The Glycemic Index: Oh How Puzzling It Is.

We have heard all about the glycemic index, but do we really understand it. I for one have an idea how it works and how it works in relation to weight loss/gain in a person. That doesn't mean I have mastered the finer points and can recite all the true chemical processes going on, but I do have a good idea of how foods affect it in me and what that means long term.

First we should get a little technical, but not so much you don't understand it. The glycemic index provides a measure of how quickly blood sugar levels rise after eating a particular type of food. That is straight from Wikipedia(for the reference). What does that really mean to us. We all know that there are different types of foods, but the main break down is protein, carbohydrate and fat.

Proteins and fats don't really register on the glycemic index. Why? They do not cause a spike in blood sugar levels after eating. The glycemic index estimates how much each gram of available carbohydrate (total carbohydrate minus fiber) in a food raises a person's blood glucose level following consumption of the food, relative to consumption of pure glucose. Glucose has a glycemic index of 100. So what does that mean? If glucose is 100 everything else will be less and have less effect on blood sugar.

Low glycemic index foods are 55 and lower these foods will be most vegetables, beans, whole grains  and most fruits. Medium glycemic index foods are between 56 and 69 which will include raisins, bananas, pita bread and basmati rice to name a few. High glycemic index foods are over 70 which is all white rice, white bread, potatoes, pretzels and bagels for instance. Now what does all this mean?

Ok, so we have an idea what glycemic index is and an idea of what foods are where and how they affect our blood sugar levels. How does this affect weight? When you eat something with a high glycemic index your blood sugars spike up but the body doesn't want your blood sugar high. Now we do need sugar as our main source of energy, but we don't need what we might take in when we eat let's say a Big Mac with fries and a coke. We get way more sugar in our blood than we need from the break down of carbs into sugar that our body uses. So what happens? The pancreas secretes insulin which lowers your blood sugar. The way it lowers the blood sugar is to causes sugar to enter the cells, but the excess will be converted into glycogen. Now our body needs to do something with the glycogen, so its stored in fat cells. Rinse and repeat for years and you are obese.

This process is slow and you don't notice it all. This process of blood sugar spikes repeatedly over the years wears out the pancreas and then it fails. Guess what? You are now diabetic. It is not a certainty that your pancreas will all out fail or you become full fledged diabetic, and when I say diabetic I am referring to type II diabetes. It can be controlled with diet ie: low glycemic index foods and/or oral meds. The extreme of this would be taking insulin routinely obviously. This is totally preventable, no matter of your current issues and/or family history.

When you consume low glycemic index foods you have a lower more sustained increase in blood sugar levels and you typically don't need the insulin and  therefore the pancreas isn't stressed. Conversely, you will need to convert glycogen to useable sugar for the cells and brain. This process, glycogenolysis, is the how glycogen is broken down into glucose for use in the body. The main stores in the body of glycogen are found in adipose tissue or what we like to call fat.

Let's ball this up in one cohesive thought here. When you take in high glycemic index foods, you create high blood sugar levels which in turn cause insulin to be secreted and force glucose to be made into glycogen which is then stored as fat. When you take in low glycemic index foods, you do not create high blood sugar levels which in turn will cause glucagon to be secreted and cause the break down of glycogen into glucose (sugar) for use in the body, which is stored in body fat. Simply put high glycemic index foods = weight gain and low glycemic index foods = weight loss(if you have body fat to lose). It really is a lot more complex than that, but most of us can't really follow all the C6H12O6 molecules floating around the body going into glycolysis, glycogenesis, glycogenolysis and any other glyco-whatever process happening the in the body.

The body is not really that complicated. Eat whole foods, exercise and get rest and you will be fine. Stay away from processed foods and eat 5 to 6 smaller meals a day. This process of eating smaller meals over the day keeps your metabolism high and more efficient.

If you have any questions about glycemic index, be sure to post them in the comments. Also remember that Google and Bing are your friends and can help you find things you may be looking for. You should always remember that the source of the information is important as anyone can put anything on the internet, always fact check before taking anyone at their word.

Good luck!