What glycemic index book does anyone recommend.

[Bob Hants]

There seema a plethora of these publications and some have a lot of 1 star ratings.
I am looking for a recommendation for a book that you use.

Thanks in Advance

Bob

 

[rebrascora]

Personally I would recommend you spend your money on a Blood Glucose meter so that you can see how your body responds to particular foods rather than a book which gives a general idea of how the average person responds, because we are all individual in how our bodies break down foods. This is due to differences in metabolism and gut biome and genetic factors and how we combine foods to suit our taste. For instance porridge (the best steel cut jumbo oats) is supposed to be low GI but my body can break it down really quickly and the glucose from it can start getting from my mouth to the tip of my finger (where I test my my via a finger prick) in just 20 mins from starting eating. That is only 10 mins slower than sugar, so not exactly slow release. Other people might find it takes a couple of hours. Adding fat to carbs can slow the rate of digestion, so having cream with porridge instead of milk can slow it down a bit. It is the same with potatoes and rice and pasta and bread. Some people find that even seeded wholemeal bread spikes their levels but they can get away with a couple of roast potatoes. Some find cooking, cooling (edited cooking to cooling) and reheating pasta slows it's rate of glucose release but it doesn't make a difference to others. A BG meter will show you which foods your body can tolerate and in what portion size and enable you to build up a repertoire of meals which your particular body and diabetes can manage.

A basic BG meter is about £15 but then you need extra test strips as the intensive testing that you will need to do in the first few months can use up quite a lot, so buying a meter which has reasonably prices test strips (which are not universal.... each meter model has it's own unique strips) is important. The two meters most frequently recommended here on the site for reliability and economy of use for those self funding are the Gluco Navii and the Spirit Healthcare Tee2. They are both available to buy online and you would be well advised to purchase at least 2 extra pots of test strips if you order one plus a box of lancets. Most people here on the forum find a BG meter an invaluable tool in helping them to manage their diabetes because it enables them to "see" their diabetes and make informed choices with regard to food and exercise.

 

[Gwynn]

I just looked (looked hard for a long long time) on the internet. Very difficult to find GI in many instances. But in the end, after a lot of searching I have found most GIs. Most nutrition site do not have GI 8nformation. No idea why. Personally I would have thought it to be useful information.

 

[Bob Hants]

I have a Blood Glucose Meter but every now and again I get a high reading. Just looking for something to cross check.

 

[Leadinglights]

I have a Blood Glucose Meter but every now and again I get a high reading. Just looking for something to cross check.

I'm not sure how a book with GI information would allow you to 'cross check'
Blood glucose can be elevated for numerous reasons, only one of which is what you eat.
Infection, dehydration, stress, come to mind. Did you have something on your fingers?
If it is just a one off, then a dodgy strip.

 

[rebrascora]

Keeping a food diary along with your BG results before and 2 hours after eating will help you to see which foods regularly give you a high reading. We advise to not make any decisions based on any one particular reading or pair of readings, because there are so many other factors which affect BG levels, but if you see an elevated BG each time (or most times) you eat a particular food then that gives you a good idea of what the culprit is. A GI index is unlikely to help you pinpoint it because your body may react differently to most other people for that particular food.

 

[Eddy Edson]

I just looked (looked hard for a long long time) on the internet. Very difficult to find GI in many instances. But in the end, after a lot of searching I have found most GIs. Most nutrition site do not have GI 8nformation. No idea why. Personally I would have thought it to be useful information.

GI values for what should be the same food often vary widely between tests done at different times by different groups. And the individual tests usually involve a limited number of people with results often varying widely between them - as you'd expect, given that everybody reacts differently to the same food - but what gets reported as "the GI value" is just the average or median value.

These median/average values can be pretty useless as a personal guide - you might react very differently.

For these kinds of reason I think you'll find that many expert groups don't have a lot of time for GI-based approaches - though others still recommend it.

EDIT: Studies like this one I think are responsible for why GI is downplayed in the US in particular: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160907143112.htm

In randomized, controlled, repeated tests involving 63 healthy adults, researchers found that individual blood sugar responses after consuming a fixed amount of white bread could range across all three glycemic index categories (low, medium, or high). Part of this variability could be attributed to insulin index and baseline HbA1c levels, which reflect long-term glucose control -- evidence that glycemic index values are influenced by an individual's metabolic responses to food.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on Sept. 7, suggests glycemic index has limited utility as a tool to predict how a food affects blood sugar levels.

"Glycemic index values appear to be an unreliable indicator even under highly standardized conditions, and are unlikely to be useful in guiding food choices," said lead study author Nirupa Matthan, Ph.D., scientist in the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA. "If someone eats the same amount of the same food three times, their blood glucose response should be similar each time, but that was not observed in our study. A food that is low glycemic index for you one time you eat it could be high the next time, and it may have no impact on blood sugar for me."

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I used to stick to a low GI diet.
It worked really well, and is also intuitive.
Squishy mushy foods digest a lot faster than hard foods.
High fibre foods digest a lot slower than low fibre foods.
High carb foods produce a bigger reaction than low carb foods true, but low GI produces a much lower peak, which may be longer, but if you are still producing insulin, which most insulin resistant type 2's do, it does help keep overall BG down.

 

[Burylancs]

There seema a plethora of these publications and some have a lot of 1 star ratings.
I am looking for a recommendation for a book that you use.

Thanks in Advance

Bob

Hi.
Basically the Sydney University website is the home of GI and full of info on GI and GL ( Glycemic Load). Professor Brand there is a leading authority. She was funded partly by the BDA ( aka Diabetes Uk) to study native australian diets in the 1990s. One book I have used in the past is Theresa Cheung, The Glycemic Factor and Dr. Winnie Chan, The GI and GL Counter. The latter is full of handy tables giving the figures on anything you could ever eat.