At first we divided food into fatty and lean, then we learned to count calories, then we took care of the content of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This knowledge helped to draw up treatment tables, develop star diets and menus for athletes. Now more and more often you can hear about the glycemic index of products. What is it, how does it affect food benefits, and why is it important to eat foods with low glycemic index? Let's break it down point by point.
- What is this — glycemic index
- How high glycemic foods affect health and figure
- How to properly include low glycemic foods in your diet
What is this — glycemic index
Food — the main source of energy for our body. Cells receive energy in the form of glucose — a monosaccharide formed from carbohydrates and fats. It takes a certain time for glucose to form, some foods are absorbed almost immediately, and some very slowly. The glycemic index (GI) just denotes the rate at which the carbohydrates contained in products are converted into glucose.
The glycemic index is not quantitative, but a qualitative expression. Those. if buckwheat has a GI of 50, this does not mean that glucose is formed in 50 seconds or minutes. This means that, in comparison with pure glucose, whose index is 100, buckwheat "gives" energy in two times slower. Also, GI does not reflect the calorie content of food. For sunflower oil, for example, it and is completely 0, while pumpkin has 70. In general, fats are digested very slowly, so most often GI they are small.
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How high glycemic foods affect health and figure
Why is the speed of carbohydrate absorption of interest to nutritionists? The fact is that glucose does not get into the cell itself, for this it needs "transport". Insulin acts as a taxi, it is produced by the pancreas in response to the appearance of glucose in the blood. High GI give away" glucose immediately and all, and the pancreas begins to produce a lot of insulin in alarm mode in order to somehow reduce its level. But cells don't need so much energy momentarily, they have no time to process it and store it in fat depot”.
When all the glucose has been used up, the level of insulin in the blood drops accordingly. The food center in the brain receives the signal "energy is running out, something must be done." and triggers the mechanisms that cause us to feel hungry. It seemed would have just recently had a bite and I want to eat again, familiar, right? It's all thanks to insulin spikes. The worst thing you can do in this situation — eat something with high GI by running the "swing" again.
In addition to making high Say what you like, and "bad" carbohydrates are still harmful, and calls to exclude them from your menu are 100% justified %.
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How to properly include low glycemic foods in your diet
So, it would seem everything — — we refuse products with high GI and everything is fine. Actually and there are a few nuances here. For example, consider the products in this table.
It turns out that pumpkin has a higher GI than sugar — 75 & nbsp; units against 70! Shall we say "no" to the pumpkin? Here you need to go back to the beginning and remember that the GI shows the rate of formation of glucose from carbohydrates. Which on 100 gr. sugar accounts for 99.9 g., and per 100 g. pumpkins only 7.7. You cannot estimate the glycemic index without taking into account the carbohydrate content of the product.
Another important point — way of cooking. Simply put, in raw foods, carbohydrates are long chains, which are split into short chains during the digestion process. Therefore, foods with a low glycemic index are more often fresh vegetables and fruits. Cooking food breaks down carbohydrate chains, making them shorter and increasing their GI. Pay attention to the GI of products in this table.
Why does boiled zucchini 45 fried 55? After all, we have already found out that the GI of sunflower oil is 0. This is true, but the temperature of boiling water is 100°C, and the temperature of boiling oil is 120-180°C. . Therefore, even foods with a low glycemic index are important to prepare properly.
The same corn can be boiled, canned, and also in the form of corn flakes, and each subsequent stage of processing increases its GI. In food, it is worth adhering to the principle of "smaller and simpler", and then problems with excess weight can be avoided.
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