GI is a measure of how quickly blood sugar levels rise after eating a particular type of food. Different foods have different effects on blood sugar levels. Glucose (pure sugar) is used as a standard reference (GI 100) and other foods are measured against this.
High GI foods break down quickly during digestion and release glucose rapidly into the bloodstream while low GI foods break down more slowly, releasing glucose more gradually into the bloodstream.
In short, foods with lower GI is better as it releases glucose slowly and will not cause a spike in blood sugar level. A high GI food causes a more rapid rise in blood glucose levels and is suitable for energy recovery after exercise or for a person experiencing hypoglycemia.
In general, coarse, grainy breads with higher amounts of fiber have a lower GI value than white breads. Similar with rice, the softer the rice is (white rice, glutinous rice, Thai white rice), the higher the GI compared to brown rice. It is also safe to say that, the more fiber the food has, the lower the GI.
Anyway, here is a list of common foods and their GI:
Foods
|
Glycaemic
Index (GI)
|
Rice cracker
|
111
|
Jasmine rice
|
109
|
Boiled potato
|
100
|
Glutinous rice
|
94
|
Banana
|
88
|
Broken rice
|
86
|
Orange juice
|
75
|
White bread
|
70
|
Sushi
|
67
|
Croissant
|
67
|
Dried rice noodles
|
61
|
Papaya
|
58
|
Udon
|
58
|
Apple
|
55
|
Basmati rice
|
55
|
Mango
|
51
|
Orange
|
42
|
Fresh rice
noodles
|
40
|
Pear
|
37
|
Mung beans
(kacang hijau)
|
31
|
Factors that may affect the GI of a food:
- Cooking methods: frying, boiling and baking.
- Processing and the ripeness of fruit and certain vegetables.
- Wholegrains and high fibre foods act as a physical barrier to slow down absorption of carbohydrate. This is not the same as ‘wholemeal’, where, even though the whole of the grain is included, it has been ground up instead of left whole. So some mixed grain breads that include wholegrains have a lower GI than either wholemeal or white bread.
- Fat lowers the GI of a food. For example chocolate has a medium GI because of its fat content and crisps will actually have a lower GI than potatoes cooked without fat.
- Protein lowers the GI of food. Milk and other dairy products have a low GI because of their high protein content, and because they contain fat.
Note: If you were to restrict yourself to eating only low GI foods – your diet would be unbalanced and high in fat and calories, leading to weight gain and increasing your risk of heart disease. It is important not to focus exclusively on GI and to think about the balance of your meals, which should be low in fat, salt and sugar and contain plenty of fruit and vegetables.
Like i said all the time, eat in moderation.
Its not wise to avoid eating rice but then try to substitute it by eating lots of noodles or bread. Yes you can eat rice but in moderation.
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