Understanding the Glycemic Index: A Food Label Guide

The glycemic index assigns number values to foods containing carbohydrates. People with health concerns, like diabetics, may use this index to guide them in choosing foods that support diabetes management. Others may refer to the index to reach their weight management goals. Foods with low glycemic index numbers impact blood sugar levels less and tend to result in longer lasting feelings of fullness than high glycemic index foods. How people combine foods may impact the glycemic index for a meal. Information from nutritional labels can help people estimate the glycemic index for a food item.

Instructions

• 1

  Locate a published glycemic index that you can use as a reference. Glycemic index numbers result from controlled experiments measuring people's metabolic responses to a food.

• 2

  Read the labels of the foods for which you seek to determine glycemic index numbers. Note serving size and total carbohydrates for each item.

• 3

  Add the grams of carbohydrates for each food item to arrive at the total carbohydrates for the entire meal.

• 4

  Calculate the percentage each food item represents of the whole meal by dividing the value of carbohydrates for each item by the meal's total carbohydrate count.

• 5

  Identify the corresponding glycemic index numbers for each item from the published index.

• 6

  Multiply the glycemic index number by the percentage value each food represents of the entire meal.