Special Article - International table of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2002 - Abstract and introduction

Oct 12, 2026

Uploaded by aboduw

Reliable tables of glycemic index (GI) are presented to strengthen research on the relationship between GI, glycemic load (GL), and health. The GI is framed as a physiologically grounded nutritional concept, linked to postprandial blood glucose responses and therefore more informative than chemical carbohydrate classifications. High-GL diets are associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. This revised table expands food coverage and includes GL values for defined serving sizes, with entries derived from verified sources using standard methods.

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Pages52

Reading Time18 min

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Abstract

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Introduction

Special Article International table of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2002 1,2 Kaye Foster-Powell, Susanna HA Holt, and Janette C Brand-Miller ABSTRACT Reliable tables of glycemic index (GI) compiled from the scientific literature are instrumental in improving the quality of research examining the relation between GI, glycemic load, and health. The GI has proven to be a more useful nutritional concept than is the chemical classification of carbohydrate (as simple or complex, as sugars or starches, or as available or unavailable), permitting new insights into the relation between the physiologic effects of carbohydrate-rich foodsand health. Several prospective observational studies have shown that the chronic consumption of a diet with a high glycemic load (GI 􀀂 dietary carbohydrate content) is independently associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. This revised table contains almost 3 times the number of foods listed in the original table (first published in this Journal in 1995) and contains nearly 1300 data entries derived from published and unpublished verified sources, representing > 750 different types of foods tested with the use of standard methods. The revised table also lists the glycemic load associated with the consumption of specified serving sizes of different foods. Am J Clin Nutr 2002;76:5–56 . KEY WORDS Glycemic index, carbohydrates, diabetes, glycemic load INTRODUCTION Twenty years have passed since the ﬁrst index of the relative glycemic effects of carbohydrate exchanges from 51 foods was published by Jenkins et al (1) in this Journal. Per gram of carbohydrate, foods with a high glycemic index (GI) produce a higher peak in postprandial blood glucose and a greater overall blood glucose response during the ﬁrst 2 h after consumption than do foods with a low GI. Despite controversial beginnings, the GI is now widely recognized as a reliable, physiologically based classiﬁcation of foods according to their postprandial glycemic effect. In 1997 a committee of experts was brought together by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) to review the available research evidence regarding the importance of carbohydrates in human nutrition and health (2) . The committee endorsed the use of the GI method for classifying carbohydraterich foods and recommended that the GI values of foods be used in conjunction with information about food composition to guide food choices. To promote good health, the committee advocated the consumption of a high-carbohydrate diet (≥ 55% of energy from carbohydrate), with the bulk of carbohydrate-containing foods being rich in nonstarch polysaccharides with a low GI. In Australia, official dietary guidelines for healthy elderly people specifically recommend the consumption of low-GI cereal foods for good health (3), and a GI trademark certification program isin place to put GI values on food labels as a means of helping consumers to select low-GI foods (4) . Commercial GI testing of foods for the food industry is currently conducted by many laboratories around the world, including our own. Many recent popular diet books contain extensive lists of the GI values of individual foods or advocate the consumption of low-GI, carbohydrate-rich foods for weight control and good health (5) . Reliable tables of GI compiled from the scientific literature are instrumental in improving the quality of research examining the relation between the dietary glycemic effect and health. The first edition of International Tables of Glycemic Index, published in this Journal in 1995 with 565 entries (6), has been cited as a reference in many scientific papers. In particular, these tables provided the basis for the GI to be used a dietary epidemiologic tool, allowing novel comparisons of the effects of different carbohydrates on disease risk, separate from the

FAQs

What is the purpose of the international GI and GL table described in the document?

It provides reliable, literature-compiled tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values to support high-quality research on how GI and GL relate to health outcomes.

How does the document describe the difference between GI and chemical carbohydrate classification?

GI is portrayed as a more useful nutritional concept because it reflects physiologic postprandial glycemic effects, unlike purely chemical groupings of carbohydrates.

What changes does the revised table introduce compared with the earlier 1995 edition?

The revised table expands the number of foods and data entries, adding near 1300 entries from verified sources and including glycemic load associated with specified serving sizes.

Oct 12, 2026

Uploaded by aboduw