Explain glycemic index versus glycemic load. Which statement is accurate?

• A. GI ranks foods by glucose response; GL accounts for portion size and is calculated as GI × carbohydrate grams per serving / 100.
• B. GL ranks foods by fat content; GI measures protein effect.
• C. GI is the total glycemic response; GL is unrelated to serving size.
• D. GI and GL are identical measures used interchangeably.

Answer: (A)

Glycemic index shows how quickly a carbohydrate-containing food raises blood glucose, ranking foods from low to high response relative to a reference food. It focuses on the quality of the carbohydrate’s effect, not how much you eat. Glycemic load builds on that by incorporating portion size: it reflects the actual glucose impact of a typical serving because it multiplies the GI by the grams of carbohydrate in a serving and divides by 100. This gives a practical sense of how a real meal will affect blood sugar.

So the accurate statement is that GI ranks foods by glucose response, while GL accounts for portion size and is calculated as GI × carbohydrate grams per serving / 100. For example, a food can have a high GI but a small carbohydrate amount in a serving, resulting in a low GL, whereas another food with a moderate GI but a larger carbohydrate content per serving can yield a higher GL.

The other ideas are off the mark: GL does not relate to fat content, GI does not measure protein effects, GL is indeed related to serving size, and GI and GL are not identical measures.