Glycemic Index

What to Know About and How to Use a Glycemic Index

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.

Here are the three GI ratings:

Low: 55 or less
Medium: 56–69
High: 70 or above

Digestion/Factors/GI vs GL

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.

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.

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.

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.
Increased weight loss.
Could benefit people with fatty liver.

Low GI Foods

A healthy, low glycemic diet should comprise mostly of:

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 very low or without a GI value

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