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Understanding The Glycemic Index
If you are even slightly interested in the health and fitness industry, the words "Glycemic Index" have become a house hold phrase. It seems that it is on tips of everyone's tongue and many people structure their entire eating style around it. I, for one, follow this practice as well. I think that by following the Glycemic Index, we can determine, and rather accurately I might add, when our body is in an anabolic state or to prevent a catabolic state. We can use also use it to increase fat loss without overly restricting calorie intake.But what exactly is this glycemic index that everyone seems so excited about? Well it really isn't a new concept, it has been around for a while. But lately, with the nations obesity epidemic, the recommended eating habits have been put on a microscope and one thing that keeps popping up as a major culprit, is the Glycemic Index of the foods people eat.
To lay the ground work, the glycemic index is a listing of numbers that give you an idea of how quickly a
carbohydrate
is digested and releases glucose into the blood sugar. The appearance of
glucose in the blood is a very accurate way to assess corresponding levels
of insulin. The Index itself is not always practical. The numbers that make
up the index are relative to eating 50g of pure glucose(dextrose), which
is the bodies form of sugar. So for the glucose and insulin response to
be as high as specified, you would have to eat 50g of the given carbohydrate,
not just the food itself. So you can see off hand that with starches, the
"foundation" of American eating, it is very easy to reach this amount in
one feeding. Recently, a formula was created to better reflect the response
to the actual amount of carbohydrate eaten. This is called the Glycemic
load. by taking the Glycemic number and dividing it by 100, then multiplying
that number by the number of carbohydrates(minus fiber) gives a very good
estimation of you blood glucose response. For example Oatmeal has a fairly low Glycemic index of about 55. To get the Glycemic Load : (55/100) = .55; .55*(27-4) = 12.7.
However, this does not mean that eating smaller amounts of Highly glycemic foods is ok. There are other factors at hand, which I have uncovered my research. The glycemic index and load is also effected by a couple other factors such as the amount of protein, fiber and fat ingested at a given time. All of those things will slow the rate at which food is dumped into the lower intestine where carbohydrates are digested.
Why is any of this important? Well it has a lot to do with managing insulin. Insulin is the hormone that stimulates all cells to accept glucose, proteins and fats in. This is refereed to an absorptive state, or anabolic to you and me. Using the glycemic index will allow us to choose certain food at certain times to elevate or maintain insulin levels for a desired effect. Like after an intense weight training or cardiovascular training session, insulin levels are dropping like K-Mart stock. Repeatedly eating moderate amounts of high GI foods in that 3 hour block of accelerated time of nutrient up take will turbo charge that anabolic drive. Muscles will literally opening the flood gates and letting in huge amounts of carbs and proteins. After that 3 hour window has shut, our main concern is to keep our insulin levels from dropping off the charts, but we don't want any spikes either. So by choosing foods that are low to moderate(<65) we can keep any potential catabolic state at bay. This is very easy to do by eating frequent small meals that are comprised of low GI foods.
What the Glycemic Index really does is throw the concept of simple and complex carbs out the window. It
was
believed that complex carbs are big and take a long time to digest. These
would provide a slow and sustained release of glucose and energy. Where
as simple carbs were absorbed quickly and would cause the all to toted sugar
"rush and crash". But after numerous confirmations, plan old table sugar
will keep energy levels more constant that a potato or a bowl of rice(in
most cases). It all has to do with the type of carbohydrate. When it comes to starch, there are two basic kinds. The first is called Amylose. This chain of glucose molecules is long and very flat, like a string of pearls. Carbohydrate digestion is all done by enzymes and for all intent purposes, imagine that these enzymes could only work from an open end of the molecule. With this long and flat molecule, we would get two enzymes working on it at a time. And if you've ever seen what a starch molecule looks like, you know this is going to take a while!
On the other hand, the second, Amylopectin, is has a lot of "branches". It would look something like a tree branch with a main limb and lots of little branches stemming from it. This give a ton of open sites for these enzymes to work on, and the digestion process will go much faster. Many forms of rice and most all potatoes have a very high percentage of amylopectin and very little fiber. Where as other whole grains, legumes, and vegetables have the converse. Fruit in general also tends to be low on the GI because fructose is a structural isomer of glucose and must be converted into glucose by the liver before it can
enter
the blood. And as you can imagine, this will take some time. This also explains
why table sugar has a fairly low GI of 58. Table sugar, or sucrose, is 1
molecule of glucose and 1 molecule of fructose. Milk as well has a rather
low GI. ranging from the teen's to the mid thirties depending on fat content.
Lactose requires another enzyme for digestion that we tend not to make very
much of once past infancy. So there aren't many enzymes to break the stuff
down quickly.This is a pretty good overview of the Glycemic index and what it is all about. Check the site for my article titled, "The intricacies of the Glycemic Index" for the finer details of how building a diet around the GI can help you guild muscle while losing the spare tire.