Monitoring the total Glycemic load

Each food type we eat has its own glycemic index (GI) which indicates how fast blood sugar levels rise after eating it. We are comparing that food against pure glucose. Glucose has a glycemic index of 100.

GI < 55 is considered low, 55<=GI<70 is moderate and 70<=GI is high.

• Most vegetables have low GI - except for potatoes, beets that have moderate GI . Carrots have high GI !!! Surprise surprise...
• Most fruits have low GI, however conserved fruits have moderate GI and beware of water melons - they have high GI.
• Alcoholic beverages have low GI, however beer has moderate GI.
• Nuts, seeds, almonds and such have low GI.
• Meat, eggs and such have low GI.
• Pasta has low GI however rise has moderate GI.

People who maintain low GI diet have much lower probability to suffer from diabetes and hard disease. High GI contribute to obesity. 

The GI itself is not enough - it's just an index! We need to multiply it by how much we eat - right? I mean if we eat tons of moderate GI sweet potatoe then that's gonna cause a higher insulin spike than if we eat one tablet of chocolate...

nutriditiondata.self.com has the GL value for any food you can think of. They define Glycemic Load as a way of expressing the food effect on blood-sugar levels. They say that if you sum up all the GL of all the foods that you eat per day then you shouldn't exceed 100. Those suffering from diabetes - should aim lower.

Now that's something that I can use!! I mean - I can add up the GL of my planned diet and make sure it doesn't exceet 100, or better yet... say 80 ??

So first of all let's measure the GL of the typical day that I described here.

• 50 grams of Beigalach/Pretzels - GL=32
• I can't find burekas so let's move on
• freshely brewed filtered coffee - GL = 0
• 2 pieces of Baguette - GL = 44
• 1 piece of Croissant - GL = 15
• 200 grams Salad - GL = 4
• Oil- GL = 0
• Shakshuka using 2 eggs - GL = 6
• 4 pieces of yellow/cheddar cheese - GL = 0
• 10 grams of butter - GL = 0
• 2 Falafels are composed of
•     12 falafel balls - GL = 36
•     2 pita breads - GL = 42
•     salad - GL = ~0
•     6 tbsp Humus - GL = 6
•     tahini - GL = 0
• 330 ml cock - GL = 9
• grapefruit juice - GL = ~10
• Omelette w/o butter - GL = 0
• Yogurt - GL = 11
• 1 cup grapes - GL = 5
• 2 cups water melons - GL = 6

The total GL for one day before starting the diet was an amazing 226 !!!

I have no idea how my body could have avoided diabetes all these years and only now after 50 years it gave up (or hopefully not?) - I was eating more than double the daily target for GL !!




Now let's go over my diet plan and see what's going on with the GL -

• 2 loaded tbsp of OAT cooked in hot water - GL = 1
• 1 slice of whole wheat bread - GL = 5
• 1 cooked egg - GL = 0.5
• 200 grams of 3% Yogurt - GL = 11
• 100 grams of 3-5% Cottage Cheese - GL = 3.5
• Big Salad - GL = ~0
• 10 olives - GL = 1
• 1 slice of whole wheat bread - GL = 5
• one cup of cooked whole rice - GL = 24
• one cup of cooked lentils - GL = 13
• 10 grams walnuts - GL = 0
• 1 cooked egg - GL = 0.5
• Big Salad - GL = ~0
• 3 apples - GL = 15
• 1 big salad - GL = ~0
• 1 tbsp olive oil - GL = 0
• 1 cooked egg - GL = 0.5
• 1 slice of whole wheat bread - GL = 5
• 200 mg 0.5% cottage cheese - GL = 6

The Total GL for my typical diet day is thus - 91

It is more or less the recommended amount. Remember, as I said, 100 is the limit per day and for those  of us with risk of diabetes - they should eat a little less.

Nevertheless - I think people should maintain even lower GL. I know that calorie restriction (CR) society are trying to maintain Glucose levels of 80 for most of the day in order to activate life extending genes. So I think I shall have to reconsider what carbs I eat for lunch - maybe rice shouldn't be in my list of carbs and also I think that I should find a replacement for the Yogurt that I so much like.


Aviel.