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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mrbee" data-source="post: 1275013" data-attributes="member: 343232">Neither is 'better' than the other, they are both integral aspects of the same thing and in order to get the best from your food choices you need to use/understand both if you plan on using a GI system.Glycemic Index, is the rate at which carbohydrates essentially burn up and enter the blood stream as 'fuel', some call this the 'quality' of the carbohydrate and Glycemic Load is the amount of carbohydrates in the item, essentially you can view it as the workload your body/blood is put under by consuming the item or alternatively you can view it as the amount of fuel it provides, so the lower the load the less fuel it provides and vice versa.So for example you can have a food, which is high GI but Low GL...Such as watermelon and if you were only concerned with the GI you may be avoiding it (as many diabetics seem to avoid many fruit but happily eat bread, pasta, beans etc.) because you believe it is bad due to its high GI, when in fact, the GL is so low that it is considered minimal, in other words, yes it ‘burns’ fast but the load is so tiny that you are unlikely to experience any large fluctuations in BG and if you do, they will likely be very short lived.So in short, to keep spikin to a minimum, you are looking for foods with moderate to low GI and a moderate to low GL for best control if plan on using GI/GL as part of your regime and plan to include various carbohydrate in your diet (as I do) as opposed to attempting to avoid them all together.Choice of diet of course often depends on what medication you (or someone you know if you are just investigating for someone else) are taking, for example I know T2s who take oral meds only or oral meds and incretin mimetics who swear by LCHF and will not budge and would have all diabetics on this regime if there were some way to enforce such a thing.I know others who (like myself) because we take insulin, have a bit more freedom over what carbs go into our diets because we have a method (to some degree anyway) of direct control over how those carbs are treated, i.e., we can (though I tend not to myself) if we choose to do so, take an extra unit or two of insulin.The best and most useful advice I believe anyone can give or get regarding food, you can try all manner of things and diets, and I tried the GI/GL thing, but the most useful thing I have taken on board once I finally stopped being in denial, is learn how to manage portion sizes, calorific intake and eat normally, I hear people say ohh yeah that’s how we got to be this way in the first place eating that ‘normal’ food, but in truth, we got this way (most of us at least though I accept not all) because we were greedy and made poor food choices.I often find your average T2 eats too much of most things in truth, and though many of us don’t like to admit this fact, it is unfortunately, largely true, you can see this with the fact most T2s are overweight but many of us just don’t like to hear it.Myself, when I used to listen to the nurse say this, I used to try to convince myself I was doing my best and she didn’t quite understand me blah blah…when I knew really I could do better and she knew it too…So now I do my best to stick to less than 2500 cals, average about 1900 cals a day, no more than (yes some will freak out) 200g carbs in one day average about 130g (and note these are not targets they are limits) and I eat a variety of food from fruits to pies to biscuits here and there, the only difference is now, I understand what a proper portion is and generally have a meal of between 400-650 cals and a couple of snacks or treats, depending on what I have and when in the day it is.I now understand how food affects me, it has become second nature now, I rarely overeat, I eat what I like (to a large extent) and just accept it needs to be accounted for, and I have also learned to be much calmer about it all, and I have lost over 3 stone since accepting my own part in my condition about 2 years ago, I was diagnosed back in 2005 so it’s taken a little while.I often have BG in the 5-7 range, I don’t use extra insulin as an easy way out, I generally find i have no need to anyway as long I eat sensibly, and I take minimum amount of novo-rapid, usually no more than 1 time a day, because I don’t want to increase my potential for added weight, I take Levemir once a day at night, and I have metformin and though to my shame, I do little physical activity (I work as a PC Tech so often sat infront of a PC), though I have recently began to walk more..Whatever path you decide to tread, I wish you luck and hope that you find something that works for you and fits in with your lifestyle, and you will have half the battle won…</blockquote>

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