Johns Hopkins Health Alert
On the Glycemic Index and Healthy Carb Choices
UPDATE
As part of our ongoing effort to ensure that this website is up to date, we have determined that the information in the article On the Glycemic Index and Healthy Carb Choices is no longer current, and has therefore been removed.
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Posted in Nutrition and Weight Control on April 4, 2007
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In reply to the coment posted above: Our alerts are not intended to be the final word on any topic. In our 2007 Diabetes White Paper we talk briefly about the glycemic index. Here is an excerpt:
Q. Some say that the glycemic index can be useful in meal planning. I have read that the “glycemic load” is more accurate. What is the glycemic load and should I use it?
A. The glycemic index (GI) is a system for ranking how fast and how much blood glucose rises when you eat a food that contains carbohydrates, compared with eating the same amount of carbohydrates in the form of white bread. It’s true that eating a diet that contains mostly low-GI foods makes it easier to maintain steady blood glucose levels. Unfortunately, this method unfairly demonizes certain foods. For instance, carrots have a high GI, suggesting that you should avoid them. But you would need to gnaw through seven raw carrots to get the same amount of carbohydrates in white bread.
A concept called the glycemic load (GL) treats the carrot a little more fairly. It’s determined by multiplying a food’s GI by the number of carbohydrate grams in a serving. So that carrot with a high GI now has a low GL, if you eat one or two instead of seven. But there’s still a problem. Both GI and GL look at foods in isolation. The numbers do not reflect other foods that you might eat at the same time. For example, eating carrots with a butter sauce will lower the GI and GL of the carrots, because fat slows the absorption of food in your digestive tract. Confused? So are a lot of people, and rightly so. We recommend that rather than fussing over numbers, become familiar with the broad categories of foods that tend to have the biggest impact on your blood glucose (for example, certain Chinese foods, pizza, and nondiet beverages), and replace these foods with healthier choices.
Editor, Johns Hopkins Health Alerts
Posted by: Marjorie | April 5, 2007 11:42 AM
Thank you for the clarification. Once again, Johns Hopkins is sorting the facts from the hype for the benefit of all of us interested in our health, but bombarded with advice from every direction. One day it's GI, then it's GL, then it's goodness knows what else!
Two other points about the downside of GI and GL diets, is that there is little agreement about the measurement of each food--you would have to sit around with a chart even more confusing than one for calorie counting to try to even make sense of it all!
AND, even more important, no food can be taken in isolation. In other words, you have to look at EVERY single food you eat in one sitting, because one food can often interfere with the way the other is absorbed into your body.
Many thanks again, and I look forward to even more great nutrition and weight loss articles!
Posted by: Jo | April 26, 2007 7:37 AM
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I was very disappointed in your article "On the Glycemic Index and Healthy Carb Choices." It appears to me that your writer is quite out-of-date in her/his knowledge of this subject and needs substantial re-education. For example, the article does not even mention "Glycemic Load" which is a major factor. The glycemic concept may be difficult for the writer to understand but he/she should not be allowed to write for such an important publication unless better information is presented.
Posted by: jimhinkel | April 5, 2007 11:16 AM