CarbNews2013_ENG.qxp:Layout 1

The Glycemic Index (GI) is intended to quantitatively rank carbohydrate based on its impact on blood glucose levels (1). It is a measurement of blood glucose response (over two hours) after ingesting a test food that typically contains 50 grams of glycemic carbohydrate. This value is then expressed as a percentage of the response to 50 grams of glycemic carbohydrate from either white bread or glucose when consumed by the same subject. Generally, rapidly digested carbohydrate has the highest response while carbohydrate that is more slowly digested produces a much smaller area under the 2 hour blood glucose curve (AUC) (Figure 1). The goal is to characterize carbohydrates in foods by quantifying this response.