Why Glycemic Index Is Important

What is Glycemic Index?

Glycemic Index (GI) is an indicator of how quickly the food you are eating causes a rise in blood sugar. It is a scale from 0 to 130, on which foods are listed. Foods that have a smaller GI value (0-55) are called Low GI foods.

while foods that have a higher GI Value (>70) are termed High GI. 

What happens when we eat High Glycemic Index Foods?

When we eat High GI foods, which are typically also high on carbohydrates (think simple carbs like Maida or sugar), this causes a blood sugar spike - which means a rapid rise in blood glucose levels.

In response to this spike, the body releases insulin rapidly too, to “mop up” all the extra blood sugar. When we repeatedly eat high GI foods, the body repeatedly releases insulin too. This repeated insulin response eventually leads to insulin resistance or diabetes. 

So, in a nutshell, foods that have simple carbs cause a sugar spike. Proteins & Fats do not. Proteins and fats provide calories, but do not cause a rapid rise in blood sugar.

The presence of protein & fat in the food lowers its GI, because the body takes longer to digest the protein + fat + carb combination (think Khichdi with Ghee!) Soluble fiber in food also has the same effect of slowing down digestion, and therefore a controlled blood sugar release. 

Artinci’s Ingredients Philosophy revolves around Low Glycemic Index:

The GI is only a number on a scale, which is useful to assess which food ingredient to choose, and which to avoid. Which brings us to our ingredient philosophy at Artinci. Our commitment is to work with only the lowest GI ingredients and to produce only Low Carb Dessert. 

Our food philosophy at Artinci is that we need a balanced diet that includes carbohydrates, protein and fat. Since we already get all our carbs from our regular meal, eating even more carb in a dessert only creates a carb overload.

So we decided to go all low carb on our dessert. We also do not shy away from calories, as long as it comes from good calories like protein (like almond flour, peanuts) or good fats (like cold pressed oils or ghee). 

This approach, of choosing low GI ingredients which carry good calories, helps give a feeling of satiety after having eaten an Artinci dessert - a great-tasting dessert, minus excessive carbs, therefore no sugar spikes and sugar crashes. There’s also the hack of timing the dessert well, and that’s a post for another day!