You may have seen the term “glycemic index” in a magazine article or in a diet book. The term glycemic index (or “GI”) may sound complicated, but the concept of is actually pretty simple. GI is a measure of how foods that have carbohydrates (carbs) in them affect your blood sugar. Any food that has carbs in it (such as bread, cereal, pasta, rice, fruits, vegetables, beans, pastries, snack foods, and sweets) will make your blood sugar go up after you eat it. GI tells you how much and how fast a food raises your blood sugar. High GI foods cause your blood sugar to spike right after you eat them. Foods with a low GI are digested more slowly and cause a lower and gentler change in your blood sugar.

It’s good to know what GI means because many low GI foods are healthy choices for young women with PCOS. However, you don’t always need to be concerned about the GI of every food you eat. GI isn’t listed on the food label, which makes it challenging to keep track of.  Also, there are some foods that have a low GI (a Snickers bar) that aren’t actually very healthy and some foods that have a high GI (watermelon) that are very healthy.

Instead of focusing specifically on GI, think about choosing mostly healthy carbohydrate foods. Healthy carbohydrate foods are fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains such as brown rice, whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, whole grain cereal, and steel cut oatmeal. Choose these instead of less healthy choices such as candy, chips, soda, fruit juice, and refined grains (white rice, white bread, white pasta, sugary cereal, and instant oatmeal).

-Nutritionist Kendrin