The glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how quickly your blood sugar levels rise after ingesting a carbohydrate, which always happens because as soon as you take in carbohydrates, it gets turned into glucose. In turn, glucose makes ATP, which is a natural substance that ‘drives’ everything your body does.
According to the glycemic index, every foodstuff or beverage you ingest is assigned a value, which indicates how quickly sugar is released into your blood after taking that food or drink.
Some substances would act very quickly to increase blood sugar level, if for example you drank a pure sugar drink. Hence, this drink would have a high glycemic index near the upper limit of 100, whereas whole wheat spaghetti has a GI figure of somewhere between 35 and 40.
Given that carbohydrates generate energy for your body, you might assume that the higher the GI figure is for particular foodstuff, the better it will be for anyone who is trying to power their bodybuilding efforts, but you would be wrong. This is because when any food or drink you take in is very high in sugar, it prompts a sudden surge of pancreatic activity to produce insulin.
Unfortunately, while your body is still heavily laden with insulin, it is not capable of losing fat, because the natural hormonal imbalance that has been generated triggers fat storage.
Foods and drinks that have lower GI figures are far better for anyone who is an active bodybuilder, because the release of sugar is naturally slower and therefore the surge of insulin is far more controlled as well.
This means that there are fewer ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ and that your appetite is likely to be far more controlled which minimizes the risk of suffering ‘snack attacks’.
Lower glycemic index foodstuffs are extremely effective for controlling the amount of fat that you put on, while they also help bulk up your muscles and burn existing fat at the same time.
In a perfect scenario, all you would need to know about the carbohydrate you’re eating would be the glycemic index, but nothing is perfect. There are a couple of reasons you cannot use GI as the only guide of how good particular carbohydrates are in your body building diet.
Firstly, if you take on board carbohydrates as well as proteins and fats in the same meal (as we have already established that you should) then both the proteins and fats will slow down the energy absorption from the carbohydrate.
Secondly, there are different types of carbohydrate and they are handled in different ways by the body.
On the one hand you have complex carbohydrates such as starchy foodstuffs like oatmeal, sweet potatoes and lentils, while on the other there are fibrous carbohydrates such as asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes.
If you eat a combination of starchy and fibrous carbohydrates together, then the latter slows down the absorption of the former, thereby lowering their GI rating, which is better for building muscle and reducing fatty deposits.
Eat these compact carbohydrates in small portions at every meal, but make sure that there is a least one portion with every meal.
Whereas complex carbohydrates release energy into the body slowly, simple carbohydrates will do so much more quickly, so foodstuffs like apples, pears, oranges, peaches and strawberries will give you a far quicker energy boost.
The glycemic index is a measure of the power of food to increase blood glucose levels after consumption. The more power you take in, the more power needs to be burned off if you are going to attain the perfect shape and physique for bodybuilding purposes, whether this is for competition or purely for your own satisfaction.
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