Glycemic Index

Carbohydrates are digested at different rates. Some are digested slowly, allowing your blood sugar to rise steadily. Some are digested more quickly, causing your blood sugar to raise rapidly. The glycemic index (GI) is a measurement of how quickly your blood sugar rises after eating a carbohydratecontaining food, as compared to pure glucose. Foods are ranked on a scale of 0–100, where pure glucose is 100. The lower a food sits on the index, the slower your blood sugar raises after eating. Avoiding spikes in blood sugar is desirable for health benefits and to avoid the inevitable crash in energy following a sugar rush.

Foods are ranked according to this scale: Low GI: 0–49 Medium GI: 50–69 High GI: 70–100

When choosing what to eat, remember whole, plant-based foods contain plenty of fiber for an overall low GI.

High-GI foods aren’t necessarily bad for you. It depends on how many grams of carbohydrates a food contains and whether other macronutrients are also present. Some ice creams have a lower GI than a baked potato, but the baked potato is a healthier option because of its beneficial fiber and micronutrients.

There are several ways to slow the absorption of glucose into the blood, including eating low-glycemic foods. Another is to pair highglycemic foods with protein, fat, and fiber. These macronutrients slow the rise in blood sugar. Many cultures have dietary patterns that intuitively do this, such as combining rice with beans.