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NUTRITION u Evidence Based

Glycemic Index: What It

Is and How to Use It
Medically reviewed by Jillian Kubala, MS,
RD, Nutrition — By Rachael Ajmera, MS, RD
— Updated on March 3, 2023

What it is Low glycemic diet GI of foods

Effects of cooking & ripening Bottom line

The glycemic index is a tool that’s often used

to promote better blood sugar management.

Several factors influence the glycemic index

of a food, including its nutrient composition,
cooking method, ripeness, and the amount
of processing it has undergone.

The glycemic index can not only help

increase your awareness of what you’re
putting on your plate but also enhance
weight loss, decrease your blood sugar
levels, and reduce your cholesterol.

This article takes a closer look at the

glycemic index, including what it is, how it
can affect your health, and how to use it.

Nadine Greeff/Stocksy

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What is the glycemic index?

The glycemic index (GI) is a value used to
measure how much specific foods increase
blood sugar levels.

Foods are classified as low, medium, or high

glycemic foods and ranked on a scale of 0–
100.

The lower the GI of a specific food, the less it

may affect your blood sugar levels (1 ).

Here are the three GI ratings:

Low: 55 or less

Medium: 56–69

High: 70 or above

Foods high in refined carbs and sugar are

digested more quickly and often have a high
GI, while foods high in protein, fat, or fiber
typically have a low GI. Foods that contain
no carbs are not assigned a GI and include
meat, fish, poultry, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices,
and oils.

Other factors that affect the GI of a food

include the ripeness, cooking method, type
of sugar it contains, and amount of
processing it has undergone (2 ).

Keep in mind that the glycemic index is

different from the glycemic load (GL).

Unlike the GI, which doesn’t take into

account the amount of food eaten, the GL
factors in the number of carbs in a serving of
a food to determine how it may affect blood
sugar levels (3 ).

For this reason, it’s important to take both

the glycemic index and glycemic load into
consideration when selecting foods to help
support healthy blood sugar levels (3 ).

SUMMARY

The glycemic index is used to

measure how much a specific food
increases your blood sugar levels.
The higher the GI, the greater the
effect on blood sugar levels.

Low glycemic diet

The low glycemic diet involves swapping out
foods with a high GI for those with a lower
GI.

Benefits

Following a low glycemic diet may offer

several health benefits, including:

Improved blood sugar regulation.

Many studies have found that following
a low GI diet may reduce blood sugar
levels and improve blood sugar
management in people with type 2
diabetes (3 , 4 ).

Increased weight loss. Some research

shows that following a low GI diet may
increase short-term weight loss. More
studies are needed to determine how it
affects long-term weight management
(5 , 6 , 7 ).

Could benefit people with fatty liver.

A low-glycemic diet could help reduce
liver fat and liver enzyme levels in
people with non-alcoholic fatty liver
disease (8 ).

How to follow

A healthy, low glycemic diet should comprise

mostly low GI foods, such as:

Fruits: apples, berries, oranges,

lemons, limes, grapefruit

Non-starchy vegetables: broccoli,

cauliflower, carrots, spinach, tomatoes

Whole grains: quinoa, barley,

buckwheat, farro, oats

Legumes: lentils, black beans,

chickpeas, kidney beans

Foods without a GI value or with a very low

GI can also be enjoyed as part of a balanced
low glycemic diet. They include:

Meat: beef, bison, lamb, pork

Seafood: tuna, salmon, shrimp,

mackerel, anchovies, sardines

Poultry: chicken, turkey, duck, goose

Oils: olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil,

vegetable oil

Nuts: almonds, macadamia nuts,

walnuts, pistachios

Seeds: chia seeds, sesame seeds,

hemp seeds, flax seeds

Herbs and spices: turmeric, black

pepper, cumin, dill, basil, rosemary,
cinnamon

Some pastas: Semolina and whole

grain pasta

Although no foods are strictly off-limits on

the diet, foods with a high GI should be
limited.

Foods with a high GI include:

Bread: white bread, bagels, naan, pita

bread

Rice: white rice, jasmine rice, arborio

rice

Cereals: instant oats, breakfast cereals

Starchy vegetables: mashed potatoes,

potatoes, french fries

Baked goods: cake, doughnuts,

cookies, croissants, muffins

Snacks: chocolate, crackers,

microwave popcorn, chips, pretzels

Sugar-sweetened beverages: soda,

fruit juice, sports drinks

Ideally, try to replace these foods with foods

that have a lower GI whenever possible.

SUMMARY

Following a low glycemic diet

involves swapping out foods that
have a high GI with low GI
alternatives. A low glycemic diet
may help manage blood sugar
levels, reduce your cholesterol, and
boost short-term weight loss.

Glycemic index of foods

Determining the GI of foods that you often
eat can be useful if you’re following a low
glycemic diet.

Here are the GI values for a few ingredients

(9 , 10):

Fruits

Apples: 36

Strawberries: 41

Dates: 42

Oranges: 43

Banana: 51

Mango: 51

Blueberries: 53

Pineapple: 59

Watermelon: 76

Vegetables

Carrots (boiled): 39

Plantains (boiled): 66

Sweet potatoes (boiled): 63

Pumpkin (boiled): 74

Potatoes (boiled): 78

Grains

Barley: 28

Quinoa: 53

Rolled oats: 55

Couscous: 65

Popcorn: 65

Brown rice: 68

White rice: 73

Whole wheat bread: 74

White bread: 75

Legumes

Soybeans: 16

Kidney beans: 24

Chickpeas: 28

Lentils: 32

Dairy products and dairy alternatives

Soymilk: 34

Skim milk: 37

Whole milk: 39

Ice cream: 51

Rice milk: 86

Sweeteners

Fructose: 15

Coconut sugar: 54

Maple syrup: 54

Honey: 61

Table sugar: 65

SUMMARY

Knowing where your favorite foods

fall on the glycemic index can make
it much easier to follow a low
glycemic diet.

Effects of cooking and

ripening
For certain foods, the cooking method used
can affect the glycemic index.

For example, fried foods tend to contain a

high amount of fat, which can slow the
absorption of sugar in the bloodstream and
decrease the GI (11 , 12 ).

Meanwhile, roasting and baking can break

down resistant starch — a type of starch that
resists digestion and is commonly found in
foods like legumes, potatoes, and oats —
thus increasing the GI (11 , 13 ).

Conversely, boiling is thought to help retain

more of the resistant starch and lead to a
lower GI, compared with other cooking
methods (11 ).

The longer you cook foods like pasta or rice,

the greater the digestibility of their starch
content, and thus the higher their GI. As
such, it’s best to only cook these foods until
they reach an al dente texture, meaning that
they’re still firm when biting into them (14 ,
15 ).

In addition to the cooking method used, the

degree of ripeness may also affect the GI of
some fruits, including bananas. This is
because the amount of resistant starch
decreases during the ripening process,
leading to a higher GI (2 ).

For example, bananas that are fully ripened

have a GI of 51, whereas under-ripe bananas
have a GI of just 30 (10).

SUMMARY

The degree of ripeness, as well as

the way that certain foods are
cooked and prepared, can affect the
GI of the final product.

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The bottom line

The glycemic index, or GI, is a measure used
to determine how much a food can affect
your blood sugar levels.

Several factors affect the glycemic index of a

food, including the nutrient composition,
ripeness, cooking method, and amount of
processing it has undergone.

Following a low glycemic diet may offer

several health benefits, as it could help
balance your blood sugar levels, reduce liver
fat, and increase short-term weight loss.

Last medically reviewed on March 3, 2023

How we reviewed this article:

HISTORY

Our experts continually monitor the health

and wellness space, and we update our
articles when new information becomes
available.
Current Version

Mar 3, 2023

Written By
Rachael Ajmera, MS, RD

Edited By
John Bassham

Medically Reviewed By
Jillian Kubala, MS, RD

Copy Edited By
Copy Editors

Jun 2, 2020

Written By
Rachael Ajmera, MS, RD

Edited By
Daney Helgadóttir

Medically Reviewed By
Jillian Kubala, MS, RD

Copy Edited By
Christina Guzik, BA, MBA

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