Diabetes is a condition caused by problems with insulin, a pancreatic hormone that helps reduce blood glucose levels in the diet. One way of both preventing and managing type 2 diabetes involves eating a diet that keeps blood glucose levels steady. The glycemic load describes how some foods affect blood glucose levels.
Glycemic Index
To understand what the glycemic load of a food is, you must know its glycemic index. The glycemic index of a food is a measurement of how its carbohydrate content affects blood glucose levels. To measure a food's glycemic index, volunteers are fed 50 grams of carbohydrate of the "test" food and their blood glucose levels are then measured over time and compared to a "control" food, the Linus Pauling Institute explains. The higher the volunteers' blood glucose levels after eating the test food, the higher the glycemic index.
Glycemic Load
The glycemic load of a food is a more accurate measurement of the food's effect on blood glucose levels because it also factors in the amount of carbohydrates found in a serving of the food. To calculate the glycemic load, you multiply the glycemic index by the grams of carbohydrates in a typical serving of the food and then divide by 100. The glycemic load was developed to help describe both the quantity and quality of carbohydrates in a meal, the Linus Pauling Institute reports.
Glycemic Load and Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body becoming resistant to the effects of insulin, which causes blood glucose levels to be chronically high. A 2002 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, titled "Glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of type 2 diabetes," found that eating more foods with a high glycemic load increased a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Conversely, a diet that has a lower glycemic load can not only help prevent diabetes, it can improve blood glucose control in diabetics.
Considerations
There are some limitations that you should consider when looking at a food's glycemic load. For one thing, the glycemic load only focuses on a food's carbohydrate content; foods with a low glycemic load may be high in fat and calories, the Mayo Clinic notes. Glycemic load also only measures the effects of foods when consumed alone. When you eat different kinds of food together, it can change the effect that your diet has on your blood glucose levels. The way your prepare food can also affect its glycemic load.
