Ok - a little GI / GL clarification
Glycemic Index is the one that Montiganc says should be under 30 for Low GI and what you should limit yourself to in Phase 1.
In phase 2, it raises to about 50 as acceptable GI.
GI is the measure of the blood glucose (and therefore insulin response) level raise compared to the same amount of carbs in pure glucose GI = 100 (normally). Sometimes you will get different quotes for GI as:-
a) some people measure GI not comparative to pure glucose - I've seen some using white bread as a comparison. This will result in a different GI value
b) the blood glucose response is different from person to person, and sometimes different if different readings are taken from the same person. To limit these differences, a more reliable GI is an average of many readings (see the lists in New Glucose Revolution or on the Mendosa site as examples).
This is why you have to find out what works for you. You may just happen to be super sensitive to a food that is considered "ok" as it is Low GI - but you might just happen to process things a little differently.
GI measures the QUALITY of foods, not the quantity of carbs. A GI value tells you only how rapidly a particular carbohydrate turns into sugar. It doesn't tell you how much of that carbohydrate is in a serving of a particular food.
This is the basis of the Montignac Method.
However - Gylcemic Load is not just how much the blood glucose levels change, but also how much of the carb there is in an average serving. It is calculated thus:-
GI of a food x its carbohydrate content in grams = GL
A Low GL is considered to be about 10, a medium one of about 20, a high one of about 30.
still with me?
A GREAT food for weight loss on this principle would be low GI and low GL.
From Mendosa site:-
Quote:
The glycemic load (GL) is a relatively new way to assess the impact of carbohydrate consumption that takes the glycemic index into account, but gives a fuller picture than does glycemic index alone. A GI value tells you only how rapidly a particular carbohydrate turns into sugar. It doesn’t tell you how much of that carbohydrate is in a serving of a particular food. You need to know both things to understand a food’s effect on blood sugar. That is where glycemic load comes in. The carbohydrate in watermelon, for example, has a high GI. But there isn’t a lot of it, so watermelon’s glycemic load is relatively low. A GL of 20 or more is high, a GL of 11 to 19 inclusive is medium, and a GL of 10 or less is low.
Foods that have a low GI invariably have a low GL, while foods with an intermediate or high GI range from very low to very high GL. Therefore, you can reduce the GL of your diet by limiting foods that have both a high GI and a high carbohydrate content.
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When I started Montignac, I steered VERY clear of watermelon.
Its glycemic index is pretty high, about 72. According to the calculations by the people at the University of Sydney's Human Nutrition Unit, in a serving of 120 grams it has 6 grams of available carbohydrate per serving, so its glycemic load is pretty low, 72/100*6=4.32, rounded to 4. which is very low.
I hope this all makes some sense and isn't confusing you further. The good old mendosa site has very clear explanations of both GI and GL - along with about 750 foods measured (most have averages) for GI and GL.
I'll look into the egg thing when I get home and can refer to MM book.
As far as the refried beans goes - I'd still limit it, maybe to phase 2. Cooking the beans for a long time increases the gelatinzation - the process where carbs are broken down to be more digestible - but worse for you GI and GL wise. NGR has a good explanation of this too - will try and dig it out when I get home again!
Sorry for the long reply
Spang