Sugar! Insulin! Everyone goes nuts about glycemic index. Problem is, glycemic load is unknown to most.

As we’re sure you know, we hear loads of people talk about the glycemic index as if it were diets worst enemy. Truth is, it’s not that simple nor linear. Let us explain what the glycemic load is so that you can better understand what we’re going on about.

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Glycemic load is the classification system used to categorize a diet high in carbs, it measures the amount of carbs in a serving of a certain food.

Foods that contain a glycemic load (GL) below 10 are considered foods with a low GL and have little impact over blood sugar levels. Foods that score between 10 and 20 are considered moderate GL level foods and have a moderate impact on blood sugar levels. All foods classified 20 or above are considered to have a high GL and tend to cause spikes in blood sugar levels.

How does the glycemic load relate do the glycemic index?

Glycemic index indicates the speed at which a carbohydrate is digested and metabolized into glucose (sugar starch) in the blood stream. In other words, the speed at which a carbohydrate is transformed into glucose (sugar starch) in the blood stream. A food with a high containing high glycemic index raises blood sugar levels more than a food with a medium to low glycemic index.

But, glycemic index doesn’t have into account the amount of carbs in a certain food. So, glycemic load is a better parameter to evaluate how a certain carbohydrate will affect blood sugar levels.

If a certain food has a high glycemic index but a low glycemic load –  like a single X-type cookie that has a GI of 74, but has a GL of 8,1 – how will that negatively affect blood sugar levels?

Foods with a higher classification on the GI chart are a majority. Why? Because GI isn’t based on standard servings. Basically, if a food is classified as having high GI, is because it contains predominantly carbohydrates that are quickly absorbed. The question is that that same food can have a low GL due to the fact that it doesn’t contain many carbohydrates in the portion size it’s normally consumed in. A low GL is a better indicator of what the impact of eating said food will be on your blood sugar levels.

Here are two examples:

Watermelon has a high GI, 72. But, it has a low GL level, only 7,2. High GI is based on 5 cups of watermelon. A real serving would probably be around 1 cup of watermelon. Low GL means that that portion of watermelon doesn’t actually have that many carbohydrates because it’s mainly composed of water (just in case you hadn’t noticed the name…). This means that if you eat a realistic portion of watermelon, it won’t have much impact on blood sugar levels.

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Carrots are another example of a food with low GL, but many people think it will greatly raise blood sugar levels (because carrots have a GI of 71, quite high). That isn’t true because, what most people don’t know, is that the GL of carrots is only 6! So, unless you eat half a kilo of carrots in one setting, they will probably not have much impact on your blood sugar levels. With that being said, carrot juice – which means more carrots at once – will have a higher impact on your blood sugar levels than a moderate portion of carrots.

All we wanted to say is that the key to a sustainable diet is to be moderate and eat a bit of everything – yes, everything! – That’s what you call a flexible diet!