The Glycemic List and Its Importance to Your Health and Weight Loss

The following is a glycemic index list which ranks foods according to how rapidly they raise your blood sugar levels which is important to know. The higher on the list the more rapidly they raise blood sugar (glucose). Next to each food is its corresponding glycemic index number which ranges from 0 to 100. It is very important for the sake of your health and well being to become familiar with this list.

High Glycemic Index Foods

Sugar 100

Rice Chex 89

Corn flakes 84

French fries 75

Cheerios 74

White bread 70

Intermediate glycemic ranking

Whole wheat bread 69

Mars bar 68

Beets 64

Hamburger bun 61

Ice Cream 61

Low Glycemic Index foods

Oatmeal cookie 55

Frosted flakes 55

Potato chips 54

Macaroni 47

Spaghetti 42

Snickers bar 41

Ravioli, meat 39

Apple 38

Pear 38

M&Ms peanut 33

Peach 33

Skim milk 32

Whole milk 27

Cherries 22

Peanuts 14

Foods high on the chart will raise blood sugar rapidly with a following rapid crash leaving you depressed and lethargic. Also with the blood sugar low you will now feel very hungry again causing you to eat sooner and eat more putting on more weight. The idea is to choose foods low on the chart. They raise blood sugar slowly and keep it stable keeping your energy high and your appetite in check far longer.

The GI (glycemic index) was first created for the health of diabetics. But is also helpful for heart disease and its use is becoming mainstream for those seeking a no nonsense, non-fad approach to weight loss.

The beauty of using the glycemic index list for health, longevity and weight loss is that it throws out all the opinion and all the contradictory theories, of which there is an abundance, on the subject and gives you straight forward scientifically derived at easy to follow numbers. It's beautiful. You want to know how beneficial a food is for you it's easy you just locate it on the chart. And don't think this stuff is easy or "just common sense" as we will see now.

The reason this is so beneficial for us is because many foods are not obvious at all. When you look over the list you will be amazed and surprised at where many foods are located. Foods you thought were very healthy are way up on the chart. There are foods low on the chart that you would never guess would have a low GI. This list eliminates all the guess work and helps you make correct choices for your health and weight loss.

As you become familiar with the glycemic index list some of these seeming oddities start to make sense and you can use these oddities in your favor. For example you will notice that ice cream and even a Snickers bar have a lower GI then something which is considered heart healthy like Cheerios. This is easily explained by the fact that both ice cream and a Snickers bar contain a lot of protein. If you add protein or even fat (as with the ice cream) it will actually slow down medium or even very high GI foods even with chocolate or high sugar content. Cheerios on the other hand lacks protein (and fat) and thus raises the blood glucose levels rapidly.

In other words you can use this little trick to your advantage. If you are going to consume some high GI food make sure you also add some protein or even some fat. It will slow down the otherwise rapid GI food. Become familiar with glycemic index list, use it, become more familiar with it, use it more and watch the results as your weight goes down and your energy goes up.