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The Glycemic Index is a tool for anyone looking to increase energy, lose fat and just feel better. A valuable guide to good and bad carbohydrates. But should be used in conjunction with the right protein intake: see your protein nutrition required.
All carbohydrates convert to blood sugar, some fast, some slow, and the Glycemic Index measures the rate the conversion takes place.
Eating high-glycemic carbohydrates (ones that turn to sugary quickly) will hinder the fat burning process and will decrease energy levels.
Here's why: When you eat high glycemic index carbs, your blood sugar levels soar; when this happens your pancreas produces insulin. One of the roles of insulin is to keep your blood sugar levels regulated -but its also a storage hormone.
When your sugars go up, your body produces the storage hormone to clear the excess sugars. Those sugars end up in fatty tissue. Ultimately, your gaining fat, because internally, your telling your body to store.
Here is how it relates to energy levels: When you overproduce insulin, you clear the sugars out of your blood-the end result is that you are now hypoglycemic. What does that mean? Blood sugar levels are lower than they should be, "you crash" or get lethargic, and now your body craves sugars.
So what next? You end up overeating , and the cycle continues. Formula 1 shakes contain soy protein, dietary fibre, minerals and vitamins and fructose carbohydrates and has a low Glycemic Index and thus produces a steady release of energy into the system. It is also the best carbohydrate for weight loss
The Glycemic index...is readily available, and tracks virtually every brand of every food. Some of the more common entries are listed below. Each entry is compared to glucose, if the rate that glucose converts to blood sugar equals 100. Numbers lower than 100 mean that food converts to blood sugar slower than glucose-and in terms of your mission to increase energy levels and burn body fat, alow GI index is better than a high GI index.
Are you getting the right protein intake? Cereals and toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, carbohydrate snacks through the day and pasta for dinner?
Glycemic Index Food List Based on 50grams carbohydrate per serving |
| Food Type | High GI | Medium GI | Low GI |
| Breads, Grains and Pasta | - baguette-95
- rice pasta,brown-92
- instant rice-91
- bagel -72
- white bread -70
| - whole meal bread -69
- rye flour bread 64
- macaroni cheese-64
- hamburger bun- 61
- pita bread-57
- white rice -56
- brown rice 55
| - linguine-50
- multigrain bread- 48
- macaroni-45
- spaghetti, white -41
- ravioli, meat filled-39
- spaghetti, whole wheat- 37
- spaghetti, protein enrich-27
- barley -25
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- Fruits
| - dates,dried-103
- watermelon-72
| - pineapple-66
- raisins-64
- apricots -57
- mangoes-56
- fruit cocktail-55
| - banana -53
- kiwi fruit-53
- grapes -52
- orange -43
- peaches-42
- plums-39
- pear -36
- apple -36
- dried apricots- 30
- grapefruit-25
cherries-22
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| Snacks | - rice cakes -82
- pretzels- 81
- jelly beans-80
- waffles- 76
- doughnut- 76
| - mars bars-68
- ryvita -67
- wheat crackers -67
- popcorn -55
- oatmeal cookies-55
| - *potato chips/crisps-54
- *chocolate -49
- banana cake-47
- peanuts-14
- protein snacks
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Cereals -
| - Rice Krispies-82
- Cornflakes-77
- Weetabix-77
- Puffed wheat-74
- Cheerios-74
| - Shredded Wheat -69
- Oatmeal-61
- Mini Wheats-57
- Museli-56
- Oatbran-55
| - Porridge, non instant-49
- All Bran-42
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| Cakes/biscuits | - Rice cakes-82
- Wafer biscuits 77
- Doughnut -76
- Waffles-76
| - Ryvita -67
- Croissant -67
- Shortbread -64
- Muffin (unsweetened)-62
- Danish pastry -59
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| Vegetables | - parsnips 97
- baked pots-83
- instant pots- 83
- chips- 75
- mashed pots- 73
| - beetroot-64
- new potatoes- 57
- boiled potatoes- 56
| - sweet potatoes-54
- yam-51
- green peas-48
- Baked Beans-48
Chickpean,tinned-42
carrots,cooked-39 - Haricot Beans-38
- Chick peas-33
- Butter beans-31
- Lentils-29
- Kidney Beans-27
- Soy Beans-18
- green beans-15
- peppers-15
- spinach -15
- tomatoes- 15
- artichoke -15
- asparagus-15
- broccoli-15
- cauliflower-15
- celery -15
- cucumber -15
- lettuce -15
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| Dairy | Ice cream-61 | | - Ice cream (low fat) 50
- Milk, semi-skimmed 34
- Fruit yogurt, low fat-33
- Milk-Skim-32
- Milk -Fat-free-32
- Soy Milk- 31
- Milk, full fat -27
- Yogurt-low fat-14
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| Sugars | - Maltose-105
- Glucose-100
- Honey-73
| - Sucrose-65
- Table sugar-65
| Lactose-46
Fructose-23 |
| Beverages | -
| - Soft drinks,fanta-68
- Colas-65
- Orange juice-57
| Grapefruit juice-48
Pineapple juice -46
Apple Juice,unsweet-41 |
high Glycemic Index Food GI (more than 70)
Intermediate GI index between 55 and 70
Low Glycemic Index Food (less than 55) - Protein nutrition required
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