All about low GI food ( Part 1)

Many chefs, whom I know, have been steadily shifting focus from the low carb food to low GI food while planning menus. GI stands for Glycerin Index. This measures the change in blood sugar levels when we consume carbohydrates. In scientific terms glycerin index is measured in peaks. A low GI food will give a lower peak as these foods will release glucose slowly & steadily. A high GI food will have a high peak at there will be a sudden release of glucose in our body.

The change from regular food to low GI food can be a very confusing process. Thus friendly- tips.com is going to deal with this in three separate articles. This post is going explore the very basics of GI Food.

For the ease of understanding, foods can be classified into three types:

Low GI Food which has GI count of 55 or less

Medium GI food with a GI count of 56-69

A food with a GI count of more than 70 is considered to be a high GI food. Some items falling in this category are corn flakes, white rice, watermelon, white bread, potato etc. A good look at the above items will make us realize that this is what most hotels have fed us for breakfast & convinced us that we are eating a healthy meal.

There are numerous benefits of switching over to low GI food.  The most notable being:

• Reduced risk of diabetics & heart disease.
• Improved weight management & physical endurance.
• Better cholesterol levels.

Low GI foods manage to do all this by ensuring that glucose trickles slowly to your blood stream. This not only keeps your energy level balanced but also makes you feel fuller for longer duration.

Here are few tips you can start practicing to reduce consumption of high GI food.

1. Replace white rice with longer variety of rice (Medium GI) or shift to eating brown rice (Low GI)
2. Substitute corn flakes with oatmeal porridge or oat flakes.
3. Become picky with snacks. Refuse to be tempted with chips & crackers. Dig into fruits & nuts instead. The humble, small cherry has the distinction of having lowest GI among fruits.
4. Sweet potato has lower GI than Potato, but I prefer yam which is ya(u)mmier & lower in GI than sweet potato.
5. A special tip for my friends from south – In this season of Pongal, you will be happy to know that pongal & sambar has one of the lowest GI among Indian breakfast.
   Click on this link to read one of best written works on GI of Indian Foods.

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