Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load

Over and over I am admonished that my advice about feeding fresh, raw fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds to horses is going to kill them. I repeatedly explain that though we horseowners are told that foods high on the GLYCEMIC INDEX are killers we are not told about the GLYCEMIC LOAD of those same foods and how they are highly recommended for curing (yes, curing) diabetes and reversing insulin resistance. We are then told to remove the horses from grass and any apples, carrots or other treats and to feed only low carb, low sugar commercially processed feeds and soaked hays, etc. We are also then told to put our horses on pharmaceuticals to help ‘control’ the ‘disase’. My contention with this is that doing so actually HARMS our horses and prevents them from healing!  In fact, I’ll go as far as to say not only is it harming the horses but that advice is potentially killing them with deficiency diseases. (see articles in this blog as well as http://www.thepenzancehorse.com for information on deficiency disease and about the effects of processed foods.)

So, below is a good, in a nutshell, definition of GLYCEMIC INDEX vs. the GLYCEMIC LOAD along with a chart so you can see for yourself just what the numbers REALLY are. And no, I am not telling you to ditch your veterinarian about his but I am asking you to ask him or her about it and if they truly understand the difference between the index and load. I bet the answer will surprise you.

Don’t take just my word or anyone else’s for this … It is our responsibility to be informed owners and guardians of these awesome critters we call our friends. Do some of your own research and studying about this. I think you’ll also be surprised by what you find.

Glycemic Index (GI) is the measurement of glucose (blood sugar) level increase from carbohydrate consumption. Foods raise glucose to varying levels. It estimates how much each gram of available carbohydrate (total carbohydrate minus fiber) in a food raises the blood glucose level following consumption of the food, relative to consumption of pure glucose. Glucose has a glycemic index of 100, by definition, and other foods have a lower glycemic index.

Glycemic index is defined for each type of food, independent of the amount of food consumed. Glycemic load accounts for the amount of food consumed and is calculated in terms of glycemic index.

Glycemic Load (GL) of food is a number that estimates how much the food will raise a person’s blood glucose level after eating it. One unit of glycemic load approximates the effect of consuming one gram of glucose.  Glycemic load accounts for how much carbohydrate is in the food, and how much each gram of carbohydrate in the food raises blood glucose levels. Glycemic load is based on the glycemic index (GI). Glycemic load is defined as the grams of available carbohydrate in the food x the food’s GI / 100.

Glycemic load estimates the impact of carbohydrate consumption using the glycemic index while taking into account the amount of carbohydrate that is consumed. GL is a GI-weighted measure of carbohydrate content. For instance, watermelon has a high GI – but a typical serving of watermelon does not actually contain much carbohydrate, so the glycemic effect of eating it (and therefore its GL) is low. Whereas glycemic index is defined for each type of food, glycemic load can be calculated for any size serving of a food, an entire meal, or an entire day’s meals.

For one serving of a food, a GL greater than 20 is considered high, a GL of 11-19 is considered medium, and a GL of 10 or less is considered low. Foods that have a low GL in a typical serving size almost always have a low GI. Foods with an intermediate or high GL in a typical serving size range from a very low to very high GI.  –deathtodiabetes.com

VIEW THE GLYCEMIC INDEX and GLYCEMIC LOAD CHART below. Click the link.

(this chart is developed for human foods so includes bakery items, meats, etc.  Please view the applicable fruits, vegetables, nuts and seed that are foods for horses):

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htm