sugar or honey.
Finally, fiber can slow down blood sugar spikes. For instance, eat high-fiber bread versus white bread. You can also eat a salad before protein and starchy meals (https://theconversation.com/food-sequencing-really-can-help-your-glucose-levels-heres-what-science-says-about-eating-salad-before-carbs-181263).
Resources
To track the GI of food, you can use an app such as Glycemic Index Load Net Carbs and Glyx: Glycemic Load and Index. You can also find many lists, charts, and databases online.
Issues with the Glycemic Index
Unquestionably, the GI is not perfect and you might find different GI levels for the same food. I’ve seen grapes listed as both low and medium GI on different lists. As mentioned previously, you need to consider other factors such as portion size into account. However, the GI can still be a useful tool in pointing you in the right direction. Like I always say, be a diabetic detective and keep track of the foods which raise your blood sugar levels.
Conclusion
While not an exact science, the GI can still help you choose what to eat to manage blood sugar levels and make better dietary decisions. Besides counting carbs, you can also use the GI to prevent high blood sugar. And use the tips above to lower the GI of food.
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