First Published in CrossFit Journal Issue 3 - November 2002
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Glycemic Index
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Greg Glassman
                                                                  For several  decades  now, bad sci-                                                                                                             There’s a family of popular diets and                                                                                                           Additionally, excess consumption of 
                                                                 ence  and  bad  politics  have  joined                                                                                                           diet  books  based  on  decreasing                                                                                                              carbohydrate  may  soon  be shown 
                                                                 hands to produce what is arguably                                                                                                                carbohydrate consumption. Most of                                                                                                               to  be  linked  to Alzheimer’s, aging, 
                                                                 the most costly error in the history                                                                                                             them are excellent.                                                                                                                             cancers, and other disease through 
                                                                 of science—the low-fat  diet.   This                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             a process known as glycosylation.
                                                                 fad diet has cost  millions unneces-                                                                                                             Chief among these books are Barry                                                                                                               At any rate, a search on Google for 
                                                                 sary death and suffering from heart                                                                                                              Sears’s Enter  the Zone, Michael  and                                                                                                           “hyperinsulinemia” reveals hundreds 
                                                                 disease, diabetes, and, it increasingly                                                                                                          Mary  Dan  Eades’s  Protein  Power,                                                                                                             of ills linked  to  this  metabolic  de-
                                                                 seems, a host of cancers and other                                                                                                               Robert Atkins’s Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revo-                                                                                                          rangement.  The  rapidly  growing 
                                                                 chronic and debilitating illnesses.                                                                                                              lution,  Loren  Cordain’s  The  Paleo                                                                                                           awareness of the consequences  of 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Diet, and  Heller’s  The  Carbohydrate                                                                                                          elevated  blood sugar is one of the 
                                                                 Gary Taubes, the esteemed science                                                                                                                Addict’s  Diet.    Each  of  these  is  an                                                                                                      more promising avenues of medical 
                                                                 writer, has written two brilliant and                                                                                                            honest  and accurate chronicling  of                                                                                                            advancement today. 
                                                                 highly  regarded  pieces  on  exactly                                                                                                            the  effects  of the low-fat, fad  diet, 
                                                                 this  subject. The  first  appeared  in                                                                                                           and each offers a rational, effective                                                                                                           Though  frightening,  the  diseases 
                                                                 Science  Magazine  in  1999  and  the                                                                                                            regimen for avoiding dietary ills. For                                                                                                          brought  about  through  hyperinsu-
                                                                 second in  the New York Times  just                                                                                                              those                          technically                                      inclined,                                the                    linemia  can  easily  be  avoided  by 
                                                                 this summer (July 7, 2002).                                                                                                                      mechanism by which excess carbo-                                                                                                                minimizing  carbohydrate  consump-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  hydrate  causes  disease  state  is                                                                                                             tion—specifically  carbohydrate that 
                                                                 A new age is dawning in nutrition:                                                                                                               known as hyperinsulinemia.  Hyper-                                                                                                              gives substantial rise to blood sugar 
                                                                 one where the culprit is seen not as                                                                                                             insulinemia is the chronic and acute                                                                                                            and consequently insulin levels.
                                                                 dietary fat  but as excess consump-                                                                                                              elevation  of  insulin  as a  result  of 
                                                                 tion  of  carbohydrate—particularly                                                                                                              habitual  consumption  of  excess                                                                                                               There is a singular measure of car-
                                                                 refined or processed carbohydrate.                                                                                                                carbohydrate.                                                                                                                                   bohydrate  that  gives  exactly  this 
                                                                 In fact, there’s an increasing aware-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            information:    the  glycemic  index.  
                                                                 ness that excess carbohydrates play                                                                                                              The list of ills  linked  to hyperinsu-                                                                                                         Glycemic index is simply a measure 
                                                                 a dominant role in chronic diseases                                                                                                              linemia  is  staggering  and  growing.                                                                                                          of a food’s propensity to raise blood 
                                                                 such as obesity, coronary heart dis-                                                                                                             Just  recently, colorectal  cancer was                                                                                                          sugar.                         Avoid  high-glycemic-index 
                                                                 ease,  many  cancers,  and  diabetes.                                                                                                            added  to  the  probable  list  of                                                                                                              foods and  you’ll  avoid  many, if not 
                                                                 This  understanding  comes  directly                                                                                                             hyperinsulinemia-mediated diseases.                                                                                                             most, of the ills associated with diet.
                                                                 from  current  medical  research.                                                                                                                The evidence linking  excess carbo-
                                                                 Amazingly,  the  near-universal  per-                                                                                                            hydrate consumption to hyperinsu-                                                                                                               David (Rick) Mendosa has published 
                                                                 ception that dietary fat is the major                                                                                                            linemia and coronary heart disease                                                                                                              one of the most complete glycemic 
                                                                 culprit  in  obesity  has  no  scientific                                                                                                         is compelling, if not overwhelmingly                                                                                                            indices  available  anywhere,  with  a 
                                                                 foundation. (See Taubes, above.)                                                                                                                 convincing.                                                                                                                                     listing  of  over  750  common  food 
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    J    O U R N A L ARTICLES
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                C                                                            F
                                                                                           First Published in CrossFit Journal Issue 3 - November 2002
                                                                            Glycemic Index
                                                                                         ...continued
                      items  giving  values  based  on  glu-
                      cose’s score of 100.                                          "Good” Foods                                        "Bad” Foods
                      We can increase the ease and utility                          Low-Gylcemic                                      High-Gylcemic
                      of such a list by  dividing commonly               Water                    Apple                     Acorn Squash             Cereal
                      eaten foods into two groups—one                    Oatmeal                  Grapes                    Baked Beans              Cornstarch
                      of high-glycemic foods, “bad foods,”               Eggs                     Plum                      Beets                    Croissant
                      and  one of low-glycemic  foods, or                Protein Powder           Shrimp                    Black-eyed Peas          Croutons
                      “good” foods.  This is the rationale               Peanut Butter            Mayonnaise                Butternut Squash         Doughnut
                      behind  the  CrossFit  Shopping  List,             Tahini                   Plain Yogurt              Cooked Carrots           English Muffin
                      at right.                                          Olives                   Deli Meat                 Corn                     Granola
                      You  may  notice  that  the  “good”                Beef                     Ham                       French Fries             Grits
                      foods are typically meats, vegetables,             Cheese                   Soy Milk                  Hubbard Squash           Melba Toast
                      fruits, nuts, and seeds, whereas the               Salsa                    Spirulina                 Lima Beans               Muffin
                      bad  foods  include  many  manmade                 Black Beans              Tempeh                    Parsnips                 Noodles
                      or processed foodstuffs.  There are                Kidney Beans             Egg Substitute            Peas                     Instant Oatmeal
                      some  notable  exceptions,  but  the               Ground Turkey            Oil                       Pinto Beans              Pancake
                      trend is certainly instructive.                    Soy Sausage              Peanuts                   Potato                   Popcorn
                                                                         Chicken                  Swordfish                  Refried Beans            Rice
                      High-glycemic,  or “bad  foods,”  are              Turkey Sausage           Tuna Steak                Sweet Potato             Rolls
                      typically  starchy,  sweet,  or  proc-             Salmon                   Tomato Sauce              Turnip                   Taco Shell
                      essed  foods  such  as  bread,  pasta,             Turkey                   Spinach                   Banana                   Tortilla
                      rice, potato, grains, and desserts.                Canned Tuna              Carrots                   Cranberries              Udon Noodles
                                                                         Canned Chicken           Orange                    Dates                    Waffle
                      More  than  a  few  observers  have                Soy Burgers              Pear                      Fig                      BBQ Sauce
                      pointed out that low-glycemic foods                Cottage Cheese           Pineapple                 Guava                    Ketchup
                      have limited shelf life and are found              Almonds                  Brussels Sprouts          Mango                    Cocktail Sauce
                      on  the  perimeter  of  the  grocery               Macadamia Nuts           Eggplant                  Papaya                   Honey
                      store, whereas  high-glycemic  foods               Avocado                  Sauerkraut                Prunes                   Jelly
                      have a longer shelf life and are typi-             Tofu                     Hot Dogs                  Raisins                  Sugar
                      cally    found  within  the  grocery               Tomato                   Chickpeas                 Fruit Juice              Maple Syrup
                      store’s aisles.                                    Lettuce                  Lamb                      Vegetable Juice          Teriyaki Sauce
                                                                         Onion                    Pork                      Bagel                    Chocolate
                      Though  this  approach  is  an  over-              Mushrooms                Dill Pickles              Biscuit                  Corn Chips
                      simplification of much of nutritional               Cucumber                 Soy Beans                 Bread Crumbs             Ice Cream
                      science, it has the power to deliver               Blueberries              Asparagus                 Bread                    Potato Chips
                      nearly all of the benefits offered by               Milk                     Cantaloupe                Steak Sauce              Pretzels
                      more  detailed  and  elaborate  regi-              Broccoli                 Strawberries              Bulgur                   Saltine Crackers
                      mens such  as those  by  Sears, the                Zucchini                 Peach                     Sweet Relish             Molasses
                      Eadeses,  Cordain, Atkins,  and  the 
                      Hellers.  Eat  more  of  the  “good  “ 
                      foods  and  less  of  the  “bad”  ones 
                      and you’ll garner much of what the 
                      more responsible eating plans offer. 
                      Many of our friends and clients have 
                      radically  transformed  their  health 
                      through this single tool.
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                          © CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc.                                       subscription info at http://store.crossfit.com
                          ® All rights reserved 2006                                                                   feedback to feedback@crossfit.com