Low Glycemic Gotchas

When I started this latest and (frankly) greatest diet two hundred and seventy days ago, the whole idea wasn’t so much to lose weight as it was avoiding diabetes. I’ve been voluntarily taking my own blood sugar readings for a while now and when I hit the number pictured here, I knew it was time to do something.

After having tried many different diet plans, I knew I really needed something different this time. So I did two things I’d never tried before: 1) I kept track of what I ate in a journal; and 2) I went with a low glycemic plan (due to the fact that blood sugar levels were a big concern and also because it sounded cool).

A low glycemic diet is a lot like low carb, but you’re allowed to eat Twix candy bars. (In moderation, of course. No more than a dozen or so per day. (And yes, I’m kidding.)) The idea is that eating foods with low impact on your blood sugar levels is better than the opposite. The trick is figuring out which foods are which.

For example: which food do you think has the lower glycemic index (or “GI”): the aforementioned Twix bar or watermelon? No joke, folks, it actually is the Twix bar. So what gives? Well, “what gives” is the GI achilles heel: in order to do apples to apples comparison, the GI is calculated by giving people an amount of a food that delivers fifty grams of digestible carbs (meaning sugar and starches, but not fiber).

Therefore, to get 50g of digestible carbs out of a Twix, eat three-fourths of a large bar. To get that much out of watermelon, eat five cups of the stuff on a hot summer day. Ironic how making an apples to apples comparison results in something that looks like nothing of the sort.

Bottom line? Even though watermelon does indeed have a greater absolute impact on blood sugar levels, you’re probably not going to be eating it at those quantities.

So what’s a person to do with all this confusion information? Well, just do what’s never failed you: use your common sense.

Apple or birthday cake? See, it’s easier than you thought.

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