The glycemic index myth

[Guest guest]

This is basically an expansion of my other post in the carbs,

diabetes and common sense thread. Here is a list of the glycemic

index of some common foods, with white bread being the baseline of

100. You may want to refer to that from time to time.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dds8ubc/info/nutrition/glyindex1.htm

Take a look at the glycemic list and observe patterns in the low

glycemic foods. For the most part, low glycemic foods are ones that

are frequent sources of allergies. That's because low glycemic foods

are less digestible than high glycemic foods! That's also why WAP

found that people who ate low glycemic foods tended to ferment them

first - to improve digestion. There are several factors that go into

digestion:

1. Fiber. This is the biggie. The more fiber, the less digestible a

food is, and the lower on the glycemic index. We take this to mean

that fiber is good, but I don't think so. As WAP-ers we soak grains

in order to break down the fiber. What we are after is the vitamin

and mineral content, not the fiber. I've seen several people on this

list observe that they have reservations about grains because soaking

does not completely break down the phytates in the bran. That soaking

process also makes the grains more digestible. Would anyone disagree

that properly soaked whole wheat is higher on the glycemic index than

regular whole wheat?

2. Indigestible starches. Beans are extremely low glycemic. That's

because they have some starches that are extremely difficult to

digest, like raffinose. Since we can't digest them they ferment in

the large intestine and produce gas. The beans making you fart thing

is correct.

3. Amylose/amylopectin ratio. These are the most common two starches

in foods. Of the two, amylopectin is more easily digested because its

in a more " open " shape, which allows digestive enzymes to have easier

access to it. Foods with a high amylose to amylopectin ratio have a

lower glycemic index.

4. lactose. Milk is low glycemic also, because we don't digest

lactose very efficiently. Its also why milk is so frequently consumed

in cultured forms, as the culturing process digests the lactose for

us.

5. fructose. This has nothing to do with digestibility, but fructose

is also low glycemic index. That's because fructose is not actively

transported into the bloodstream like glucose, but rather enters it

through passive diffusion.

6. Gelatinization. When foods are cooked the starches gelatinize and

this makes them more digestible because the enzymes have easier

access.

I've actually come across nutrition websites that are aware of these

issues, and recommend eating the difficult to digest foods! Now if

you're diabetic that makes sense, your insulin system is broken. But

for regular people that makes no sense at all. Good nutrition starts

with digestion. That doesn't mean that grains and legumes are bad for

you, but you should definitely make them as digestible as possible by

following NT guidelines that include proper soaking - even though it

will result in a higher glycemic index food.

Here's a point that has nothing to do with digestion: we all

generally suspect that refined sugars cause diabetes, but sugars are

pretty low on the glycemic index - about the same as oatmeal

(presumably unsoaked) and pineapples. And high-fructose corn syrup is

even lower on the glycemic index. High blood sugar cannot cause

diabetes if sugars do indeed cause it.