Glycemic index: what actually matters

The glycemic index (GI) measures how quickly a food raises blood sugar relative to a reference (usually pure glucose). It's a useful tool, but it should be used with care: on its own, it says little about the overall quality of a meal.

A more clinically useful concept is glycemic load, which also accounts for the actual amount of carbohydrate consumed. A high-GI food eaten in a moderate portion, paired with fibre, protein or healthy fats, behaves very differently from what the GI number alone would suggest.

In practice: always pair carbohydrates with other meal components, favour whole grains when possible, and avoid demonising a single food based on one table. The context of the meal — and of the day — matters more than the isolated number.