Glycemic index of foods, Potatoes, oats, cornflakes, glycemic index

The Glycemic Index (GI) of food is a method of classifying food according to the kind of carbohydrates it contains. It is important for you to know that not all carbohydrates are similar in nature. There are various kinds of carbohydrates.


Some are the "good" kind, which basically means that these carbohydrates will not increase your blood sugar excessively after you consume them. There are some other types, which will increase your blood sugar tremendously after eating them. The latter are the type you would need to avoid, because they can be detrimental to your health.


In order to get a good idea of the kinds of foods that fall under the high and low GI category, you should go to your physician for a generic list of substances and their GI. To mention a few generic examples, cornflakes have a higher GI than oat, bran and flaxseed cereals. Whole grain breads have a lower GI than white and sweet breads.

To address the question you have asked, washing foods before you cook them will not make any difference to the GI level of the food in question, no matter what it is. This is because the GI of the food is not determined by the external quality of the food but by the internal properties of the food substances present in the food. It is also important for you to know that if you wash any food before cooking it, you are not going to be "washing the starch off". You are merely cleaning mud, dirt and dust that may have gathered on the food and making it more hygienic for yourself and the others who eat it. The GI level of the food would come into play only after it has been eaten and has begun to breakdown.