How Is The Glycemic Index Of A Particular Food Determined?
A group of people is assembled, and the fasting blood sugar levels for each individual are measured. The test subjects then all eat a specified amount of a particular food. Their blood sugar levels are measured frequently for next several hours, and an average of those various blood sugar levels is determined. From this information, a glycemic index value is given on a scale of from one to one hundred, comparing it to a so-called reference food, which is given the arbitrary value of 100. Now it gets even more confusing. There is no standard for what constitutes the reference food. Some glycemic index systems use glucose as the standard, but others use white bread. On the scale where glucose is 100, white bread is 70. But on the scale where white bread is 100, glucose is over 125. While it is true that the lower the number, the less the impact that food will have on the ‘average’ person’s blood sugar, the actual numerical values depend on which scale has been used, and there is no parti
