Hello, I'm Ty Mason from TheDiabetesCouncil.com, researcher, writer and I have type 2 diabetes.
Today I'm going to answer the question, what is glycemic load?
But before we get into that, make sure you download my free diabetes management book
which also includes a diabetes grocery shopping guide (foods to eat and avoid) by clicking
the link below.
As a person with diabetes there are certain terms and tools we all need to know about
in order to help keep our blood sugar under control.
One of the best tools available, in my opinion, is the Glycemic Load or GL.
The GL takes into account more than the Glycemic Index, for a more in depth look at the GI,
please watch our video “What is Glycemic Index”
We know that a food with a high GI raises blood sugar more than a food with a medium
to low GI.
But the glycemic index fails to take into account the amount of net carbs in a food.
So glycemic load is a better indicator of how a carbohydrate food will affect blood
sugar.
There is a problem with just using the GI.
This is because researchers calculate the GI value of foods based on identical portions
delivering 50 grams of carbohydrate.
Glycemic load takes into account the GI AND amount of carbohydrate eaten.
This makes it a much better indicator because it reflects both the type and amount of dietary
carbohydrate and is much more practical for everyday use.
What the GI doesn't tell you is how high your blood sugar could go when you actually eat
the food, which is partly determined by how much carbohydrate is in an individual serving.
A food with a GL of 10 is considered low while a food with a GL of 20 is considered high.
A prime example of a food that is misleading is the pineapple.
The pineapple has a GI of 59, making it a food that we might want to avoid.
But the GL is only 7 which is considered low.
Another example is watermelon.
Watermelon has a very high GI at 80.
But a serving of watermelon on has 6 grams of net carbs.
That means its glycemic load is only 5.
Conversely, some foods have a relatively low GI but could have a high GL.
A slice of vanilla cake with frosting only has a GI of 42, but the GL is 24.
Determining the GL of a food is really simple.
You take the GI and multiply by the net carbs and divide by 100.
NOTE, net carbs are total carbs minus dietary fiber.
You might have to do a little math, but in the end it is all worth it.
It is my personal opinion that you use the GL of a food rather than simply the GI.
It is a much better indicator as to how a food will affect your blood sugar after you
eat it.
Example of corn.
GI is 49.
Multiply by the NET Carbs which is the 31 grams minus the 3 grams of dietary fiber which
gives us 28.
That result is 1,372.
Divide by 100 and we get a GL of 13.7.
So corn is a low GI food but a medium GL food.
I hope this answered your question what is glycemic load.
Don’t forget to get your diabetes management book by clicking the link in the description
box below.
Let me know if you have any other diabetes related questions.
Thank you I am Ty Mason