Carbohydrates glycemic index

In the case of complex carbohydrates the glycemic index is a measure of how quickly the carbohydrate is broken down. An example is to compare potato starch and polydextrose. Both are polymers of dextrose but potato starch in the form of mashed potato is rapidly broken down and causes a surge in blood sugar, i.e. it has a high glycemic index. In contrast, polydextrose, which has the dextrose units linked 1 - 6, a link that is rare in nature, is only 25% metabolised and has a very low glycemic index. 

Reducing diets seem to come and go. At the time of writing the popularity of the Atkins diet seems to be decreasing. The Atkins diet is a low carbohydrate diet that is not conducive to the sales of baked products however, the Atkins diet seems to be being superseded by diets based on the principle of a low glycemic index. This is unlikely to increase the sale of baked goods but is less antipathetic to them. A new diet based on bread has appeared and so the wheel may go full circle. 

Dietary fiber Can slow absorption of refined carbohydrates and lower glycemic index of foods, resulting in reduced effects of diabetes due to lower availability of glucose Preuss (2009)... 

Glycemic index (GI) is a measure of the effect of the consumption of a carbohydrate food on blood glucose levels. The glycemic index, introduced by Jenkins et al. (1981), provides a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the postprandial (after meal) impact on blood sugar levels. It is defined as the incremental area under the blood glucose response curve associated with a 50 g carbohydrate portion of atest food expressed as a percent of the response to the amount of carbohydrate from a standard food taken by the same subject. 

The glycemic index was, therefore, introduced as an adjunct to available carbohydrate values in diabetes management, to indicate the glycemic potency of available carbohydrate in foods relative to glucose (Jenkins et al., 1981). In recent years GI has developed its own momentum, helped by vigorous promotion, and despite continued discussion about the value it adds to... 

Monro, J. A. (1999). Available carbohydrate and glycemic index combined in new data sets for managing glycemia and diabetes. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 12, 71-82. 

You may have heard of something called the glycemic index, which is one attempt to measure the speed at which various carbohydrates are converted into blood sugar This index forms the basis of some of the currently popular low-carb diets and is cited by many people as the key to making good dietary choices,... 

Glycemic index of foods (i.e., area under 2 h blood glucose response curve of 50 g carbohydrate food portions, 50 g glucose itself being 100%). Each bar in each block represents the mean result for one food tested by 5—10 normal... 

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