glycemic load

Revised International Table of Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL) Values—2008

By David Mendosa

 

 

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This is the definitive table for both the glycemic index and the glycemic load. I am able to reproduce it here courtesy of the author, Professor Jennie Brand-Miller of the University of Sydney. It is based on a table in different format but no more foods published December 2008 in Diabetes Care. However, only the abstract is free online there.

GI of 55 is low; GL of 10 is low.

This table includes the glycemic index and glycemic load of more than 2,480 individual food items. Not all of them, however, are available in the United States. They represent a true international effort of testing around the world.

The glycemic index (GI) is a numerical system of measuring how much of a rise in circulating blood sugar a carbohydrate triggers–the higher the number, the greater the blood sugar response. So a low GI food will cause a small rise, while a high GI food will trigger a dramatic spike. A list of carbohydrates with their glycemic values is shown below. A GI of 70 or more is high, a GI of 56 to 69 inclusive is medium, and a GI of 55 or less is low.

The glycemic load (GL) is a relatively new way to assess the impact of carbohydrate consumption that takes the glycemic index into account, but gives a fuller picture than does glycemic index alone. A GI value tells you only how rapidly a particular carbohydrate turns into sugar. It doesn't tell you how much of that carbohydrate is in a serving of a particular food. You need to know both things to understand a food's effect on blood sugar. That is where glycemic load comes in. The carbohydrate in watermelon, for example, has a high GI. But there isn't a lot of it, so watermelon's glycemic load is relatively low. A GL of 20 or more is high, a GL of 11 to 19 inclusive is medium, and a GL of 10 or less is low.

Foods that have a low GL almost always have a low GI. Foods with an intermediate or high GL range from very low to very high GI.

Both GI and GL are listed here. The GI is of foods based on the glucose index–where glucose is set to equal 100. The other is the glycemic load, which is the glycemic index divided by 100 multiplied by its available carbohydrate content (i.e. carbohydrates minus fiber) in grams. (The "Serve size (g)" column is the serving size in grams for calculating the glycemic load; for simplicity of presentation I have left out an intermediate column that shows the available carbohydrates in the stated serving sizes.) Take, watermelon as an example of calculating glycemic load. Its glycemic index is pretty high, about 72. According to the calculations by the people at the University of Sydney's Human Nutrition Unit, in a serving of 120 grams it has 6 grams of available carbohydrate per serving, so its glycemic load is pretty low, 72/100*6=4.32, rounded to 4.

Glycemic Index & Glycemic Load Rating Chart

My previous glycemic index page, which this page supplants, was based on the 2002 table published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. That in turn supplanted my original glycemic lists page, which was based on the original 1995 publication of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

I know that some people would prefer the relative simplicity of a list of just the most common American foods. You can find such a list at http://www.mendosa.com/common_foods.htm.

If you are looking for a relatively simple description of the glycemic index, please see my article titled "The Glycemic Index" at http://www.mendosa.com/gidigest.htm.

Notice!

You can print out this file. But before printing, be sure to check if the last column is fully visible. On my computer I needed to change the margins in Internet Explorer (with file, page setup) from 0.75 inches to 0.25 inches. You may need to make it even wider by changing the print setup orientation from the normal portrait to landscape. Then, please first check if you've got it by printing just one page of the table.

This table may be freely utilized for personal use, but may not be copied to any other Web site or publication. Webmasters of other Web sites are, however, welcomed to link this Web page.

Before asking about the glycemic index or glycemic load, please refer to my main Glycemic Index page.