Dear all,
I hope everyone is safe and sound. We are glad to be back after a week off and wanted to discuss about this confusing topic of glycaemic load (GL) and Glycaemic index (GI) There’s a lot of talk out there regarding GI index of foods and most people are aware that they should stay away from high GI foods to maintain better blood sugar control. As we were all adjusting and understanding this terminology, we have a new one that’s come up which is the glucose load.
By definition; Glycaemic Index is the rate at which food is absorbed and raises ones’ blood sugar. For example, watermelon has a high GI and therefore taking a piece of water melon means quick absorption and elevation of blood sugar.
Glycaemic Load on the other hand means the overall amount of carbohydrate per serving of that particular food. Using the same example of the water melon above, watermelons have low GL. This means a portion of watermelon has an overall lower amount of carbohydrates in total.
Making it clearer, a portion of watermelon will have low carbohydrate load (glycaemic load) but when ingested has the ability to be absorbed quickly and raise blood sugar (glycaemic index).
So, what is best for us you might ask? Theoretically, we should choose low GI low GL foods as our carbohydrates in our meals. Examples of these are whole grains and food with lots of fibre. This does not mean you are NOT allowed to eat certain foods rather you should focus on practicing PORTION CONTROL!
Meaning, if you have a log GL high GI food like watermelon, having small portions of it will not have a great impact on your blood sugar. If you have half a watermelon in one sitting though, this will definitely raise your blood sugar.
I hope this simplifies the confusing issue regarding glucose load and glycaemic index. Several lists of both can easily be found on the internet, you can just go through and narrow down to foods you like and see where they fall. If they are high GI high GL then try look for healthier alternatives and always remember about portions.
Enjoy your meals!
Kind regards,
Dr. Salwa Shahbal