Glycemic Index

What is the Glycemic Index?
Why are Low GI foods good for you?
How can you tell the GI content of a product?
How can you follow a lower GI eating plan?
Want to know more?

What is the Glycemic Index?

Glycemic index is a ranking system for carbohydrates based on their effect on blood glucose levels. It compares available carbohydrates gram for gram in individual foods and is a measure of the quality of carbohydrate¹.

Carbohydrate foods are broken down by your digestive system into glucose, which is absorbed into the bloodstream and transferred throughout the body for energy.

The speed at which high-carbohydrate foods are able to increase your blood glucose level is very important to your general health. Carbohydrate foods are therefore rated on the basis of their glycemic index, which is how quickly or slowly they raise blood glucose levels.

GI Classifications

Classification	Range	Function
Low GI	GI Value less than 55	Low glycemic index foods are broken down slowly, making energy available to the body for a longer period of time. Low GI foods may help keep you feeling fuller for longer.
High GI	GI Value of 70 and above	High glycemic index foods are broken down quickly, making a large amount of energy available for a short time. This can be important for some population groups such as elite athletes.
Medium GI	GI Value of 55-69	Medium glycemic index foods are broken down more slowly than high GI foods and more quickly than low GI foods.

Why are Low GI foods good for you?

The body tries its best to maintain a consistent blood glucose level. When blood glucose levels are increased through the consumption of high GI foods, physiological control mechanisms attempt to lower the blood glucose content as soon as possible. This may leave you feeling tired and hungry.

Low GI foods on the other hand, increase blood glucose gradually over time, eliminating the rapid rise and fall of blood glucose levels. This helps to sustain energy levels throughout the day².

To help stabilise blood glucose levels it is best to consume a Low GI food product at each meal, spreading your meals throughout the day with healthy snacks in between.

Some of the benefits of low GI foods include:

Sustained Concentration: Low GI foods are digested slowly which releases glucose to the brain over a longer period of time which helps to maintain concentration^{3, 4}.
Sustained Energy: Low GI foods provide glucose to the body slowly, which means the body is getting energy over a longer period of time so energy is sustained².
Manage Blood Glucose Levels: Low GI foods ensure glucose is slowly released into your bloodstream. This reduces the need for your body to work hard to produce high levels of insulin to remove the glucose from your blood for energy. Maintaining normal levels of insulin is important for long-term good health.
Heart Health: Low GI foods reduce the amount of insulin required to convert the glucose circulating in your blood to energy. By not overworking your insulin production you are also helping to reduce the amount of triglycerides and cholesterol your body produces, which helps to maintain heart health^{5, 6}.
Weight Management: Low GI foods give you a greater feeling of fullness and delay hunger pangs for longer which may help reduce your food intake during the remainder of the day⁷.

How can you tell the GI content of a product?

The University of Sydney, Diabetes Australia and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation have developed The Glycemic Index Symbol Program. It is a food labeling initiative that ensures accurate Glycemic Index values on a food label.

In order for Bürgen® products to be able to display the GI logo our products must abide by strict nutritional guidelines including criteria for fat, salt and fibre and be tested by an authorised laboratory.

All Bürgen® products have been tested by an accredited laboratory and have been approved to display the GI Symbol on pack.

How can you follow a lower GI eating plan?

A lower GI healthy eating plan simply starts with choosing lower GI carbohydrates at each meal (these foods are generally high in wholegrains). Switch to eating mainly lower GI foods in place of your usual highly refined carbohydrate foods:

Begin with a healthy eating pattern that contains plenty of wholegrains, fruits and vegetables as well as lean meats and low fat dairy products;
Substitute a high GI food with a low GI food;
Include one lower GI food with each meal;
High GI foods do not have to be avoided on a Lower GI eating plan – simply eaten in moderation;
Consider the fibre content and fat content when using the GI as a basis for food choice. For example, chocolate is not a good substitute for potatoes.

For example:

Lower GI Food Suggestions

If you are currently eating this high GI food	Choose this Lower GI alternative instead
Biscuits	Bürgen® Fruit & Museli Bread
Refined crackers	Vegetable strips – carrot, capsicum and celery
White bread	Bürgen® Bread**
Hot Chips	Sweet potato or corn or other vegetable and salad options.
Refined breakfast cereals (flake products, puffed rice products)	Low GI Bürgen® Mueslis
White rice	Try Basmati or brown rice or wholemeal pasta *
High fat salty snacks (e.g. potato crisps)	Fruit, yogurt or nuts

* While these products are not low GI, these alternatives are lower GI than their standard white varieties.
** The Burgen Bread range includes breads that are both low GI and medium GI.

Want to know more?

¹ Jenkins et al 1981. Glycemic index of foods: a physiological basis for carbohydrate exchange. AJCN 34: 362 - 366
² Kirwan, O’Gorman & Evans 1998. A moderate glycemic meal before endurance exercise can enhance performance. J Appl Physiol 84 (1):53-9.
³ Benton D, Ruffin MP, Lassel T, Nabb S, Messaoudi M, Vinoy S, Desor D, Lang V. The delivery rate of dietary carbohydrates affects cognitive performance in both rats and humans. Psychopharmacology (Berl)166(1):86-90.
⁴ Papanikolaou Y, Palmer H, Binns MA, Jenkins DJ, Greenwood CE. Better cognitive performance following a low-glycaemic-index compared with ahigh-glycaemic-index carbohydrate meal in adults with type 2 diabetes.Diabetologia 49(5):855-62.
⁵ Levitan et al. Dietary glycemic index, dietary glycemic load and cardiovascular disease in middle-aged and older Swedish men. Am J Clin Nutr 2007; 85:1521-6
⁶ National Heart Foundation Review – Position statement on the relationships between carbohydrates, dietary fibre, glycaemic index/glyceamic load and cardiovascular disease. February 2006.
⁷ Bornet F.R.J., et al 2007. Glycaemic response to foods: Impact on satiety and long-term weight regulation. Appetite (2007), doi:10.1016/j.appet.2007.04.006