Glycemic Load Is the Key to Making Appropriate Diet Adjustments

To control blood sugar and successfully manage—or even reverse—diabetes, making changes to your diet is absolutely essential. To do that, one of the first things you need to become aware of is how quickly your body converts specific foods into glucose.

One way to evaluate foods is with the glycemic index (GI). Foods with a high GI—such as refined carbohydrates and sugars—are rapidly turned into glucose, driving up blood sugar levels. On the other hand, vegetables, legumes, and most fruits cause a slow, sustained release of glucose into the bloodstream. They’ll keep your insulin from spiking, provide a sustained source of energy, and satisfy your hunger over the long haul.

Another way to determine how a food may affect your blood sugar is by looking at its glycemic load (GL). Glycemic load is based on the same concept as the GI, but it takes into account the quality and quantity of a food. It’s determined by the GI of a food plus the amount of available, or net, carbohydrates in a standard serving.

Which is better?

I give the nod to GL, and here’s why. Some foods with a high GI actually have minimal effects on blood sugar levels when eaten in normal quantities, while others with a low GI are potentially problematic. For example, a large carrot and a cup of spaghetti have similar GIs. Yet that carrot contains only 5 g of available carbs (it’s mostly water), while the spaghetti contains 38 g, giving them GLs of 2 and 16, respectively.

Therefore, they have dramatically different effects on blood sugar. Carrots, watermelon, pineapple, and other fruits with a high GI that were once thought to be inappropriate for people with diabetes turn out to be acceptable, while the GL confirms the need to cut out pasta, bagels, and other starchy, carbohydrate-dense foods.

To quickly lighten your glycemic load, eat lots of salads, green vegetables, beans, and legumes. And another small secret is that eating a modest amount of healthy fats and moderate portions of lean protein with each meal can help to “cancel out” high glycemic foods, even in a single dish! One of my favorite meals is a hearty salad with a nice piece of salmon on top. It’s an easy way to get a tasty serving of healthy fats, plenty of protein, and lots of low GL carbs. What’s yours?