Glycemic Index
GI, also known as glycemic index is marker. Of what? Well, of how fast, after you eat carbohydrate source, glucose contentration rises in blood. In this article you will get answer for why you should care about it. Enjoy reading :)
Interesting info about carbs and answer for why we should eat them was found in our last article. Definition of glycemic index is inseparable with carbs. This knowledge is both useful for people with diabetes and healthy, who care about healthy lifestyle and good mood.
Foods that contain same amount of carbohydrates may have different influence on glucose level after meal. These differences are explained by glycemic index.
It can be calculated by dividing level of glucose after you eat given carb by level of glucose gained after consumption of given product. For example - level of glucose after you eat carrot will rise by 85% of amount you would get by eating 50g of pure glucose.
Glycemic load is way to evaluate carbs amount in product. Its based on numbers of glycemic index and size of product portion. Usefulness of it comes from information that products with high GI eatten in small amounts give us same effects as products with low GI eatten in greater amounts.
But whats going on? After eating product with high GI that is easily digested and absorbed, level of glucose rapidly rises. Body reaction is - okay, I got a lot of sugar so I will release a lot of insulin so proper enzymes can digest it. At first it works just right and lowers blood sugar fast which causes us to feel drowsiness because of lack of energy. Then we feel urge to eat more and situation repeats itself. That is the fastest way to obesity but also diabetes type 2. It happens because insulin has its sensitivity to glucose and when we provide it without break it causes insulin to lose that sensitivity.
Products with high GI help in gain of excessive weight in two ways:
- they cause our body to feel hungry which makes us eat more
- presence of insulin stops process of burning fat and even helps our body to store it
How GI affets our hormones
Thanks to evolution, humans as well as other living creatures developed two instincts - two find food and to reproduce. Despite the fact that brain is our main executive body it does not control those instincts. Intestines are only part of our body except brain that has neural cells which control process of absorption of nutrients.
Insulin hormone, produced by pancreas has job of keeping blood sugar in normal levels to avoid situation of either too high or too low level of glucose. It also regulates metabolism and regeneration or production of new cells. If insulin level is too high, pancreas cells cannot fix current damage because they are working on producing new cells. Fast rate of new cells production may lead to development of cancer. On the other hand if insulin level is low, cells regenerate and produce antioxidants that shield them from future damage.
Leptine is second hormone after insulin that manage our body energy levels. It is produced by fat tissue. More fat tisse equals to more leptine. High levels of leptine should stimulate our center of satiety and turn off feeling of hunger. But its not that easy. Too much of lepine causes weaker sensitivity. Our body defends itself from burning that fat because its encoded in our DNA. Our energetic reserves in form of fat tissue are being left for times of possible starvation. Leptine is also in control in our reproduction process. If women has too little fat she can find herself without ovulation. First medical use of that hormone was to regain ovulation for underweighted women to help them get pregnant. Insuline and leptine depend on each other because fat tissue is made when insulin level is high. When our body has too much of energy it decides to store it for later in form of fat tissue.
Now you understand the importance of glycemic index in process of maintaining health and body form that you desire. With pleasure I'll provide you with few tips how to lower GI of your meals. One way is to drink coffee while you eat products with high GI. Good habit is then drinking coffee while eating cake, candies etc. Second way is to provide your body with fiber - if you eat boiled potatoes or rice, add some salad made of raw vegetables. If you crave for sugar you can also pick fruits which are always better than blank callories gained by consumption of sweets. They are tasty indeed but if you eat too much of them you can drastically shorten your life and see rapid health decline.