In 1981 (30 years ago) The AJCN—
published a paper by Canadian Dr. David Jenkins (University of Toronto), which was to have a profound effect on the ability of people living with diabetes to make better choices of what they eat on day to day basis.
It established the Glycemic Index— a measure, on the scale of 1 to 100, ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels and thus their post-meal impact on a malfunctioning system.
It was followed by the Glycemic Load which is a measure of the impact of the glucose in a single portion of food.
Dr Jenkins is interviewed in the latest newsletter of GI news.
Dr Alan Barclay charts in the same news letter the progress made in studies of GI and GL since 1981 .
GI started a world-wide glucose revolution, he states, as it clearly showed that carbs didn’t affect our blood glucose levels the way we thought they did–freeing people with diabetes from overly restrictive diets.
Despite controversial beginnings, the GI is now widely recognized as a reliable, physiologically based classification of foods according to their postprandial glycemic effect.
I have found the GI and the GL essential guides to everyday eating. Though I now take a pill a day, I credit them with allowing me to control the condition for six years without medication.
Robin Ellis 