Sweet talk



Sweet talk

Sugars or starches? Which carbohydrates are best?

It all depends. For sustained energy, eat carbs that are absorbed slowly. For fast recovery of muscle after exercise, eat carbs that are absorbed quickly.

But which carbs are which? Enter the glycemic index (GI)--a method of ranking foods based on how quickly they raise blood sugar levels. Basically, the higher the GI number, the faster the rate of absorption. The lower the GI number, the slower the rate of absorption.

But you may be surprised about which foods rank high or low. For example, white potatoes are absorbed faster than white sugar (sucrose). However, if you are simultaneously eating foods that contain fat, fiber or acids, any carbohydrate absorption is slower and the real GI lower.

Hmmm. Who said carbohydrates are simple?

SLOW ABSORPTION -55		MED ABSORPTION 55-70		FAST ABSORPTION 70+
Fructose	23	Sucrose	65	Glucose	100
Lactose	46	Honey	58	Maltose	105
Apple	38	Pineapple	66	Dates	103
Cherries	22	Banana	55	Watermelon	72
Peas	48	New potato	62	Baked potato	93
Carrots	49	Sweet corn	55	Pumpkin	75
Spaghetti	41	Taco shells	68	Short grain white rice	72
Pumpernickel bread	51	Pita bread	57	Bagel	72
Oatmeal (old-fashioned)	49	Shredded wheat	67	Raisin Bran	73
Yogurt (flavored low-fat)	33	Ice cream (10% fat)	61	Gatorade	78
Popcorn (light microwave)	55	Power bar	58	Pretzels	83
Sponge cake	46	Angel food cake	67	Waffles	76
Oatmeal cookie	55	Quaker granola bar	66	Rice cakes (plain)	82
Twix cookie bar	44	Skittles fruit chews	70	Jelly beans	80

GI ratings based on glucose = 100 Source: The Glucose Revolution. (Marlow & Co., 1999)

Related links:
The glycemic index
18 information-packed pages with details like which varieties of potatoes are high, medium or low starch.

Glycemic index lists
21 pages of foods with their rankings on the GI index. Includes both GI rating schemes: glucose = 100 and white bread = 100.

For diet recommendations for CPT deficiency, visit Divide and conquer.

For a carbohydrate replacement formula after exercise, visit Damage control.

For the best carbohydrates and links to recipes, visit Sound bites.

High-glycemic foods are best consumed after a workout, to help replenish the muscle's glycogen stores (glycogen is the form of glucose that the body uses.) Low- or moderate-glycemic foods are better for meals during the day because they help prevent any rapid surges in glucose and insulin levels in the blood that are then followed by significant drops.

       --Chicago Tribune