The glycemic index, or GI, is a measure of how quickly a food elevates your blood sugar levels, and how high, compared to pure glucose. Foods with a high GI cause blood glucose levels to surge, increasing your risk of health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. A low-GI diet is preferable to ward off these risks. However, you can still experience trouble with low-GI foods.
Higher Carbohydrate Intake
One of the key reasons people consume a low-GI diet is to reduce their intake of refined carbohydrates, which are more likely to cause blood glucose spikes. However, it is still possible to consume too many carbohydrates in general on a low-GI diet, which does nothing to curtail your insulin needs, according to John Briffa, a UK-based practitioner of integrated medicine. A better alternative is to focus on eating a low-carbohydrate diet, which would include limiting your intake of foods that pass the low-GI test such as whole grains, fruits and dairy.
Gas Build-Up
Some foods on a low-GI diet plan, such as cruciferous vegetables or fruits like apples and pears, can cause gas to build up in your stomach and intestinal tract. Accumulation of gas leads to symptoms such as bloating, belching, abdominal pain and cramps. Slowly introducing these foods or cutting back on the amounts you consume can help to relieve gas build-up. Also, when taken with your meals, a product with digestive enzymes helps break down complex carbohydrates common in gassy foods.
Chewing and Swallowing Difficulty
Foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains are tough in their raw state. This can make them difficult to chew if you wear dentures or have a disorder such as sore gums or temporomandibular joint disorder. Also, any problems with the function of your tongue, lips, palate, throat or esophagus interferes with swallowing food in general, but especially these tougher foods. Taking smaller pieces, cooking the food and using swallowing pills can help you cope with these problems.
Consideration
Although low-GI foods can be beneficial in helping to stabilize blood glucose levels, you should not rely on them solely when making nutritional choices. For instance, a bar of chocolate that has a GI of 41, making it a low-GI food, cannot provide the nutrition of fruits or vegetables, which are also low-GI foods. A better measure to use is the glycemic load, which takes into consideration the amount of carbohydrate in a particular food, as well as the impact of that carbohydrate on blood glucose levels. A glycemic load of 10 or under is low, 11 to 19 is medium and 20 or above is high.
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