Tallying Your Glycemic Load

The benefits associated with correct usage of the glycemic index are considerable, unfortunately it can also be slightly confusing, it is difficult for some people to relate to, and they will find it hard to work into their dietary routine.

As we've mentioned elsewhere in this website, how a particular food is ranked on the GI depends on several factors. The way a food is grown, prepared, and processed can effect its GI rating, as well as that, all foods react differently depending upon the amount someone eats, an individual's own metabolic system, and how different foods are combined.

There are also inconsistencies with regard to how the GI is calculated; some experts argue that as the GI is based on a relatively small (50 grams) portion of food, this is less than a person would typically consume and as a consequence understates the effect highly rated foods have on the blood sugar, and overstates the effect of low rated foods.

As a means of clarification, some nutritionists devised a calculation that uses the GI to establish the glycemic load. This takes into account the amount of available carbohydrates.  Available carbohydrates such as sugar and starch are good energy providers, but contain no fibre.

Some experts recommend that the glycemic load should be used in preference to the glycemic index as it accounts for the quantity of food that a person consumes as well as the way the food is combined. To fully understand the effects a particular food has on blood sugar we need to be aware of both the GI and the glycemic load, to find a certain type of food’s glycaemic load simply divide the glycemic index by 100 and multiple by grams of carbohydrate per portion.

The glycemic load is rated as follows; above 20 is regarded as high, anything between 11 and 19 is regarded as medium, and anything below 10 is low.

When calculating the glycemic load a good example would be watermelon, its GI is approximately 72 per 120 g portion; this contains approximately 6 g of available carbohydrates, so 72 divided by 100 times six equals 4.32 round this off to four. So although watermelon ranks quite highly on the glycaemic index, It's actually quite low in the glycemic load, essentially, because of the portion size.

By understanding the workings of both the glycemic index, and glycemic load, you will gradually begin to fully appreciate the way that the four food groups need to be combined in order to facilitate a healthy eating regime.