Glycemic Impact: How Carbs Influence Blood Sugar Levels
Diet tip. So let’s diet.. Get it? Die-it? Like kill it? Hehe. Alright, all carbohydrates are not equal. They’re devised differently and serve different purposes. Here’s a breakdown on how carbs influence blood sugar, AKA their glycemic impact, & ways you can maneuver to your health and fitness advantage.
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What Is The Glycemic Index
The glycemic index meaning, AKA GI, AKA glucose index, is a scale 0-100 accounting for a rise in blood glucose (sugar) resulting from consuming a food, 100 being the highest.
This numeric scale is vital for blood sugar control, especially in those with type 2 diabetes. But everyone can benefit from an idea of how a certain carb influences their blood sugar. More on that later.
Note: there are factors that manipulate a food’s GI including: ripeness, preparation method, how processed it is, and even what you consume alongside the dish. For example wit the banana glycemic index is lowest when ripe and rises as the banana ages. A banana’s glycemic index can be anywhere between 43 and 74 [3]. In addition eating a dietary fat and/or protein slows how quickly your blood sugar rises.
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Glycemic Index Categories
Foods on the glycemic index fall into three categories: low (complex carbs), medium, and high (simple carbs).
Generally you want to consume low-medium glycemic foods, but it’s a little more detailed than that. First some examples:
Low 0-55: rolled oats, broccoli, and strawberries
Medium 56-69: brown rice, pineapples, and sweet potatoes
High 70+: watermelon, honey, and white rice
Note: a good “on the fly” gauge on how glycemic a food may be is based on the amount of fiber. More fiber = less blood sugar spike. The more carbs a serving possesses the more fiber you want.
The index is important because it registers how quickly a food is broken down and converted to usable energy. You want to strategically consume foods based on how they’ll affect your blood glucose levels in a given moment for weight management.
Note: if you are pre-diabetic or type 2 diabetic a familiarity with how blood sugar is affected is life preserving. Type 2 diabetes is defined by high blood sugar. Sometimes due to not enough insulin and other times due to insulin resistance. Insulin’s job is to move blood sugar around for constructive purposes. If you’re resistant to insulin, blood sugar remains in circulation longer than it should, leading to potentially grave conditions over the long haul.
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What Is A Glycemic Load And How Is It Calculated
Glycemic index tells you how potent a food is to your blood sugar. Glycemic load (GL) tells you how much of that potency you’ll experience per serving. GL is also broken into low, medium, and high categories. Still a scale of 0-100:
Low: <10
Medium: 11-19
High: 20+
GL is calculated by multiplying the glycemic index of a food with the grams of carbs consumed and dividing that solution by 100.
Example: a medium orange has a GI of 40 & about 19 grams of carbohydrates
40 * 19 = 760
760/100= 7.6
A medium orange has a glycemic load of about 7.6 making its impact on your blood sugar low.
Note: some foods have high GI and low GL with smaller servings, however the more you consume the higher that load becomes.
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How Does Glycemic Load Impact Weight Management
Let's say you consume a high glycemic load. Blood sugar spikes.. Insulin spikes.. Sugar is rushed into cells ready to be used as energy.
If you didn’t just finish or aren’t on the cusp of conducting heavily taxing activity the potential for this energy converting to adipose tissue (body fat) rises. You have to use that energy to prevent fat storage.
This means being in a calorie deficit or eating the amount of calories needed to sustain your current weight. A calorie deficit means you consume less calories than you burn. This is why i suggest counting calories, that way you always know where you stand.
If you aren’t counting calories you could undesirably be in a calorie surplus and now, in this case, you’ve opened a gaping highway to fat storage.
In a calorie deficit, or maintenance situation, high glycemic foods can still prey on health and lead to diabetes along with other health conditions if guzzled too frequently, but weight won’t be an issue.
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How To Use The Glycemic Load
If you don’t want to think then keep it safe by shooting for medium to low glycemic carbs most of the time. I get that all aren’t in this to get extra detailed.
There are special cases for high glycemic carbs to optimize muscle recovery or provide fuel during intense events. For instance in the 4th quarter of the NBA finals I’m sure you’re energy depleted. A high glycemic carb will hit you quickly with a burst of energy. This is why you at times you see professional athletes eating candy during games. At high intensities glycogen provides a great deal of your fuel.
Another happening to tackle high glycemic carbs is after a strenuous weight training session. The aim is to refuel glycogen stores and possibly jumpstart the muscle repair process. Some studies have even shown doing so post-workout enhances muscle protein synthesis (cells creating muscle protein). If you combine quickly-digesting protein, like whey, with a simple carb you can ride that insulin wave to Gainesville.
Note: consuming simple carbs at other times causes spikes in blood sugar, as well as energy. As high as these spikes go you’ll crash just as hard and your repayment is hunger. These crashes are accompanied by a fierce craving for more glucose.
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Benefits Of Complex Carbs
Consistent blood sugar levels
Help keep cravings away
Stay full longer
Steady flow of energy
Tend to provide more nutritional value
Often higher fiber content
Less stress due to lower intensity of blood sugar spikes
Note: the index and the load is limited in that they don’t measure how much insulin (intended to keep blood glucose from getting too high or low) you personally release as a result. We all have varying responses due to genetics, fitness level, stress, age, etc..
Another note: if bulking, you’re in a calorie surplus so high glycemic carbs are definitely off-limits if you want to stay lean. This leaves you with low-medium carbs. A side effect is being full allllll of the time, especially the more calories you have to consume. I find consuming mostly medium glycemic carbs makes it a little easier rather than all low glycemic, but it’s part of the game so tough it out.
Broadly speaking the higher your level of fitness, the better your diet is, and the lower your level of stress is.. The more likely you are to release and respond to insulin properly.
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So, It’s About That Time
Weight management boils down to cals in vs. Cals out, but glycemic index shows the foods more agreeable to long-term energy, health, and favorable blood sugar levels. GI is how big of a potential spike and GL is how much of that spike you feel in a serving. Both important, but know the bigger a serving of a high GI dish, the higher the load will be. You don’t have to memorize anything, just keep a mental note of what common foods go where. Be healthy and Be Great.
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[1] Pinterest.Com/Pin/325455510561702591