Glycemic Index Chart and Using Candy Bars For Healthy Eating

The glycemic index chart is the key that opens understanding to the index and unlocks the door to leveraging this useful tool for both weight loss and overall health. It's not uncommon for folks to first be overwhelmed by the glycemic index and confused as to how best to use it. Admittedly it can seem like a bunch of irrelevant numbers with no purpose other than to bombard you.

In actual fact, the numbers comprising the glycemic index chart essentially seek to describe to you how quickly your blood sugar level rises upon eating the given food you are investigating. Thus, for example, let's say that you are looking at a food with an assigned number of "93." This is a higher number, and it is informing you that the food is going to digest more quickly than the typical food. In so doing, there will be a quicker spike in your blood glucose.

Oppositely, then, a lower number on the glycemic index chart, such as "14," would indicate a food that digests slower. By digesting more slowly, the sugar is released into the blood more progressively. In this way, there is not such a fast jolt in blood glucose level. This tends to be healthier, as it is easier on the body. This is especially true for anyone suffering from diabetes.

Do not be surprised or alarmed if you see the glycemic index chart displayed in alternate ways. In other words, you could see a chart displayed according to numbers. Also, you could see a glycemic index chart set up by food categories. The latter is more typical, but they both convey the same information. At the end of the day, no matter how the data is revealed, it's all about the impact food digestion has on blood sugar.

As for making sense out of the number, in a relative sense, keep in mind these general guidelines. Typically, anything with an assigned score above 70 will be in the "high" category. Similarly, any food assigned a number beneath 55 belongs to the "low" category. In the mid range, between 55 and 70, you have the "moderate" category.

With these numerical ranges of the glycemic index chart assigned their respective labels, bear in mind that this is only the beginning of utility. It will actually take a deeper understanding of some key truths before you'll be able to reconcile some apparent discrepancies that you might think are errors. As an example, a typical candy bar has a score in the low range, somewhere around 40. Yet, a typical bagel is up in the 70 range, which gives it a "high" categorical label. Before you despair and think it's no use, keep in mind that the given candy bar in question is "packed with peanuts." This fact introduces the role of protein, which serves to impeded digestion. By slowing down the process, the blood glucose influence is also retarded. So, just keep in mind the interplay of different food components when using the glycemic index chart for dietary and weight loss purposes.

The upshot is that you no longer have to be confused by seemingly contradictory data. Instead, you can take advantage of this metabolic quirk to your advantage. You can pair items that are high on the glycemic index chart with high protein foods to delay the assault on the blood sugar level. A prime example is peanut butter on toast. Sure, you're eating a high carbohydrate food. But the peanuts retard the impact!