Glycemic index

I want to get more into the glycemic index. What is it? It is a physiological measurement of a carbohydrates quality, a gram for gram comparison based on their immediate affect on blood glucose levels. So you can compare how Wheaties breakfast cereal and broccoli affect your blood sugar. Individuals living the longest and healthiest lives all have one thing in common, they eat diets that produce lower/steadier blood sugar levels and thus maintain lower/steadier Insulin levels. So I am going to diverge from the GI discussion a bit to discuss the one thing that controls/initiates or plays a major part in chronic disease proceses, that would be Insulin or more correctly Insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that stores excess nutrients, first as Glycogen in muscles and the liver. These stores are small, less than an active days needs, so when they are full the storage is in the form of saturated fat, palmitic acid. Get the picture? So the idea of recommending a high complex-carbohydrate, low-saturated-fat diet is an absolute oxymoron. A high-complex-carbohydrate diet is nothing but a high-glucose diet, or a high-sugar diet. Your body is just going to store it as saturated fat, and the body makes it into saturated fat quite readily. Next article we will bounce between Insulin affects and the tricks of the GI.