The Glycemic Load
By admin on Jun 5, 2010 in Health and Fitness
My last few posts were about the glycemic index and how you can use the index to find foods that will keep your blood sugar levels from going too high. A better way to measure for some might be the glycemic load.
The glycemic load is like the glycemic index in that the lower the number the better the blood glucose response. Low is 10 or less, Medium is 11-19 and 20 or greater is considered High.
The glycemic load value adds in the serving size of the food you are eating to allow for comparison of a realistic serving size. The glycemic index tells you how quickly a particular carbohydrate will make you blood sugar rise, but it does not take into account the actual carbohydrates that are in a serving. The glycemic load does take into account the number of carbohydrates in a serving along with the glycemic index of the food.
You can calculate the GL of a food by multiplying the food's GI by the number of carbohydrates per serving and multiplying that number by 100.
So for example: if you had a pice of chocolate cake it would have a very high number on GI. If you were only going to take only a bite of that cake you could calculate the GL and would be able to see you the potential impact it may have on your blood glucose.
What is most important is to monitor the total amount of carbohydrates of the foods you eat. You can use the GI or the GL as tools to help fine tune your diet and blood glucose levels. Choose foods that you enjoy and that you can fit into your carbohydrate goal, but when you can work in foods that are lower on the GI and GL scales.
Credits to:The ND Blog: Notes from the Nutritionista by Monica Reinagel