The relevance of the glycaemic index to our understanding of dietary carbohydrates

Aims To review the evidence for the importance of glycaemic index of dietar y carbohydrate in disease prevention and control Methods A critical appraisal of the literature published in English between and cited on Medline between January 1966 and October 1999. Results Using basic, intervention and epidemiological studies from experien ced teams, evidence that the glycaemic index of diet may influence outcome in terms of cardiovascular risk, risk of metabolic syndrome diseases and pr egnancy was found Conclusions Consideration of glycaemic indices in making dietary recommenda tions may be expected to produce additional health benefit.