Contents:
- Medical Video: Nutrition & Diets : How to Follow a Low Glycemic Index Diet
- Diabetics should choose foods with a low glycemic index
- What are the foods with a low glycemic index?
- What can affect the glycemic index in food?
Medical Video: Nutrition & Diets : How to Follow a Low Glycemic Index Diet
Food can directly affect blood sugar levels. Therefore, especially for people with diabetes, choosing food wisely is one solution to improve health. Foods with a low glycemic index are foods that should be consumed by people with diabetes. Well, what are the foods with a low glycemic index?
Diabetics should choose foods with a low glycemic index
The glycemic index is a value that describes how fast or how slow the food causes an increase in blood sugar levels. Foods with a low glycemic index tend to release glucose (sugar) slowly, so it does not increase blood sugar levels much. Conversely, foods with a high glycemic index can increase blood sugar levels quickly.
Therefore, diabetics are advised to choose foods with a low glycemic index. Slower release of glucose from low glucose index foods can help diabetics control blood sugar.
What are the foods with a low glycemic index?
Quoted from the page of the American Diabetes Association, the glycemic index in food can be divided into three categories, namely:
- Lowif food has a glycemic index of 55 or less
- Is beingif food has a glycemic index of 56-69
- Highif food has a glycemic index of 70 or more
You may find it difficult to know which foods with a low, medium and high glycemic index, if you do not know what the glycemic index value is for each food. Simply put, foods with a high glycemic index usually only contain a little fiber even without fiber, contain lots of sugar, have sweet taste, and have undergone various processes. For example, white bread, biscuits, cakes, donuts, cereals, and others.
Well, if you have diabetes, you should avoid or limit your consumption of foods with this high glycemic index, especially sweet foods or drinks. You can use low-calorie sweeteners and those containing chromium minerals to add sweetness to your food or drink. Mineral chromium can improve insulin function in the body, so this helps diabetics to control blood sugar.
Meanwhile, foods with a low glycemic index are usually foods that contain high fiber, such as vegetables and fruits, contain little sugar or no sugar, and foods that only experience a little process.
Examples of foods containing a low glycemic index are:
- Brown rice
- Wheat bread
- Fruits, such as apples, bananas, oranges, pears, zalacca
- Vegetables, such as spinach, kale, broccoli, kale, mustard greens, lettuce, cabbage, carrots
- Nuts, such as peanuts, cashews, chickpeas, red beans
What can affect the glycemic index in food?
Not that you really are prohibited from consuming foods with a high glycemic index and may eat as many foods with a low glycemic index as much as possible. Why? The glycemic index of a food or how food can affect blood sugar is influenced by many factors. These factors are food size, texture, thickness, and maturity.
For example, you eat 1 small piece of sweet cake with a glycemic index of 150, so you will eat 3 bananas with a 50 glycemic index. So, consider the portion of food you eat.
The cooking method used to process food also affects the glycemic index. Very cooked food with a smooth and small texture will be more easily absorbed by the body, so it will affect blood sugar levels faster. In addition, the temperature of the food also affects. Cold rice can have a lower glycemic index than warm rice.
To work around this, you might be able to combine foods with a high glycemic index and foods with a low glycemic index. For example, consuming cornflakes (which has a high glycemic index) along with milk (which has a low glycemic index) will reduce the effect of these foods on blood sugar levels. Fat, protein, and fiber can help reduce the effect of food on blood sugar.
