We are a carbohydrate eating community and it is important for us to understand how these foods are related to our body’s response. Glycemic Index is nothing but the measure or the ranking of foods from 1 to 100 depending on how they affect our blood glucose levels. Foods are typically ranked as high, medium and low depending on how they are utilised, absorbed and released as glucose in the body. based on the glucose release, our body secretes insulin, which is necessary to carry the glucose into the cells which is necessary to provide us with the energy to the cells. So we should always include foods that release glucose slowly into the blood stream so that our body does not demand too much of insulin at once. When there are frequent spikes of insulin secretions, or heavy meals at once or highly loaded sugary foods then this can lead to diabetes or other lifestyle disorders. High glycemic index foods are those with the ranking of more than 70 and must be reduced as much as possible. These are foods such as polished rice, refined breads, dates, honey, sugars, cornflakes and a lot of other processed foods. Low glycemic index foods release glucose slowly and regulates the insulin secretion and decreases the risk of diabetes or any lifestyle disorders. Most fruits and vegetables are relatively low or moderate on GI and must be regulated. however for better health we may have not included some amount of high GI food s such as dates, raisins, water melons and potatoes and cannot be ignored so we cannot include them at teh right time with the right combination of foods. So we should balance the intake with healthy combination of foods after considering their glycaemic index. Processed foods, refined foods and packed foods definitely contains high glycemic Index and shod be avoided for good health.
