Classifying Carbohydrate
There are numerous methods of classifying carbohydrates, depending on their structure or digestibility and absorption. Probably the most relevant for bodybuilders is the glycaemic index or GI, which is broadly similar (although not identical to) classifying carbohydrates as simple and complex.
The GI measures the reaction of the blood glucose levels to consuming a carbohydrate-containing food when compared with pure glucose, which has a GI of 100. Low GI foods, below about 55 cause glucose levels in the blood to rise only slowly and over a long time period, compared with high GI foods of over 70, which lead to a rapid but short lived rise in blood glucose.
In practical terms, a low GI food with its more sustained release of glucose into the blood will keep you feeling full for longer compared with a high GI food that will satisfy hunger only for a short time period.
The situation is complicated by the fact that consuming different foods with one another will alter the GI. Thus, eating high GI white bread with butter will lower the overall blood glucose response, so lowering the glycaemic load. Fat and protein both act to slow the absorption of glucose from carbohydrate-containing foods, reducing the glycaemic load of the meal.
The most biologically relevant method of classifying carbohydrates is by the insulin index or II. This describes the response of blood insulin to consuming any food, not just one that contains carbohydrate. Some meats and other low carbohydrate foods evoke an insulin response without a glycaemic response.
The insulin index may therefore be of most use for dietary management.
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