Understanding The Glycemic Index

Put simply, the Glycemic Index is concerned with carbohydrates and how they effect blood glucose levels. The glycemic load ranks the carbohydrate content in food portions, based on their glycemic index and portion size.

In order to live your very best life, it's important to choose carbs carefully. Carbs that cause blood sugar to spike will increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, and in particular obesity. A diet rich in carbohydrates that produce only small fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels are best.

Eating an abundance of high glycemic carbs is extremely bad for people trying to lose weight, as well as for those whom live a mostly sedentary life. Low glycemic foods will keep your energy levels balanced, allowing you to feel fuller for longer. The opposite is true of high glycemic foods, which cause your energy levels to plummit after a short period of time.

By multiplying the amount of carbohydrate in a food serving by the glycemic index, we can estimate how much our blood sugar is likely to rise. This is an extremely important tool for diabetics, as well as for people trying to lose weight.

Making the switch to low glycemic foods.
The chart below from Wikipedia.com, details a list of foods and their individual glycemic load per 100g serving, to help you make the right nutritional choices.