Avoid Sugar Burnout
Learn about Glycemic Load!

Glycemic Load (GL) shows how quickly a food will turn to sugar in your blood stream. Blood sugar is your fuel. This is why children in particular get “hyped up” when they eat a lot of sugar.

Too much sugar can actually cause “burn out.” If you think of a rocket ship versus a car, the rocket fuel would actually destroy the car because it is too rich a fuel for the car to handle. This “burn out” can contribute to diabetes and other blood sugar issues, heart disease, hormone imbalances, immune system dysfunction, obesity, tooth decay, weight gain and even wrinkles.

To explain glycemic load (GL), we must first discuss glycemic index (GI). GI is determined by consuming a food with 50 grams of carbohydrates and seeing how fast the blood sugar responds in the body, compared to how fast 3 tablespoons of pure glucose would respond in the same test subject.

For example, 1½ pounds of carrots contain 50 grams of carbohydrates. When a text subject eats 1½ pounds of carrots, his/her blood sugar would rise 71 percent as quickly as if he/she consumed 3 tablespoons of pure glucose. Therefore, a carrot is said to have a GI of “71.”

The problem with GI is that it does not take into account the serving size of each food and the amount of carbohydrates that serving contains. For example, in the case of the carrot, a single serving size would be 1 medium carrot that has approximately 8 grams of carbohydrates (much different than the 50 gram example above). The calculation to determine the GL for a carrot is 71/100*8 (the GI divided by 100, times the grams of carbohydrates).

In this case, the carrot would only have a GL of “6”. Therefore, under the GI rating, the carrot is shown as a “high” glycemic food that should be avoided by people with blood sugar issues (like diabetes). On the contrary, the GL shows the carrot as a “low” glycemic food. As you can see, under the GI rating, the diabetic would have unnecessarily avoided this healthy food. Therefore, the GL is a much more accurate measurement of glycemic level.

Let us take the example of mashed potatoes. A cup of mashed potatoes has a GI of 83 and a GL of 26. Both the GI and GL are high in this case. Therefore, this food should be avoided by diabetics and minimized by the general population, as not to contract diabetes.

Glycemic Ratings

As a benefit to members of YOUnique Nutrition™, detailed information about blood sugar and how to reduce or eliminate cravings is available in the member’s area. Additionally, the Nutrire™ shopping tool shows the glycemic load for all foods in the database. You can then select foods that are low in glycemic load and print out a shopping list for the grocery store, so that you purchase the foods that are right for you and your family.

Remember, eating foods that are lower in glycemic load can help ensure your long-term health and vitality.