Glycemic Index english

This conversation between Gaspar and Miguel, as two Compadres, reveals lots of medical truths, and original medical research. Print a copy of this article for you, your family and your friends

Gaspar – Compadre, it is indeed very impressive to see so many fat people in America! Why do you think this exist?

Miguel – Because of two main reasons: (1) we eat and drink too much, and (2) we abuse of the wrong foods.

Gaspar – The statistics show that America is the nation in the world that has the highest percentage of fat or obese persons. More than sixty per cent of its inhabitants are overweighed. This means there are much more than one hundred million of fat or obese Americans!

Miguel – Well, overweight means also high blood pressure, and risks for heart attacks, brain attacks or strokes and diabetes. All these diseases have the potential for killing.

Gaspar—And indeed they do. The number one, as the cause of the mortality in the United States of America, is the cardiovascular diseases. The world famous Canadian physician, William Osler, said that we can measure our age by the degree of rust that we develop in our arteries… This means that when our little tubes, or arteries of our circulation, begin to get rusty, it is the starting of our old age!…

Miguel -- But in the old days we thought that the rust in our arteries, also called arteriosclerosis or atherosclerosis, was due to too much fat, but nowadays medical science demonstrates that is due to the hydrocabonates or foods rich in sugar.

Gaspar – But isn’t this new interpretation somewhat radical? How do you explain such a phenomenon?

Miguel -- This new analysis was developed by a physician of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Toronto, Canada, named Dr. David Jenkins, who is Professor of Nutrition and Diabetes at the same university.

Gaspar – But wasn’t also in the University of Toronto that they discovered the Insulin?

Miguel – Correctly. It were two physicians Banting and Best who first made that sensational discovery and were given the Nobel Prize in Medicine in the following year (1923)!

Gaspar – Compadre, please explain to me how the foods rich in sugar make us fat? Describe for me Dr. Jenkins’s discovery.

Miguel – The discovery or analysis of Dr. Jenkins and his group is very simple, as it always happens with all the great discoveries. They decided to study, to measure, the caloric values of the various foods not outside of the body, but instead, the speed with which the same foods are reabsorbed, the speed at which they enter into our circulation, at the level of the small intestinal mucosa!

Gaspar – Compadre, you have to give me all that in small pieces… All that in such a big bunch is too much for my understanding..

Miguel – Well, first we have to understand the physiology of the small intestine, or how it works, we have to know first the entire anatomy of the gastrointestinal track from the mouth all the away down to the anus. Our gastrointestinal track has a length equal to seven times the height of each person! The small intestine by itself has a length five times the height of a person! Because of this we can compare our small intestine to a hose of 30 feet long… to water our garden…

Gaspar – What is the function of such a thing so long and so curled in our belly?

Miguel –But there is more. Inside of our small intestine, the mucosa, or the inner lining, if you wish, is shaped in many folds called villi, that look like mountains, with the purpose of augmenting the area of the intestinal reabsorption. All together, imagine, the total area of our small intestinal reabsorption is equal to the area of a ‘tennis court’, all this inside of our belly!..

Gaspar – But, why did Mother Nature place such a ‘tennis court’, as you say, inside of our abdomen?

Miguel – Very good question. So that our foods after they have been chewed in our mouth, and digested in our stomach and finally pass to the first part of the intestine, called duodenum, they will have a long distance to travel in our small intestine, before they can enter our into circulation…

Gaspar – I do not understand. Which is more healthy, a slow or rapid digestion?

Gaspar – This is the reason why my mother always said to me. “My boy, eat slow, chew the food well.”

Miguel – All the good mothers behave this way. But that is not the scientific reason.

The small intestine is like a highway

Miguel— For us to understand better the voyage that the foods have to travel inside of our digestive track, we should make a comparison of our digestive system with a highway. Here in America we have speed traffic signs limiting the various speeds that go from 20 and 25 miles per hour within the school zones, 30 to 35 and 45 miles per hour in other rural areas, including 50 and 55 miles per hour in the highways. If anyone exceeds these speed limits it will be fined and also runs a high risk of accidents. We are going to see that within our small intestine the speed of the reabsorption of our foods should not exceed 55 “miles” per hour!… for us to be healthy.

Gaspar – Compadre, so I can understand better your explanation, tell me what happens, for example, with a piece of bread?

Miguel – Very well. When we place a piece of breath inside of the mouth while chewing it, it gets mixed with the saliva. A small ball of bread paste is formed which is then swallowed, passing through the esophagus into the stomach. In the stomach, which has the shape of wind pipe bag and thirty five million gastric glands, the bread ball is going to undergo the action of the gastric juices. The same will happen to the meats and fish and even to other foods, in such a way that when they arrive at the level of the small intestine, they can be reabsorbed into our circulation. But we should note a very important fact. In the stomach our digestion happens in an very acid medium like vinegar. The so called PH, or acidity of the stomach is very strong, with values between 1.8 and 3.5 PH, while our blood is slightly alkaline or ‘sweet’ with values of 7.4 (arterial) and 7.35 (venous) of PH. The fact that our foods are impregnated with acid, is very good, because the longer they stay acid, the longer it will take them to be reabsorbed at the level of the small intestine.

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Stomach showing the various types of foods with its acid

Gaspar – I take it that the small intestine digestion is different from that of the stomach?

Miguel – Yes, sir. While in the stomach, as I just said, the digestion is strongly acid for the better digestion of the proteins of the meat and fish, in the small intestine its main action is due to the juices that come from the pancreas and from the glands of the walls of the small intestine, and all together, they change the acid medium into an alkaline, or ‘sweet’ environment, to complete the digestion of those foods that were not digested by the stomach. In conclusion, only after the foods are well refined and made alkalined can they be reabsorbed, in another words, can they pass the “tool both” at the small intestinal mucosa and be able to enter into our circulation.

Gaspar – I like that comparison of the “toll booth” with the small intestinal mucosa…

Miguel – Well, it is at this “ intestinal toll booth” that resides the great and original discovery of Dr. Jenkins and his colleagues. The foods that in their original states are already refined, as it happens with refined four, or with the pulp of the potatoes and even with the watermelon, these foods do not stop at the “ intestinal toll both” to pay their tokens… They pass the “intestinal booth”, at high speed, by using the so call “Green Via”. Therefore they are reabsorbed faster into our circulation and cause an increase in their level in our blood within the first hour of our digestion! This originates a high curve, or the pick of a mountain, in our blood, that many times exceeds the normal values.

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This photo shows us the "tool booth" of the small intestine and the circulatory vessels where the food enters the blood stream.

Gaspar – But we all know when things are in excess, they can cause a maladie. How does our body control such an excess of those foods in our blood?

Miguel – Very good question, Compadre. It seems you are now understanding this mechanism. Congratulations! We are going to follow the examples of the foods that I already mentioned: refined flour, and potatoes, whose pulp, is as I stated before, is already refined. For this reason all the breads, and all those cakes and pies that are made with refined flour do not pay “intestinal toll booth token” at the small intestinal mucosa. This means that these foods are reabsorbed faster through the “Green Via”, originating an elevation, due to the refine flour and potatoes, causing an increase of the sugar level in the blood within the first hour of our digestion.

Gaspar – Compadre, explain to me how come the bread made with the refine flour or roasted potatoes in the oven, causes an increase in the sugar level in the blood?

Miguel - Very easily. The refine flour and the potatoes are foods very rich in hydrocabonates or sugar products. And the more refined they are, the easier they will pass through the pores at the level of the small intestinal mucosa so they are reabsorbed very quickly. If the flour is coarse, and its particles are larger, such a flour will have more difficulty to be reabsorbed at the “intestinal tool booth”… and the end result is that the sugar will not go higher in the blood.

Allow me to repeat the great discovery of Dr. Jenkins. The larger the particles of the foods, the more difficult, the longer, it will be its reabsorption at the level of the small intestine, preventing an increase curve of the sugar in the blood, within the first hour of our digestion!

To see this photo in larger size, click on it once.
The larger the particles of the food, the lower the Glycemic index will be. ( This diagram is taken from page 36 of the book " The Glucose Revolution" )

Gaspar – You mean to say that all the refining industrial factories of the various cereals, they are manufacturing foods that are hazardous to our health?

Miguel-- You hit the nail on the head! That is the way it is, today. Strange as it may seem, in the old days, the cereals were grinded in the water or tide mills or by the wind mills, and the end result was flour not refined and people prepared their breads together with its bran, making a bread that always had a low glycemic index.

Gaspar – You mean that with all this so called progress we are going backwards instead of forwards…

Miguel – Exactly. Another important advise that Dr. Jenkins gives us, is to use with all major meals, a mixed salad prepared with two table spoons of vinegar and one table spoon of olive oil. This salad will help to maintain the acidity of the foods ingested, causing a longer period of time, in order to the delay their reabsorption at the level of the small intestine.

Gaspar – Compadre, with all this detailed information, you have not yet explained to me how the sugar products are going to cause an increase of weight in our body? Which is the magic transformation by which the sugar can be converted into fat? I have not yet understood such a mechanism!

To see this photo enlarged just click on it once
The pancreas is localized at the level of the umbilicus, behind the stomach, and has the size and shape of our tongue. We might call it the “tongue” of our belly. It possesses one million islands which produce the insulin by the Beta cells.

Miguel—I have already explained to you that when we eat the bread made with refine flour and potatoes which have a very refined pulp, they do not pay “intestinal toll booth”, and are reabsorbed very rapidly, resulting in an elevation of the sugar curve in the blood during the first hour of our digestion. Do you understand that?

Miguel – What do you think it will happen to that elevated curve of sugar in the blood? How is our body going to control the elevation of such blood sugar? What are the mechanisms of defense or of regulation our body uses?

Miguel – When the sugar goes above the normal values (70 to 120 milligrams), there is automatically a rapid requisition for the pancreas to start producing insulin and deliver it into the blood stream in order to reduce the elevation of the sugar to the normal level. And how does the insulin do that? The insulin does not burn any sugar as many people think! I repeat the insulin does not burn any sugar! The insulin transforms into fat the sugar that is in excess and deposits that fat in the our “fat warehouses”. Fifty per cent of the fat is deposited in : (1) our breasts, (2) around our waste line, and (3) in our buttocks. And the other fifty percent deposits the fat in form of glycogen, in (2) the liver, and (2) between the fibers of our muscles.

The general public does not know of this metabolic mechanism and many physicians do not spend the time to explain it in detail to their patients how these things occur. I think this is a petty!

Gaspar – But Compadre you have not yet explained to me what is this modern thing referred to as Sugar Index or Glycemic Index?

Miguel – The Sugar Index or Glycemic Index is the value of the relation between the speed of the foods that are reabsorbed at the level of the small intestine and the height or concentration of those foods in our blood within the first hour of our digestion.

Dr. Jenkins and his team have already composed a list of various foods showing us the numbers or the speeds of reabsorption of the different foods. This list is very impressive because it reveals that many foods that we thought, scientifically, were very good for our health, because of the new analysis of the Sugar Index or Glycemic Index, those same foods have an opposite action, and therefore are prejudicial to our health and to our longevity!

Based on this new interpretation of the Sugar Index, we verify that the US Diet Pyramid recommended by the American Health Authorities (Agriculture Department), it displays the foods in the wrong way. This American Food Pyramid should be up side down !!! The foods made of refine flour are at the base of this pyramid, and therefore recommended in largest quantities, should be in the vertex of the pyramid, and be eaten in the smallest quantities.

The American Diet Pyramid recommended by the American Health Authorities displays all the refined foods inside of its base, therefore to be eaten in the largest quantities. THIS RECOMMENDATION IS WRONG!

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The US Pyramid in color.
This pyramid should be turned up side down

HERE IS THE CORRECT RECOMMENDATION
	To see this photo enlarged, click on it once Pyramid based on the colors of the Portuguese flag: greens, reds, yellows and whites. The greens are at the base, follow by the reds, then the yellows and finally in the vertex the whites, which we should eat in the smallest amounts.

Miguel – Very good question. Intelligent and pragmatic. Our body needs, in average, ONE CALORIE PER MINUTE to maintain all our organs working normally. Therefore during 24 hours, if we multiply this number by 60 minutes, we will obtain the figure of 1,440 which is total of calories per day. Of course if we work, or jog, we are going to need more calories, but what happens is that we are surrounded by an abundance of foods, many of them very rich in calories, it is very easily for us to pass the 1440 calories per day, as a base line.

Unfortunately there are many millions of people that do not know this simple fact of how many calories do we need in 24 hours. I am sure if people knew of this simple arithmetic true number of 1440, they would be much more careful to control their weight and take great advantage concerning their health and longevity.

Gaspar –Compadre, I would like to ask you for a copy of the list of the foods with the numbers of the sugar Index or Glycemic Index

Miguel – With great pleasure. Make copies also to give to your family members and your friends. Please, note that the foods that have an index above 55 “miles” per hour, exceed the speed, and therefore have to be eaten in a controlled manner. On the other hand observe that the fruits, because the majority of them are acid, their glycemic index is lower. Because their acidity slows their reabsorption at the level of the intestinal mucosa. I am not going to bother you by reviewing this entire list, but I just want to highlight some the most important foods.

Please note that the long French Baguette has a speed of 95 “miles” per hour. And why? Because it is made with the most refine flour that exists. I want to call your attention also to the foods that are made with refined flour such as flakes, which are very much advertised on TV by the sports champions, all of them have a high glycemic index, much higher than 55 “miles” per hour, and therefore can not be good for our health.

All the cereals if they are refined have high glycemic index. All the sodas, because they are very rich in sugar, have a high glycemic index. All the alcoholic beverages have glycemic indices over 100 “miles” per hour!

In the group of the fruits, all have a healthy glycemic index, with exception of three, so far: pineapple, 66; watermelon 73, and dates 103 “miles per hour.

Now let us look at the potatoes . Desirée potatoes =101 “miles” per hour; red potato, roasted in the oven = 93; French fries = 75; And the sweet potato? By its name one would expect to have a high number, but no, only = 54. Why? Because the sweet potato is rich in fiber. The same happens with all the vegetables that are rich in fiber, they all have and low index. In the group of the rices, they are all in the eighties, with the exception of the brown rice which is = 55.

As you see, Compadre, this list gives us much food for thought, and also valuable information for us to adjust and select the best foods for our health and longevity.

Here are the Indices shown by alphabetic order of the various groups of foods

Beans, Breads, Cereals, chouriço, Ice creams Fruits, Juices, Honey, Milks, Muffins, Pasta & Macaroni, Potatoes, Rices, Sodas, Soups, and yogurt.

We recommend to our readers to get a copy of this book: " Glycemic Index" by Jennie Brand-Miller, Ph.D. and Thomas Wolever, M. D.

Table of the Sugar or Glycemic Index
Rices Chex, General Mills = 89 Instant cooked = 89 Krispies, Kellogg’s == 82 Brown = 55	Honey Honey = 58	Chouriço Chouriço, smoked = 28
Muffins Banana oat & honey = 65 Apricot & honey, low fat = 60 Blueberry = 55 Oat & raisin = 54 Apple cinnamon = 54	Cereals Crispix Kellogg’s = 87 Corn flakes = 84 Cocoa Krispies Kellogg’s = 77 Bran flakes =75 Life savers = 70 Cheerios, General Mills = 74 Cornmeal, whole gin = 60 All bran (farelo) de arroz = 19	Breads French baguette = 95 Gluten free bread= 90 Pretzels = 83 Bagel = 72 Whole wheat = 69 Rye bread = 65 Bun hamburger = 61 Blueberry muffin= 60 Pizza with cheese an tomato = 60 All rice bran = 19
Pototoes Desiree, peeled = 101 Red-skinned overn = 93 red -skinned, mashed = 91 Instant mash potato = 86 French =75 New potatoes , cooked = 61 Potatoes chips = 54 Sweet potato = 54	Beans Kidney beans, red canned= 53 Pinto beans, boiled = 39 Peas, fresh = 38 Lima beans = 32 Kidney beans, red, boiled = 27 Peas, dry, boil = 22	Soups Pea soup = 66 Lentil soup = 44 Tomato soup = 38 Lentil, green and brown =30
Fruits Dates = 101 Watermelon = 72 Pineapple, fresh = 66 Raisins = 64 Papaya = 58 Peach canned = 58 Apricots = 57 Cantaloupe =55 Banana, fresh = 55 Fruit salad = 55 Mango = 55 Kiwi = 52 Grapes, fresh = 48 Marmalade = 48 Orange, navel, = 44 Apple, fresh = 42 Pear, fresh = 38 Apple, dry = 29 Grapefruit, fresh = 25 Cherries = 22 Peanuts = 14	Pasta & macaroni Linguine pasta, thin = 55 Linguine pasta, thick = 46 Macaroni & cheese = 46 Macaroni cooked = 45 Spaghetti cooked = 41 Spaghetti, whole wheat = 37 Sodas Fanta = 68 Coca-cola = 63 Pineapple juice = 46 Orange juice = 46 Milks Whole milk = 27 Skim milk = 27 Soy milk = 31	Ice Creams Ice cream 10% fat = 61 Ice cream vanilla = 50 Yogurts Yogurt, non fat= 33 Yogurt with whole milk =27 Yogurt without fat = 14