Wish Upon A Dish: Carb Counting and the Glycemic Load

August 23, 2010

Carb Counting and the Glycemic Load

I spent the better part of yesterday doing math, yes, math.

To get the Glycemic Load of a food you have to first, get the carbohydrates of that food, second, figure the amount in 50grams of that food (50 is considered a proper portion of food) and third, multiply that by theamount of carbs in a 50g serving.

For example, the glycemic index of carrots is about 47. Carrots contain about 7 grams of carbohydrate per 100g of carrots. So, to calculate the glycemic load for a standard 50g serving of carrots, divide 47 by 100 (0.47) and multiply by 3.5 (half of 7g, remember you need a 50g serving, not 100). The glycemic load (GL) of carrots is therefore 1.6.
Another example : the GI of barley = 25 In 100g there are 28 carbs 25 divided by 50 = .5 x 14 (14 carbs in a 50g serving) = 7

It is really time consuming so I will just list as I post a recipe. The good thing is I get to see first hand how bad certain foods are for me, foods I would think was good and vice versa.

My brain hurts, it's Monday, it's rainy and damp and I have a sink full of dishes to do, so tonight I am just defrosting the second half of the Southwest Egg Rolls I made last month.

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