Fast and slow carbohydrates

It is often told to athletes that few hours before training complex carbohydrates should be eaten few hours before training(something like integral bons, potato, bread..) because this food leads to stabile amount of sugar in blood. However, it is said that simple sugars lead to sudden growth of sugar level in blood, after what goes its sudden fall, and hypoglycemic reaction.

Today it is known that carbohydrates influence to sugar in blood may not be determined by term simple and complex. For this term glycemical reaction is used, or food possibility to increase the degree of glucose in blood. A lot of factors can influent on this, including amount eaten, fiber part in food, degree of additional fat and the way of food preparation. Ranking the food according to ability to raise level of sugar in blood, scientists created a term “ THE GLYCEMIC INDEX”.

Glycemic index is the number that is actually created to help people that suffer from diabetes to easier monitor the amount of sugar in blood. People eat the mixture of various food, so glycemic index didn’t have that prediction power. However, athletes often eat  in lower meals before training, one type of food, and mostly have more use from this kind of composition ranking, by which they can design what to eat before, and what after training.

Carbohydrates with high glycemic index(potatoes, cornflakes, honey) enter the blood system quickly and it is the best to eat them during or after training. Food with low or moderate glycemic index(rice, pasta, bananas) easily enters the blood circulation and it is wishful before training because it ensures equably energy flow. Food with low glycemic index can remove the need to consume carbohydrates during long-term exercising and maintains normal sugar level in blood.

POPULAR FOOD GLYCEMIC INDEX
HIGH GLYCEMIC INDEX
Food*	Glycemic index
Glucose	100
Gatorade	91
Potato, fried	85
Cornflakes	84
Rizim cakes	82
Potato from microwave	82
Rubber candies	80
Vanilline cakes	77
White crema(instant)	74
Graham crackers	74
Honey	73
Watermelon	72
Bon, white	72
Bread, white	70
Bread, black	69(65-75)
Wheat flakes	69
Sweet drinks, Fanta	68
Mars candy	68
White crema(normal)	66
Kitchen sugar(sucrose)	65
Raisins	64
Oatmeal	61(42-75)
Icecream	61(36-80)
MODERATE GLYCEMIC INDEX
Food*	Glycemic index
Cookies with brans	60
Mush with brans	58
Orange juice	57
Cooked potato	56
Rice, white, long grain	56
Rice, brown	55
Popcorn	55
Corn	55
Sweet potato	54
“Sara Lee” cake	54
Banana, overripe	52
Peas	48
Beans	48
Rice, white, semi-cooked	47
Orange	43
Cereals	42
Spaghetti(without sauce)	41
Black rye bread	41
Apple juice, without sugar	41
LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX
Food*	Glycemic index
Apple	36
Pear	36
Power bar	30-35
Chocolate milk	34
Fruit yoghurt, non-fat	33
Chickpeas	33
Lima beans, frozen	32
Halved peas, yellow	32
Milk, skimmed	32
Marelas, dried	31
Pods	30
Banana, immature	30
Lens	29
Kidney beans	27
Milk, high-fat	27
Barley	25
Grapefruit	25
Fructose	23
*Amount that fits 50 grams of carbohydrates by serving Food with high glycemic influence has index bigger than 60; food with moderate influence 40-60; and food with low influence under 40

"Sports nutrition", Nancy Clark