Glycemic index (IG) - ranks food according to a very important characteristic for all slimming people (and diabetics!) - how quickly after their consumption increases the blood sugar level - glucose. The constant excess of this sugar threatens obesity and health complications at the forefront of diabetes. The index is also called the glycemic index.
Of particular importance in the development of many disorders of health and diseases is the so-called visceral fat tissue. Obesity initiates such diseases as: diabetes, hypertension and lipid disorders, spine diseases and many more.
WHAT FOODS HAVE HIGH AND WHAT LOW GLICEMIC INDEX?
High glycemic are highly processed cereal products ...
The high glycemic index has highly processed cereal products - white flour, white bread, biscuits, etc. Also, thermally processed potatoes outperform IG table sugar (by 50%!). Conversely - most vegetables, fruits and legume seeds have a low glycemic index.
Different factors influence the glycemic index.
The value of the glycemic index depends, for example, on the amount of carbohydrates in the product and their type. i.e. content. Equally important as the value of simple sugars such as glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose is the amount and form of starch contained in the product (including the proportion of amylose to amylopectin, or the presence of resistant starch and the content and composition of dietary fiber). The content of glucose, sucrose and starch with a high content of amylopectin increases the value of IG. The glycemic index of rice with a low amylose content reaches 88, whereas the high amylose content is about 40.
A diet with a high content of dietary fiber does not necessarily have to be synonymous with a low GI diet.
Water-soluble dietary fiber fractions derived eg from legume seeds, vegetables, fruits, oats and barley, form gels in the gastrointestinal tract, delay gastric emptying and form a physical barrier surrounding carbohydrates, slow down the action of digestive enzymes and absorption of carbohydrates. However, water-insoluble fiber fractions, mainly cellulose and lignin, have little effect on gastric emptying and none on carbohydrate digestion and the absorption of simple sugars.
The degree of food processing raises the glycemic index
The methods used to process the food are also important, such as the degree of grinding of the raw material (eg cooked whole wheat grain has IG 41, bulgur 48, whole wheat flakes 70 and baguette 95), and the temperature and type of cooking used, including cooking time and method. . Long boiling or processing destroys the cell walls of plant raw materials, starch grains become more available for amylase, they digest faster and the IG increases.
Derogations from the rule: high conversion - high GI
■ In the case of legume seeds, which even cooked, have a low GI, because their cell walls are resistant to cooking.
■ Cooling of cooked products paradoxically can lower IG, eg potatoes, whose starch is retrogradable to starch resistant to amylase digestion.
■ The significance of the IG product value is not only the content of soluble dietary fiber components, but also other components such as fats, proteins, organic acids and anti-nutrients (phytic acid, lectins and tannins) that lower the glycemic index of the product.
■ Proportion and profile of carbohydrates also depends on the degree of maturity of plant products - eg the value of IG of immature banana is 30 and over-ripe -52.
