Glycaemic Index of Foods

Glycaemic index is the comparative effect of the food on blood glucose levels on consumption as to 50gm of glucose.Food items are ranked on a scale from 0-100 based on the extent to which they raise the blood glucose level after eating.Food with high GI get rapidly digested and absorbed and thus result in marked raise in blood sugar levels.Low GI foods,slowly digested and absorbed,thus produce slow and gradual raise in blood glucose and insulin levels after eating.This will prevent sudden load on beta cells of the pancreas which produce insulin.

Low GI foods improve both blood glucose and lipid control and are recommended.They also are useful for weight control as they delay the hunger and control appetite.I shall give a list of low and high GI foods.Please remember that it is not a complete list and GI would change depending on the food preparation.Also bear in mind that,low GI foods taken in a large quantity would increase the overall glycaemic load, which is not advisable.Those who are more interested to know about GI can refer to these links:

www.glycemicindex.com

Please not that,dairy products have low GI and whenever you add milk to any food items like Corn flakes,Porridge etc,it would delay the absorption and have a low GI.All pulses have low GI and because of their highly bioavailable proteins they are more preferable than any other protein sources.

Glycaemic Index List.