Diabetes
The Glycemic Index What Is High And Low On GI ?
It doesn’t matter whether you’re planning a meal or a snack, it’s always wise to focus on foods that are low on the Glycemic index. What is considered high and what is low on the Glycemic index? According to WebMD, anything 70 or higher is high, 55 and less is low.
The smaller the number, the less impact the food has on your blood sugar.
- 55 or less = Low (good)
- 56- 69 = Medium
- 70 or higher = High (bad)
The numbers in between are on the middle ground. The Glycemic index will serve as a useful guide that will help you measure just how quickly your body turns your foods into glucose.
Unless you are hypoglycemic or diabetic you don’t need to memorize it. However, it’s helpful to have a good idea of where the foods that you fill your diet with fall on the index.
For example, white rice and white bread are high Glycemic index foods, as are the majority of cereals.
Foods that are low on the Glycemic index include whole grains, eggs, vegetables, nuts, meat, and milk. When you focus on those low Glycemic index foods, you’re going to get the greatest benefit from them energy wise.
You can find more detailed numbers on your favorite foods from Harvard on the bottom.
Eat Often
In an ideal world, you should eat every few hours. That doesn’t mean you’re sitting down to giant meals three times a day.
You need helpful high protein snacks with complex carbs. Boiled eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, protein bars, tuna, fruit, trail mix, etc. are all fantastic examples of high-protein snacks.
Enjoy apple slices with your favorite nut butter and you’re getting a healthy hit that also happens to be downright delicious.
If you work a job that doesn’t allow you the breaks to fit those snacks in, choose snacks that you can eat without leaving your work station.
Hydrate More
When people talk about hydration it’s easy to immediately conjure up an image of someone wandering in the desert, seeing mirages of hydration in the distance.
There is more to dehydration than that. If you experience muscle pain, feel fatigued, your focus is slightly off or you often experience headaches, then there’s a good chance you need to drink some water.
There are plenty of dangers to not drinking enough water. The only drawback to drinking too much water is that you’ll need to visit the bathroom more often.
Drinking more water doesn’t need to be a complicated issue. The first step is buying a water bottle that is BPA free and handy to carry with you at all times.
The biggest difference between you drinking enough water and not is having it on hand.
It really is as simple as that. You can download an app that will help you keep track of your water, but there are also habits that you can create to help you get it done.
You can set a timer, you can grab a glass of water every time you go to the bathroom, etc.
There are other benefits to drinking more water – when you are drinking more water, you are likely to be drinking even less unhealthy fluids.
Glycemic Index For 60+ Foods
Glycemic index for 60+ foods
Measuring carbohydrate effects can help glucose management
Harvard Health Publishing
FOOD | Glycemic index (glucose = 100) | |||||||||||
HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE FOODS | ||||||||||||
White wheat bread* | 75 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Whole wheat/whole meal bread | 74 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Specialty grain bread | 53 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Unleavened wheat bread | 70 ± 5 | |||||||||||
Wheat roti | 62 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Chapatti | 52 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Corn tortilla | 46 ± 4 | |||||||||||
White rice, boiled* | 73 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Brown rice, boiled | 68 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Barley | 28 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Sweet corn | 52 ± 5 | |||||||||||
Spaghetti, white | 49 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Spaghetti, whole meal | 48 ± 5 | |||||||||||
Rice noodles† | 53 ± 7 | |||||||||||
Udon noodles | 55 ± 7 | |||||||||||
Couscous† | 65 ± 4 | |||||||||||
BREAKFAST CEREALS | ||||||||||||
Cornflakes | 81 ± 6 | |||||||||||
Wheat flake biscuits | 69 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Porridge, rolled oats | 55 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Instant oat porridge | 79 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Rice porridge/congee | 78 ± 9 | |||||||||||
Millet porridge | 67 ± 5 | |||||||||||
Muesli | 57 ± 2 | |||||||||||
FRUIT AND FRUIT PRODUCTS | ||||||||||||
Apple, raw† | 36 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Orange, raw† | 43 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Banana, raw† | 51 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Pineapple, raw | 59 ± 8 | |||||||||||
Mango, raw† | 51 ± 5 | |||||||||||
Watermelon, raw | 76 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Dates, raw | 42 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Peaches, canned† | 43 ± 5 | |||||||||||
Strawberry jam/jelly | 49 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Apple juice | 41 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Orange juice | 50 ± 2 | |||||||||||
VEGETABLES | ||||||||||||
Potato, boiled | 78 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Potato, instant mash | 87 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Potato, french fries | 63 ± 5 | |||||||||||
Carrots, boiled | 39 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Sweet potato, boiled | 63 ± 6 | |||||||||||
Pumpkin, boiled | 64 ± 7 | |||||||||||
Plantain/green banana | 55 ± 6 | |||||||||||
Taro, boiled | 53 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Vegetable soup | 48 ± 5 | |||||||||||
DAIRY PRODUCTS AND ALTERNATIVES | ||||||||||||
Milk, full fat | 39 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Milk, skim | 37 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Ice cream | 51 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Yogurt, fruit | 41 ± 2 | |||||||||||
Soy milk | 34 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Rice milk | 86 ± 7 | |||||||||||
LEGUMES | ||||||||||||
Chickpeas | 28 ± 9 | |||||||||||
Kidney beans | 24 ± 4 | |||||||||||
Lentils | 32 ± 5 | |||||||||||
Soya beans | 16 ± 1 | |||||||||||
SNACK PRODUCTS | ||||||||||||
Chocolate | 40 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Popcorn | 65 ± 5 | |||||||||||
Potato crisps | 56 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Soft drink/soda | 59 ± 3 | |||||||||||
Rice crackers/crisps | 87 ± 2 | |||||||||||
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