How is a “Glycemic Index” determined?
A. In a clinically controlled setting, 50-gram portions of food are fed to people who have fasted overnight. The rise in blood sugar is measured every 15 minutes for 3 hours and then plotted on a graph. The area under the curve is measured and indexed against glucose at 100. That number is the food’s glycemic index. The higher the rise in blood sugar, the higher the glycemic index of that food. Click to view an enlarged version of the Blood Sugar Response Chart.
