The Trap of GI Value (Glycemic Index). The Physiological Fact that the Blood Sugar Curve is Completely Different Based on 'How You Chew' Rather Than 'What You Eat'

Currently, from convenience store packaging to the bands on health books, the promotional phrase “It’s hard to gain weight because it’s a low-GI (Glycemic Index) food!” is overflowing. The GI value is a relative parameter that quantifies “how easily a certain food causes a rapid rise in blood sugar levels” compared to white rice or glucose.

Many dieters worship this GI value list, hate white rice (high GI), and feel a sense of security by choosing brown rice or oatmeal (low GI) as their staple food. However, unfortunately, the myth that “you can prevent blood sugar spikes if you choose low-GI foods” overlooks the most massive variable in human eating behavior.

That is the existence of the physical interface of “the ‘speed (initial velocity of digestion)’ at which that food reaches the stomach from the mouth,” in other words, chewing. Even with the same food (same GI value), if the number of chews changes, the blood sugar curve will draw a completely different waveform (blood sugar dynamics related to E02).

”Fast Eating of Brown Rice” Loses to “Slow Eating of White Rice”

The biggest reason why brown rice has a low GI is due to its robust “cell walls (dietary fiber groups).” Because these encase the carbohydrates, it takes an enormous amount of time for the gastrointestinal digestive juices to access the sugars inside, and as a result, absorption is delayed. However, “washing it down with insufficient chewing” due to fast eating completely destroys this premise.

1. Paradigm Shift of GI Value Due to “How You Eat”

• Even with white rice, extending the time spent on the entire meal (over 20 minutes) with “hard side dishes (side dishes with a hard texture)” eaten together, and chewing well 30-40 times per bite (pace control in E05), is practically synonymous with creating an “ultra-low-GI food.” GLP-1 (incretin) secreted by chewing well puts the pancreas’s insulin on standby in advance, constructing a gentle blood sugar curve.
• On the other hand, no matter how much you choose liquid/low-chewing foods considered low-GI like “oat bread” or “smoothies,” if you wash them into your stomach in a few minutes, sugar will rush into the intestines without the pre-secretion of GLP-1 (safety net) working, causing an intense blood sugar spike (hyperglycemia) and the subsequent crash (hypoglycemia).

2. Insulin’s “Interceptor Missile” System

The number called the GI value only looks at the “chemical reactions after the food reaches the intestines.” However, what is most important in the human body’s blood sugar control is the “physical preparation (alert to the brain and pancreas) during the first 15 minutes before arrival” (procedure in E04). Without input (trigeminal nerve/histamine stimulation) from the jaw muscles through chewing, insulin ends up firing missiles in a panic “after the enemy (carbohydrates) appears in front of its eyes,” and is always on the defensive (delayed).

When choosing carbohydrates, stop worrying about the “GI value” numbers written on the packaging. You should recognize the cruel fact that it is not the food manufacturer deciding the true GI value (your own real-time speed of blood sugar rise), but rather the physical variable of “the up-and-down movement of your own jaw (chewing count and crushing efficiency).”