What is Glycemic Index?

Glycemic Index (GI) is the ranking of carbohydrate foods from 0 to 100 according to their effect on blood sugar (glucose) levels.

What are the benefits of low GI foods?

A low GI diet causes a gradual rise in blood sugar levels that has shown to:

• improve blood glucose control
• prevent and manage diabetes
• increase satiety and reduce appetite
• facilitate weight loss
• improve blood lipid profiles
• possibly improve acne (preliminary studies)
• enhance sport performance and endurance
• reduce risks of diabetes, coronary heart diseases (CHD) and certain types of cancer (prostate, breast and colorectal)
• improve the intestinal flora imbalance, which will help to increase production of antimicrobial compounds, modulating the immune system
• prevent against early age-related macular degeneration

Tips on healthy eating with low GI

• Eat two or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day

• Include more beans and legumes such as soybeans and chickpeas in your diet.

• Substitute your high GI breads, rice, and cereals with low GI varieties.

• Consume less processed food. Use rolled oats instead of instant oats.

• Include at least one low GI food in every meal.

• Consume lower GI staple such as wholegrain cereals (e.g. brown rice & barley)

How is GI Testing conducted?

GI testing (in vivo) is conducted in heathy human subjects. Glucose is used as the reference food to compare against the test food. The reference food has to be taken two to three times on separate days and test food is tested at least once in each subject. A minimum of 10-12 subjects will be involved to determine the GI value of a test food.