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Carbs And The Glycemic Index
Posted by GuestPoster in Health & Fitness
All of the carbohydrates we eat every day are turned into glucose and then absorbed into the blood to be carried to cells needing it for fuel. Those foods all fit into the glycemic index which assigns a number to indicate how much a particular food causes blood sugar levels to rise. People with normal glucose levels control glucose levels by secreting insulin from the pancreas.
Not overloading the blood stream with glucose is important to effective blood sugar control and the glycemic index can tell us which foods to eat together to keep this working smoothly. Consuming a meal high in carbohydrates and sugar creates a fast blood sugar rise and a resulting signal to the pancreas to push out more insulin. As more insulin is pushed out it tends to over run the glucose as it finally slows down in absorption and cause a fall in blood sugar and possible hypoglycemia. This is when that urge for a candy bar or other sweet food kicks in and off you go again with a quick blood sugar rise and the resulting fall.
It is important to get out of that cycle because eventually the pancreas will no longer be able to respond. It’s almost as if the pancreas gets tired out and can’t keep up anymore. Foods lower on the glycemic index don’t create that rapid rise and fall and tend to even out the rise and fall of blood sugar levels because they don’t contain as much sugar and are higher in fiber which slows glucose absorption down.
Good health throughout your entire lifetime is important to maintain and keeping blood sugar levels in normal ranges can go along way to preserving that health. Watch what you eat each day and add in some exercise and those levels should stay in normal ranges.
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