Yesterday we disCussed how low GI foods influence weight loss. Everyone is aware that there are some ready low GI foods and some high GI foods. Confusion comes when you check A food online for its GI and somewhere it shows high GI and somewhere low.
So first of all let me remove this confusion by explaining number of factors can influence the GI value of a food or meal.
1. The type of sugar: It’s a misconception that all sugars have a high GI. The GI of sugar actually ranges from as low as 19 for fructose to up to 105 for maltose. Therefore, the GI of a food partly depends on the type of sugar it contains.
White sugar which has a very bad name in fact is not that bad. It has moderate GI of 68, brown sugar has 64, jaggery which is claimed as safe for diabetics has same GI as white sugar. So now you know, jaggery is not a sugar replacement for diabetics.
Non diabetic people can consume moderate quantities of white or brown sugar without planning to leave it lifetime to lose weight
2. Next factor which affect is Structure of the starch: Starch is a carbohydrate made up of two molecules, amylose and amylopectin. Amylose is difficult to digest, whereas amylopectin is easily digested. Foods with a higher amylose content will have a lower GI.
Like whole wheat has more amylose and white bread will have high amylopectin
3. How refined the carbohydrate is:
Processing methods such as grinding and rolling disrupt amylose and amylopectin molecules, raising the GI. Generally speaking, the more processed a food is, the higher its GI.
Just like oats. You eat instant oats and stay happy thinKing that you are consuming low GI good whereas it has 84 GI and rolled oats have 49.
4. Nutrient composition: Both fat and acid slow down the rate at which a food is digested and absorbed, resulting in a lower GI. Adding fats or acids, such as ghee or lemon juice, will lower the GI of a meal.
Hahaha, interesting right?
Squeeze lemon in rice meal and consume it
Add ghee in rajmah to get it metabolised as low GI foods does. 
🙂
5. Cooking method: Preparation and cooking techniques can change the GI too. Generally, the longer a food is cooked, the faster its sugars will be digested and absorbed, raising the GI.
So baked potato is lower in GI than boiler potato.
6. Ripeness: This one gonna remove major confusions. When I ask my patients to eat banana whenever they are hungry, they get frightened of weight gain. The fact is that Unripe fruit contains complex carbohydrates that break down into sugars as the fruit ripens. The riper the fruit, the higher its GI. So semi ripe banana has a GI of 30, whereas an overripe banana has a GI of 48. Still comes under low GI 🙂
So these were some tricks to lower GI of your favourite foods. In my next post, I will give you all the replacements of high GI foods.
Stay tuned:)))
Stay aware😊😊😊