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There is a lot of confusion about sugar and what kinds of sugars are bad for us. There are two ways to simplify the issue:

  • Processed foods are less desirable than raw, unprocessed foods; so fruit is better than fruit juice and honey is better than sugar. This is common sense.
  • It is not necessarily how sweet something is that determines its’ effect on the body. It is how much and how quickly glucose levels increase in the blood.

Glycemic load accounts for how much each gram of carbohydrate in food raises the blood glucose levels.

Glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how quickly blood glucose levels rise after eating a particular type of food. Glucose has a scale from 1 to 100 based on their effect on blood-sugar levels.

Here are a couple of charts that show which foods are safe and which raise blood sugar. There may be a few surprises for you, for instance potatoes. They have one of the highest glycemic values of all.  For those that are diabetic or pre-diabetic these charts are important.

Glycemic-Index

glycemic-index-chart