Find out at the expense of what factor you can quickly lose those extra pounds without harming your health and starvation. The glycemic index is a measure of how a food containing carbohydrates will affect sugar levels. Let's say a cake has a higher glycemic index compared to an apple. Most people know about this, but sometimes there are misinterpretations of the dangers of foods with a high glycemic index or the benefits of low glycemic foods.
For this reason, it is necessary to teach you how to control the glycemic index in bodybuilding so that you can avoid major mistakes when formulating your diet. If you have never dealt with calculations when drawing up a diet, then you do not fully realize how difficult it is. New information constantly appears and many people, in the hope of losing weight quickly, simply get lost in it.
As you probably know, once ingested, carbohydrates are converted to glucose during processing in the digestive system. Thus, we can say that the glycemic index indicates how quickly a particular product, or rather the carbohydrates it contains, will turn into glucose. The faster this process proceeds, the higher the glycemic index. Also note that all foods are compared with glucose for this indicator.
Glycemic index of simple carbohydrates
If you ate a bun with sweet tea, then once in the digestive system, these foods quickly increase the concentration of sugar in the blood, and the body will respond to this with a sharp release of insulin. You should be aware that this hormone is synthesized when the concentration of glucose increases. And its task is to deliver nutrients to the cellular structures of tissues.
Thus, after eating foods with a high glycemic index, insulin is actively secreted in the body. With its help, the concentration of glucose in the blood drops sharply, as it is delivered to the tissues for energy. If at the moment the body does not require energy sources, then glucose will be converted into body fat.
It is for this reason that for a person who wants to lose weight, the main danger is not the glycemic index itself, but the amount of glucose in the blood after consuming the product. If you ate, say, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, then most of the glucose obtained after its absorption will go to provide energy for the nervous system and possibly remain to replenish glycogen stores. At the same time, the amount of insulin produced will not be prohibitive. If you repeat the intake of the same amount of sugar an hour later, then everything will happen again and you should not be afraid of the appearance of new fat deposits if you take small portions of foods with a high glycemic index throughout the day.
Remember that not only the glycemic index itself is important, but also the amount of carbohydrates consumed at a time. Sports nutritionists call this carbohydrate loading. Also note that simple carbohydrates should include monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, etc.) and disaccharides (maltose, sucrose, etc.). The structure of their molecules is very simple, which makes it possible for the body to process them quickly.
Glycemic index of complex carbohydrates
Here the situation is exactly the opposite of simple carbohydrates. Due to their complex molecular structure, they are absorbed over a long time and have a low glycemic index. These carbohydrates include fiber and starch. When a product has a low glycemic index, it takes a long time for the digestive system to process it and its consumption does not cause a sharp increase in glucose concentration.
It is for this reason that complex carbohydrates cannot cause an increase in body fat, but are completely consumed for energy. Of course, for this you need to spend the appropriate amount of energy. Even if you consume only complex carbohydrates in large quantities and not be active, then the fat mass will increase.
In most cases, various claims, for example, that durum wheat products due to their low glycemic index cannot lead to fat mass gain, are a publicity stunt for you to buy them. Although it must be admitted that if you exercise, you will not get fat from these products. Remember that sitting on the couch will not lose weight, no matter how much you eat. Also note that there are high glycemic slow carbohydrates.
How do I change the glycemic index of foods?
Most often, products are processed before use. By boiling, frying and even cutting food, you can change their glycemic index. For example, starch, which is mainly represented by slow carbohydrates in our diet, loses its properties under the influence of high temperatures. The more time you heat a product containing starch, the faster the carbohydrates contained in it will be absorbed.
For example, let's take potatoes, which are present in the diet of every person. In its raw form, this product contains about 20 percent of carbohydrates, almost entirely represented by polysaccharides. After boiling the peeled potatoes, you will get a finished product with one glycemic index. If you fry, and the temperature can reach 200 degrees, then the glycemic index will be much higher in comparison with boiled potatoes.
If you want to bake it on charcoal, then the finished product will have the highest glycemic index, since the cooking temperature will be at its maximum. Thus, your main goal is to reduce the rate of insulin production. This can be achieved by eating foods with a low glycemic index, which must be cooked at low temperatures for as short a time as possible.
You will learn more information about the glycemic index of foods from this video by Denis Borisov:
