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 Journal Of Nutrition;2000 130 280S-283S

    To make things perfectly clear, this is not a Low Carb/No Carb type of a diet, this simply differentiates between different types of carbohydrates. Carbohydrate is a fancy way of labeling the chemical make up of the food molecule. Carbo = carbon, hydrate = water, or Hydrogen and Oxygen. The chemical formula for the single carbohydrate unit is C6H12O6. This single unit makes up what is called a Mono-saccharine, or 'Single Sweet'. In other words, sugar. This is the fate of ALL carbohydrates that you digest regardless if it is a 'simple' or 'complex' carbohydrate. The terms simple and complex only refer to the number of sugar molecules that are linked together. Long chains were called complex and were though to require long and slow digestion as opposed to simple carbohydrates which were thought to be digested very quickly and create rapid elevations and drops of blood sugar and insulin(the sugar high and crash). This was only an assumption and had never been research or even questioned. It turns out we were dead wrong.
    
    Believe it or not most 'complex' carbohydrates create a greater rise and fall in blood sugar than plain old table sugar. Which, I might add, is more 'complex' than that you would think. When carbohydrates are left intact they have physical and chemical barriers that our bodies must work very hard to get through in order to get the energy yielding material. That?s right, your body loves its precious energy so much that it would gladly expend a great deal of it just to get some more.

    However, with today's highly process and refined convenience food, much of this process is done for us. Modern companies will take the whole grain, mill it, grind it, polish it, boil it, pulverize it, and then through a mineral powder on it and call it 'Fortified'. This creates a very fine powder that has for all intent purposes, been digested for us. No energy need to be done to get the energy from this types of food. It is digested extremely fast, and enters your blood stream in record time. This, in turn leaves you feeling hungry faster and we all know what happens next!  The rate at which these foods enter the blood and raise your blood sugar level has been called the 'Glycemic Index'. Based on the simplest carbohydrate, glucose, which has a rating of 100, all other foods are given a number relative to this.

This throws the 'simple' VS. 'complex' issue out the window. For example, a typical white Idaho potato has a GI rating of about 93 out of a possible 100 and your frightful friend table sugar only has a rating of about 58. The sugar found in fruit, Fructose, has a rating of only 25. Why does table sugar have such a low rating you ask'? Well it is not a , it is actually 2 sugar molecules joined together. 1 glucose and 1 fructose, so the amount of 'Bad' sugar is actually about 50% of what you would think. Why do potatoes have such a high rating you ask'? Well this is where things get a little more complicated. Starch is what many of us identify as 'carbohydrates', but there are actually 2 very distinct types of starch.  The first is called Amylose. This starch is a very flat chain of molecules like a pearl necklace. Now, carbohydrate digestion is all done by little enzymes that, for all intent purposes, can only work from the end of a chain. So in this case, because there are only two ends, only two enzymes can work on it. This will take a long time! On the other hand, the second type is called Amylopectin and is highly branched. It looks almost like a tree branch. As you can see this gives many more places for those little enzymes to do their dirty work, and it won't take them long at all.

    The typical American Diet is LOADED with these types of carbohydrates. The highly processed, refined and high amounts of amylopectin are what have been the 'base' of a healthy diet. In recent years, this has been questioned because of the rampant obesity epidemic. Research is stacking up by the day which verifies that diets high in these high GI foods, leads to excess weight gain, insulin resistance (Type II Diabetes) and a host of other health problems. I personally have traced the research all the way down to its effects on your DNA. That's right, these types of foods actually mess with your genes. But I will spare you the physiology lesson. All that being said, this does not give you the go ahead to eat all of the candy in the house. Notice, at the top of the pyramid, is the refined carbohydrates, and sweets. Sugar is both refined and a 'sweet'. It is also an empty calorie, it provides your body with no useful nutrition what so ever. This food guide pyramid has been very well designed to promote weight loss as well as an extremely health body. If you ever want to achieve your weight loss, muscle building and body transformation goals, optimal health is absolutely paramount.

Your Food Choices


    Following the guidelines of this new pyramid will really take the guesswork out of it. However, there are a few exceptions to the GI. The very top says that potatoes are High, and yes they are. However, that is your basic baking potato. Those soft fluffy ones that make the best mashed potatoes. On the other hand, the 'waxy' potatoes like red new potatoes, fingerling, etc. are actually very low. As are the ever popular sweet potato. And contrary to common belief, they are not sweet because of a higher amount of sugar, but and specific enzyme that is in the starch itself. Not to mention it is loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber and with a GI of only 55, this is a great vegetable to eat on a regular basis!

White VS Wheat

    Believe it or not, there is absolutely no difference between white bread and whole wheat bread, just the color. Whole grain bread is a different story and actually much harder to find. When selecting your bread, be sure to read the ingredients and make sure that the first ingredient is NOT flour. This is a very hard thing to find. Most health food store will carry a variety of whole grain bread now.

Bad Fruit?

    On the GI, it has been substantiated that certain fruits and vegetables to have a high Glycemic index. Things like watermelon, carrots, and parsnips are pretty high. However, there is a catch 22. The original GI listing was done using 50g of the carbohydrate from the food, not 50g of the food itself. So to get 50g of carbohydrate from carrots, you would have to eat in the neighborhood of 2lbs! I've said it before, it is virtually impossible to overeat on vegetables!  On the other hand, with things like pasta and potatoes, which have close to 40g of carbohydrates a serving, it is much easier to reach the appropriate amount.

How Low Can You Go?

    There are a couple things you can do to lower the GI rating of every food.
1. Add acidity: vinegar and citrus slow down digestion and therefore the GI response.

2. Fat! Having some fat in a meal will also slow down digestion. So making a vinaigrette of Olive oil and red wine vinegar is Ideal! No wonder the Greeks and French can stay so thin.

3. Sourdough bread: Sourdough is made with an acidic 'Starter' which gives it its unique taste, and consequently lowers the GI. If you area bread junkie, this MAY be a route to go, but follow the pyramid. Only in limited amounts.

4. Fiber: Foods with a lot of fiber slow digestion and the GI rate. Soluble fiber has a greater effect than insoluble. So things like Oatmeal, fruit and legumes are great places to start

5. Protein: Whole food proteins are very touch and durable structures that require complete digestion in the stomach. This will help to slow things down as well.

For the record:  <50 = low, 50-70 = intermediate >70 = high
Mixed Meals

Item	CHO(g)	Gly. Index	% of meal	Contr.
egg whites	0	0	0	0
1/4C oatmeal	27	55	67%	67% * 55 = 37
1C Skim Milk	13	34	33%	33%*34 =10
Totals	40	----	100	47