Can glycemic measures help you make smart carb choices?
By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic - Expert Column
Reviewed By Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD/LD
Low glycemic, high glycemic ... If you pay any attention to nutrition news, you've heard these terms more and more lately.
But what does it all mean? And is the glycemic index or GI -- essentially, a number that says how much your blood sugar rises after you eat a particular food that contains carbohydrates -- really the be-all, end-all to nutrition and health?
Well, not exactly.
High-GI foods (generally, things like white bread and white rice) give you a quick blood sugar boost that also fades quickly, leaving you hungry again. Lower-GI foods (think whole grains, produce, and beans) keep you feeling full longer as your blood-sugar levels rise more slowly.
But many researchers don't consider the glycemic index a valid tool. That's because it's based on how blood sugar rises in response to one particular food, such as carrots or rice. But we don't sit down to just a bowl of carrots or a plate of rice, do we? We eat foods together, as dishes and meals.
The presence of fat or fiber in a meal also influences how quickly our bodies metabolize the carbohydrates. So do some other factors, like how long noodles are cooked, or how finely grain is ground. (Slightly undercooked noodles are absorbed more slowly and have a lower GI; while the more finely a grain is ground, the more quickly its carbs are absorbed.)
What Exactly Is the Glycemic Index?
The glycemic index calculates how high your blood sugar rises in two hours after you eat a food containing roughly 50 grams of carbohydrates, compared to how much it rises after you eat a 50 gram serving of white bread or 50 grams of pure glucose (sugar).
The higher the GI for a certain food, the faster your body absorbs the carbs from that food. A lower GI means a food has a slower rate of carbohydrate absorption, and thus lower blood sugar and insulin peaks.
Here's where the controversy kicks in: whether low-GI foods lead to weight loss, lower blood sugar levels, and/or a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer compared with high-GI-foods.
After reviewing the existing research, the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) concluded that there was not enough evidence to recommend that people change their diets based on the glycemic index.
Enter a potentially more useful tool: the glycemic load, a more accurate measure of a food's effect on blood sugar levels.
A Better Measure
Think of the glycemic load as the glycemic index with attitude.
The GI tells you how quickly a particular carbohydrate in food makes your blood sugar rise, but it doesn't take into account how many carbohydrates are found in a serving. That means that some healthy, but relatively lower-carb, foods -- like carrots -- end up with a high GI number.
The glycemic load, meanwhile, takes the number of carbs per serving into consideration along with the food's glycemic index. To find a food's glycemic load, you basically multiply its GI value by number of carbohydrates per serving.
So the glycemic load allows us to compare the likely effect on blood sugar of realistic serving sizes of different foods.
What Influences the Glycemic Load/Index?
Many factors help determine your body's glycemic response to a particular food, including:
- Physical form, such as a whole apple vs. applesauce. Mashing foods tends to give them a higher glycemic index/load.
- Ripeness. The riper the fruit, the higher its glycemic index.
- Fiber -- particularly viscous fiber, a type of soluble fiber found in oats, barley, and other foods. Generally, the higher the fiber, the lower the glycemic index/load.
- Acidity. The higher a food's acidity, the lower its glycemic index/load.
- Processing. The more processed or refined a food, generally, the higher its glycemic index/load will be. When a grain is in a more "whole" form, your body's digestive enzymes have a tougher time breaking it down, which lowers the glycemic response to it. (There are some notable exceptions: pasta, and parboiled and basmati rice tend to have lower glycemic indexes, especially if they're not overcooked.)
- Whether protein and fat were eaten with the food. The presence of high amounts of protein and fat will decrease the glycemic index/load.
The following foods, even in large amounts, when eaten alone are not likely to cause a significant rise in blood sugar because they contain little carbohydrate: meat, poultry, fish, avocados, salad vegetables, eggs, fish, and cheese.
What's the Bottom Line?
I always look for the bottom line. And in the case of glycemic load, it tends to lead you to less-processed types of carbohydrate-rich foods, like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans/legumes.
The truth is, there is plenty of evidence that a mostly plant-based diet can reduce your risk of diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. And these foods tend to have lower glycemic index numbers.
But we have yet to determine whether a low-glycemic-index diet is really what helps prevent disease, or whether this effect comes mostly from eating a healthful variety of foods.
Glycemic Load and Index Values for Common Foods
Here are glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) values for some common foods. I have included their fiber content as well. Keep in mind that GI/GL is just one tool. Other aspects of food, like vitamin, mineral, fiber, and phytochemical content, are also very important.
This table uses white bread as the reference for glycemic index. White bread has a glycemic index of 100 when used as the reference food.
| Food | GI | GL | *Fiber (g) |
| BEVERAGES | |||
| Milk, whole | 38 | 4 | 0 |
| Milk, skim | 46 | 6 | 0 |
| Chocolate milk (2%) | 49 | 12 | 1.2 |
| Coca-Cola | 90 | 22 | 0 |
| JUICES | |||
| Apple, unsweet | 57 | 17 | 0.3 |
| Carrot juice, fresh | 61 | 14 | 1 |
| Cranberry juice cocktail | 97 | 33 | 0.3 |
| Grapefruit, unsweet | 69 | 12 | 0.3 |
| Orange, unsweet | 71 | 18 | 0.5 |
| Pineapple, unsweet | 66 | 22 | 0.5 |
| Tomato, canned (no added sugar) | 54 | 6 | 1.1 |
| BREADS | |||
| Bagel, white (Lenders) | 103 | 35 | 1.8 |
| Baguette, plain | 136 | 21 | 1.8 |
| Oat-bran bread | 63 | 11 | 1.4 |
| Rye bread | 71 | 8 | 1.8 |
| White bread | 100 | 14 | 0.7 |
| 100% whole-grain bread | 73 | 10 | 4.5 |
| BREAKFAST CEREALS | |||
| All-Bran (Kellogg's) | 54 | 13 | 9.7 |
| Bran Chex | 83 | 15 | 4.9 |
| Cheerios | 106 | 21 | 2.6 |
| Corn Chex | 118 | 29 | 0.5 |
| Cornflakes | 130 | 33 | 0.8 |
| Corn Pops | 114 | 29 | 0.4 |
| Cream of Wheat | 105 | 30 | 3 |
| Crispix | 124 | 30 | 0.7 |
| Froot Loops | 99 | 25 | 0.6 |
| Golden Grahams | 102 | 25 | 0.9 |
| Grape-Nuts | 107 | 22 | 2.6 |
| Oat bran, raw | 78 | 4 | 1.5 |
| Raisin Bran | 87 | 17 | 4 |
| Rice Chex | 127 | 32 | 0.3 |
| Rice Krispies | 117 | 30 | 0.3 |
| Shredded Wheat | 107 | 21 | 3 |
| Special K | 98 | 19 | 0.9 |
| Total | 109 | 24 | 2.6 |
| GRAINS | |||
| Barley, pearl | 36 | 15 | 5.7 |
| Buckwheat | 78 | 22 | 6 |
| Bulgur (cracked wheat), boiled | 68 | 17 | 7 |
| Corn, sweet, cooked | 85 | 20 | 4 |
| Couscous, boiled 5 min. | 93 | 23 | 2.1 |
| Oats, (as porridge) | 83 | 18 | 4 |
| RICE | |||
| Long grain, white unconverted, boiled 15 min. | 71 | 29 | 0.6 |
| Uncle Ben's parboiled, 20 minutes | 107 | 39 | 0.6 |
| Basmati, white | 83 | 30 | 0.3 |
| Brown rice, steamed | 72 | 22 | 3 |
| DAIRY PRODUCTS, ETC. | |||
| Vanilla ice cream, light (1/2% fat) | 67 | 7 | 0 |
| Chocolate ice cream, premium (15% fat) | 53 | 6 | 0.5 |
| Milk, whole | 38 | 4 | 0 |
| Milk, skim | 46 | 6 | 0 |
| Vanilla pudding (instant, made w/ whole milk) | 57 | 8 | 0 |
| Fruit yogurt (low-fat) w/ sugar | 47 | 14 | 0 |
| Fruit yogurt (nonfat) w/ acesulfame K and Splenda | 33 | 6 | 1 |
| Soy milk, reduced-fat | 63 | 11 | 1 |
| FRUIT | |||
| Apple | 57 | 8 | 4 |
| Banana | 73 | 18 | 3 |
| Cherries | 32 | 4 | 2.8 |
| Dates, dried | 147 | 58 | 4.5 |
| Grapefruit, raw | 36 | 4 | 5 |
| Grapes | 66 | 11 | 1.2 |
| Kiwifruit | 68 | 7 | 4.1 |
| Orange | 69 | 7 | 3 |
| Peach | 40 | 62.4 | |
| Pear | 54 | 6 | 3 |
| Pineapple | 84 | 10 | 1.5 |
| Plum | 34 | 41.8 | |
| Prunes, pitted | 41 | 14 | 4.3 |
| Raisins | 91 | 28 | 3 |
| Cantaloupe | 93 | 6 | 1 |
| Strawberries | 57 | 1 | 2.8 |
| Watermelon | 103 | 6 | 0.6 |
| LEGUMES/BEANS | |||
| Black-eyed peas | 59 | 18 | 9.6 |
| Garbanzo beans | 39 | 11 | 6.6 |
| Kidney beans (canned) | 74 | 12 | 14 |
| Black beans, soaked overnight, cooked 45 min. | 28 | 7 | 13.1 |
| Lentils, red | 36 | 7 | 12 |
| Pinto beans (dried), boiled | 55 | 14 | 13 |
| Soybeans, green, boiled | 25 | 1 | 6.3 |
| PREPARED/CONVENIENCE FOODS | |||
| Chicken nuggets | 66 | 10 | 0.4 |
| Fish sticks | 54 | 10 | 0 |
| French fries, from frozen | 107 | 30 | 4.5 |
| Pizza, cheese, from frozen | 86 | 22 | 2 |
| Pizza, vegetarian (thin crust) | 70 | 17 | 3 |
| PASTA/NOODLES | |||
| Fettuccine, egg noodles | 57 | 25 | 2 |
| Macaroni, boiled 5 min. | 64 | 30 | 1 |
| Spaghetti, boiled 5 min. | 45 | 21 | 3.1 |
| Spaghetti, boiled 11 min. (durum wheat semolina) | 84 | 39 | 3.1 |
| SNACK FOODS | |||
| Corn chips | 60 | 15 | 1.8 |
| Fruit bars, strawberry | 129 | 32 | 0.5 |
| Popcorn, plain, cooked in microwave | 102 | 11 | 3 |
| Pretzels, oven-baked | 119 | 22 | 1 |
| SWEETS | |||
| Chocolate (milk) | 49 | 10 | 1.7 |
| Chocolate (white) | 63 | 18 | 0 |
| Roll-Ups (fruit leather w/added vitamin C) | 142 | 33 | 0 |
| Jelly beans | 112 | 30 | 0 |
| M&M's, peanut | 47 | 8 | 1 |
| Snickers bar | 97 | 32 | 1.5 |
| Twix cookie bar | 63 | 24 | 0.7 |
| NUTS | |||
| Cashews | 31 | 4 | 1.7 |
| Peanuts | 19 | 1 | 4 |
| SUGARS | |||
| Honey | 78 | 14 | 0 |
| Sucrose (sugar) | 97 | 10 | 0 |
| VEGETABLES | |||
| Broccoli, steamed | 0 | 0 | 2.5 |
| Kale, cooked | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Spinach, raw | 0 | 0 | 2.2 |
| Zucchini, steamed | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lettuce, Romaine | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Green peas | 68 | 4 | 4.4 |
| Sweet corn, boiled | 85 | 15 | 2 |
| Carrots, boiled and peeled | 70 | 3 | 3 |
| Potato, baked (russet) | 121 | 36 | 4 |
| Sweet potato, baked with skin | 69 | 22 | 6 |
*Fiber grams are based on the same serving size (generally, a typical serving for that particular food) from which glucose load was determined.
Originally published October 1, 2004.
Medically updated Oct. 7, 2005.
SOURCES: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2002. American Institute for Cancer Research. Livia Augustine, researcher in nutritional sciences, University of Toronto. WebMD Feature "Glycemic Index: New Way to Count Carbs?" by Sid Kirchheimer, published Aug. 20, 2003.
©2005 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.
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