Myra Bickel

The Glycemic Index is a rating system for foods where any type of carbohydrate has a numerical value assigned to it based on its components and how each food affects the body’s sugar levels.

Dr. David Jenkins, a Canadian professor and scientist from the University of Toronto developed the concept of a rating index in March of 1981. He felt that a better system needed to be developed due to the popularity of certain diets like Atkins and South Beach that vilified all carbohydrates and many fats. He wanted to show that it was too oversimplified to categorize carbohydrates as “simple” and “complex” or even worse, as “good carbs” and “bad carbs”. Most carbohydrates are too complex to label them in this manner.

He wanted to show the scientific community and thereby, the world that all foods affect our bodies’ blood sugar levels differently and that they have many different degrees of being simple and complex, good or bad.

Basically, as food breaks down in our digestive system, many of the food’s components, like sugar or vitamins and minerals are absorbed into our blood stream and immediately affect our system. Foods that break down quickly and have high glucose or sugar levels will give us a “spiked” feeling of energy and euphoria. This feeling is commonly referred to as a “sugar high”. Other foods break down more slowly and release their sugars, starches and nutrients over a longer period of time, which avoids any sudden increases to our sugar levels and keeps our insulin levels low. Later in this report, we will explain exactly what glucose and insulin are and how they affect our bodies and our health.

Dr. Jenkins proved that many carbohydrates were, in fact, very healthy and should not be avoided simply because of the fact that they were carbohydrates. As a matter of fact, he discovered that there are dozens of foods that in the past were categorized as unhealthy, but that turned out to be very beneficial. He also encountered some surprising results on foods that had always been considered “diet” foods, but when tested, he discovered that they tested very high on the Glycemic Index.

Dr. Jenkins continues to work in the field of dietary science and pushes forward by continually pursuing the link between diet and health. He proceeds in proving the theory that eating certain diets can improve or eliminate the risk of health issues such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease as well as other diseases.

For more in depth information on the glycemic index including diabetes related facts, visit Glycemic Index Updates.