Glycemic Index - Improving your blood glucose levels

Oct 12, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw

Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL) guide food choices for steadier blood glucose and healthier diet quality. The handout explains GI as a comparison of carbohydrate effects against pure glucose, and shows how lower GI foods (below 50) tend to be less processed and higher in fiber. It clarifies that GI alone is insufficient, introducing GL, its calculation, and low/medium/high cutoffs, then lists low-GI foods by category with serving estimates.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

What is the glycemic index?

Rise in blood sugar over time

What is the glycemic load?

Glycemic load calculation and cutoffs

Glycemic index of common foods

Some low-glycemic index foods

Glycemic Index Improving your blood glucose levels This handout explains the glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL). It also lists low glycemic index foods to help you choose foods that will help you improve your blood glucose levels and the quality of your diet. What is the glycemic index? The glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how different carbohydrates raise blood glucose levels.It compares the effect of 100 grams of pure glucose to an equal amount of other carbohydrates.The GI calls the effect of pure glucose 100%.The changes in blood glucose from other carbohydrates are compared to that 100%, and they are also given in percents. Rise in Blood Sugar Over Time Rise in Blood Sugar 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Glucose (100%) | | | | | | | White Rice (75%) Apples (34%) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 | | | | | | Time (Minutes) The chart above shows what happened to their blood sugars when a group of people was given 100 grams of glucose.The same group was then given 100 grams of carbohydrate from white rice.They were then given a 100-gram carbohydrate serving of apples.Their blood sugars were measured and values were charted after each intake. The chart on page 1 shows that: • The GI of white rice was 75% of the glucose GI • The GI of apples was 34% of the glucose GI Blood glucose is most stable when foods you eat have a glycemic index less than 50%.Choosing foods with a GI less than 50% is also good foryour heart and improves the overall quality of your diet.This is because most low-GI foods are less processed and have a higher fiber content. The glycemic index should not be used as your only tool for blood sugar control.Butitis very helpful when used with other food and nutrition guidelines.These include watching your total carbohydrate, fat, and protein intake, as well as food portion size. You can learn more about the GI at these websites: • The Official Website of the Glycemic Index and GI Database (University of Sydney),[www.glycemicindex.com](www.glycemicindex.com) • Living with Diabetes,[www.mendosa.com](www.mendosa.com) What is the glycemic load? The GI ranks foods based on their blood glucose response, but it does not consider how the carbohydrate in a food portion affects glycemia. Glycemic load uses both the amount of carbohydrate eaten and the GI. To calculate the glycemic load of a serving of food, you need to know: • The glycemic index of that food • The grams of available carbohydrates in the serving (total carbohydrate minus fiber) To find the glycemic load, multiply the glycemic index of the food times the number of available grams of carbohydrate in the serving.Then divide the total by 100.Here is the formula: Glycemic load = Glycemic index x Grams carbohydrate / 100 Here is an example: • The glycemic index for raw carrots is 71.A ½ cup serving has about 8 grams of available carbohydrates. 71 x 8 = 568 / 100 = 5.7 glycemic load A glycemic load of 10 or less is low,a glycemic load of 11 to 19 is medium,and a glycemic load of 20 or more is high. Glycemic Index of Common Foods | 100%
Glucose
80 to 89%
Carrots Cornflakes Honey Maltose Parsnips
Potatoes (instant mashed)
70 to 79%
Bread (whole grain) Broad beans (fresh) Millet
Potato (new)
Rice (white) Rutabaga Weetabix
60 to 69%
Bananas Beetroot Bread (white) Mars Bars Muesli Raisins
Rice (brown) Ryvita Shredded Wheat Water Biscuits | 50 to 59%
All-Bran Buckwheat Digestive biscuit Oatmeal biscuit Peas (frozen) Potato chips Rich tea biscuit Spaghetti (white) Sucrose
Sweet corn Yam
40 to 49%
Beans (canned navy) Oatmeal
Oranges and orange juice Peas (dried)
Spaghetti (whole grain) Sweet potato | 30 to 39%
Apples Butter beans

FAQs

How is the glycemic index (GI) defined in the handout?

GI measures how different carbohydrates raise blood glucose, comparing 100 grams of pure glucose to an equal amount of other carbohydrates and expressing the change as a percentage of glucose’s effect.

Why should foods with a glycemic index below 50% be preferred?

Blood glucose is described as most stable when foods have a GI under 50%. Choosing foods below this threshold is also said to benefit the heart and improve diet quality, partly because low-GI foods are often less processed and higher in fiber.

What is glycemic load (GL), and how do you calculate it?

GL considers both the GI and the amount of available carbohydrate in a serving. The handout’s formula is: glycemic load = glycemic index × grams of carbohydrate / 100, where grams of available carbohydrate are total carbohydrate minus fiber.

Oct 12, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw