Glycemic Index Lists

There is available, a definitive table for glycemic index lists, as well as the glycemic load. This table includes several glycemic index lists for over 2,400 foods. However, not all of them are produced or available in the United States. The available glycemic index lists are a numerical system of weighing how much of a rise in blood sugar a carb may trigger, and the higher the number, the greater the blood sugar response time. Foods with a low glycemic index will elicit a small rise, while a high glycemic food can trigger a very high one. Let’s take a look at just a small portion of foods on the many glycemic index lists!

Some high carb foods includes white wheat bread, specialty grain bread, chapatti,  corn tortilla, white rice, brown rice and  barley. Some of the breakfast cereals on several glycemic index lists are cornflakes, wheat flake biscuits, rolled oats, instant oat porridge, millet porridge and Muesli. Fruit and fruit products that made the glycemic index lists are oranges, bananas, pineapples, mangos, watermelon, dates, peaches, strawberry jam/jelly and orange juice. The good for you vegetables on glycemic index lists are: potatoes, carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin and vegetable soup.  In dairy products there are: milk, ice cream, yogurt, soy milk and rice milk. As for legumes and beans: chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils and soya beans made the glycemic index lists.  And last but not least our very favorites, snack products and sugars: Chocolate, popcorn, potato crisps, soft drinks, rice crackers, fructose, sucrose and glucose.

Although this may have answered a lot of questions it doesn’t really describe products we know the names of. So what are the common products that are good in GI count for me? There is the well known brand name products such as Rice Bran, Kellogg’s’ All Bran Fruit ‘n Oats, Kelloggs’ Guardian, All-bran, Special K, Oat Bran, Kellogg’s’ Honey Smacks and  Bran Chex. Some cookies you could enjoy a bit more guilt free may be oatmeal cookies, shortbread, arrowroot and  vanilla wafers. Specific beans and legumes can include soya beans, lentils, kidney beans, butter beans, split peas, lima beans, chick peas, navy beans, pinto beans, curry, black-eyed beans, pinto beans, romano beans, baked beans and fava beans. Pastas can include spaghetti, vermicelli, star pastina, ravioli, capellini, macaroni, and instant noodles. And last but not least our favorites again, sugars and snack foods! Those on glycemic index lists are peanuts, jams and marmalades, chocolate, potato chips, Life Savers, corn chips, jelly beans, pretzels, dates, honey, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, glucose and maltose. Be sure to inspect the glycemic index lists before you begin planning your meals.

So with so much ready availability in products that are on glycemic index lists there is little to no excuse not to begin practicing a better health regimen by including a well balanced glycemic index diet in your meal plans. You will not be sorry and will soon notice a skip in your step again! I hope you will remember to make use of the available glycemic index lists out there to help plan your diet.