Interesting Glycemic Index Insights: GI for Carbohydrate Selection
( Discover the Effects of the Glycemic Index - fitFlex Articles - Learn, Share and Discover! ) ..
The glycemic index shows how much insulin your body secretes when a nutrient is introduced into your blood. Although it sounds simple,
it's actually quite confusing. The same food can have a different GI depending on how it's cooked. Pasta al dente (pasta that's cooked
for a shorter time and so remains slightly hard) has a lower glycemic index than well-cooked, soft pasta. Baked potatoes have a higher
glycemic index than mashed potatoes because of a difference in the macrostructure of the carbohydrate.
When you add butter, milk, monounsaturated oil or essential fatty acids to food, it usually lowers the GI. So if you eat a baked potato
with oil, for instance, it has a lower glycemic index than a plain baked potato. Fiber slows carbohydrate absorption and therefore may
help reduce the glycemic index of the carbs. Whole grains have a lower glycemic index than refined grains.
Even though many people consider the glycemic index as the key to selecting carbs, don't believe that the GI is always as critical a
factor as it's believed to be. Fructose, for example, has a lower SI than white rice. In my opinion, though, high-fructose corn syrup,
which appears in many commercial foods, processed foods and hearth bars, is one of the most dangerous and destructive sources of carbs.
White rice, with its higher GI, is the far superior choice.
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