Foods with medium and low Glycemic Index

bymaroche2

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3 years ago

According to WHO there are 422 million people are suffering from Diabetes Mellitus, a chronic, metabolic disease in which the hormone insulin responsible for controlling the body's blood sugar levels is not produced or there is not enough insulin was produced by the organ pancreas.

There are 2 main types of Diabetes Mellitus:

1. Type 1 also known as juvenile diabetes in which pancreas is producing little amount of insulin or sometimes nothing at all, this is also termed as IDDM, in which the person is dependent on insulin for life.

2. Type 2 which is more common in adults in which there is an insulin resistance or the pancreas is not producing enough insulin to control the blood sugar levels. Its progress to Type 1 can ne prevented by lifestyle modification, exercise and diet.

Health and dietary education is very important to people with diabetes, choices of food play a vital role in helping normalize the blood glucose levels. A balance diet is recommended, plenty of fruits and vegetables, low salt, low fats and low sugar, similarly a low to medium glycemic foods is recommended to diabetics.

A glycemic index is a numeric measurement of a certain food from 0-100, a pure glucose is given a score of 100. A low glycemic index scores from 0-55, medium 55-69, and high is 70-100, this is based on how slowly or quickly the rise of blood sugar levels after eating a certain kind of food. The higher the number the faster blood sugar level is elevated.

A low to medium GI means food were broken down slowly thus there is a gradual rise in blood sugar level over time. It also helps in controlling appetite which helps in weight loss, while high GI, food is broken down rapidly which result to a rapid increase in blood sugar levels after meal. However, high GI foods can be consumed after a strenuous exercise and in cases where blood sugar levels are remarkably low.

Here are examples of Medium and Low Glycemic foods