Glycemic Index

It appears that the glycemic index itself does not play a significant role in health although it has its proponents.  The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly different foods break down into sugars and get into the blood stream. 

Glycemic Index of Diet Not Important in Coronary Heart Disease: Our findings do not support the hypothesis that a high-glycemic-index diet unfavorably affects metabolic risk factors or increases risk for CHD in elderly men without a history of diabetes or CHD. Zutphen Study. No assoc was found in the glycemic index of the diet and the rate of CHD, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, blood insulin or sugar. Eur J Clin Nutr 2000 Sep;54(9):726-31

Glycemic Index: Foods with High Index Lower HDL: Corn flakes, baked potatoes, instant rice have highest index (120), white and wholemeal bread (100), white rice, sugar (80-90), and beans, milk (40) with apples (50). Those lower glycaemic index foods raise HDL. The index was positively assoc with CHD in the Nurses’ Health Study and in the Frost British study of 1420 adults. Therefore, lots of beans are good. Lancet ’99;353:1029.

Not Glycemic Index, But High Starch Diet in Obese Sedentary Women Increases Pancreatic Cancer: Harvd, J Natl Cancer Inst 9/4/02 89,000 Nurses Health Study found excess insulin can promote cancer CA. Insulin stimulates panc CA cells and AODM insulin resistant causing more insulin production. Diet of potatoes, rice, and white bread and even fructose faulted as having high glycemic indexes and increasing panc CA 150% in obese sedentary. However, high glycemic foods did not incr panc CA in lean and fit women. 30,000 die annually from pancreatic cancer.

Not Glycemic Index, But Whole Grains, Cereal Fibers, Dietary Magnesium Protect Against Type II Diabetes: Refined grains, glycemic index, fruits and vegetables had no impact. Prospective 6 yr Iowa study of 36000 women. Am J Clin Nutr 2000 Apr;71(4):921-30

Thomas E. Radecki, M.D., J.D.

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