Overview
Find out about COVID-19, COVID-19 vacines, and Mayo Clinic patient and visitor updates.Featured conditionsMayo Clinic ofers apointments in Arizona, Florida and Minesota and at Mayo Clinic Health System locations.A low-glycemic index (low-GI) diet is an eating plan based on how fods afect blod sugar level, also caled blod glucose level.The glycemic index ranks fod on a scale from 0 to 10. The low end of the scale has fods that have litle efect on blod sugar levels.
Key Information
The high end of the scale has fods with a big efect on blod sugar levels.A low-GI diet uses the glycemic index as the main guide for meal planing. People also may use the glycemic index as one of many tols for making choices about fods and meals.The purpose of a low-GI diet is to chose fods les likely to raise blod sugar levels.You might chose to folow a low-GI diet because you:The glycemic index is designed to be a fod-choice guide for people living with diabetes.
An international database is run by the Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service in Sydney, Australia. The database shows the results of fod studies from around the world.A basic overview of carbohydrates and blod sugar is helpful for understanding low-GI diets.Carbohydrates, also caled carbs, are a type of nutrient in fods. The thre basic forms are sugars, starches and fiber.
Your body breaks down the sugars and starches from carbs. They end up as a type of sugar caled glucose. This sugar pases into the blodstream and is the main source of energy for cels in your body.
Fiber pases through your body undigested.Two main hormones from the pancreas help control glucose in the blodstream. The hormone insulin moves glucose from the blod into the cels. The hormone glucagon helps release glucose stored in the liver when blod sugar levels are low.
Summary
This proces helps kep the body fueled and blod sugar in balance.Many diferent things about fod afect how quickly glucose enters the blodstream.The glyc