What is Glycaemic Index?

Glycaemic ‘the presence of glucose in the blood’ Index ‘a sign or measure’

All carbohydrate when digested turns into sugar, which your body will use for energy. The sugars from carbohydrates are transported via the bloodstream which will cause your blood glucose (sugar) to rise. The types of carbohydrates we eat will determine how quickly it affects your blood glucose level.

Glycaemic index (GI) is a ranking from 1 to 100 and this relates to how fast these foods make your blood glucose levels rise after eating these foods.

GI is defined as low, medium or high depending on the ranking. Below shows the glycaemic number according to this rank. This is the same key for the food.

Low GI = under 55

Medium GI = 55 to 70

High GI = above 70

Why is Glycaemic index useful?

Understanding GI can be useful as it allows you to have more control of your blood sugars.

Low GI foods will cause a gradual increase to your blood sugars, whereas high GI foods will cause a rapid spike. Having low GI foods and keeping to a balanced diet also helps to reduce long term complications of diabetes. Below is a graph that shows the difference between low and high GI foods on your blood glucose.

The way we pair foods together also impacts our blood glucose levels.

We recommend to try and pair carbohydrate foods with a protein source and healthy fats. Some pairing ideas would be; apple slices with peanut butter, crackers with cheese or jacket potato (with skin on) with tuna mayonnaise. Including vegetables and salad with main meals will also help to control blood glucose, and this helps to reach the target of 5-a-day.

Fruit and vegetables per 100g

Low Glycaemic Index

• Aubergines 10
• Broccoli 10
• Cabbage 10
• Garlic 10
• Green vegetables 10
• Lettuce 10
• Mushrooms 10
• Onions 10
• Red pepper 10
• Tomatoes 10
• Apricots (fresh) 20
• Grapefruit 20
• Cherries 22
• Plums 22
• Peas - Split 22
• Raspberries 26
• Banana - green 30
• Apple 30
• Peach 30
• Beans - French 30
• Apricots (dried) 35
• Carrots (raw) 35
• Fig 35
• Orange 35
• Pear 35
• Peas dried (cooked) 35
• Strawberries 40
• Apple juice (Fresh) 40
• Grapes 40
• Peas 40
• Turnip 40
• Kiwi 50
• Blueberries 53

Medium Glycaemic Index

• Sweetcorn 55
• Banana (well ripened) 65
• Melon 65
• Orange juice 65
• Raisins 65

High Glycaemic Index

• Pumpkin 75
• Watermelon 75
• Broad beans (cooked) 80
• Carrots (cooked) 85
• Dates 90

Starchy Carbohydrates per 100g

Low Glycaemic index

• Cereals
  • All Bran 30
• Bread
  • Tortilla Wraps 30
  • Rye (wholemeal bread) 40
  • Black bread (German) 40
  • Chapatis 50
  • Sourdough 54
• Pasta
  • Wholewheat pasta (all types) 30
  • Pasta, white (all types) 45
  • Rice
  • Basmati 50
  • Brown 50
  • Risotto 69
• Grains
  • Quinoa 35
  • Bulgar wheat 45
  • Oats 50
  • Cous cous 65
  • Potato
  • Sweet potato 50

Medium Glycaemic index

• Bread
  • Pitta bread, white 57
  • Granary bread 62
  • Crumpets 69
• Cereals
  • Shredded Wheat 67
  • Weetabix 69
  • Shreddies 70
  • Bran Flakes 74
  • Cheerios 74
• Pasta
  • Egg noodles 63
• Rice
  • Rice (long grain, white) 60
• Crackers
  • Oatcakes 60
  • Ryvita 63
  • Cream crackers 65
• Grains
  • Semolina 65
• Potato
  • New potato 60
  • Baked potato 69

High Glycaemic index

• Cereals
  • Rice Crispies 82
  • Cornflakes 93
• Bread
  • Wholemeal/brown 70
  • Bagel 72
  • Ciabatta 72
  • White 75
• ½ white ½ brown
  • Baguette 90
• Pasta
  • Rice noodles, Ravioli 70
• Potato
  • Potato (peeled and boiled) 70
  • French fries/oven chips 75
  • Instant mashed potato 80
• Rice
  • White (instant, short grain) 70
• Crackers
  • Rice cake 85

Dairy per 100g

Low Glycaemic Index

• Greek yoghurt 11
• Almond milk (unsweetened) 25
• Soya milk (unsweetened) 30
• Milk (Full fat, semi-skimmed, skimmed) 30
• Yoghurt (fruit) 52

Medium Glycaemic Index

• Oat milk 62

High Glycaemic Index

• Rice milk 85

Protein per 100g (peas, lentils, pulses)

Low Glycaemic Index

• Soya (cooked) 20
• Lentils - Green 22
• Chick peas (cooked) 30
• Lentils - Brown 30
• Kidney beans 40

Sugars per 100g

Low Glycaemic Index

• Agave nectar 30
• Fruit preserve (without sugar or grape juice) 30

Medium Glycaemic Index

• Maple syrup 54
• Honey 58
• Sugar 60
• Jam 65

High Glycaemic Index

• Glucose 100

Desserts and snack foods per 100g

Low Glycaemic Index

• Hummus 5
• Walnuts 15
• Peanuts 20
• Dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) 22
• Cashew nuts 25
• Milk Chocolate 49

Medium Glycaemic index

• Rich tea 55
• Petite Beurre biscuit 55
• Shortbread biscuit 55
• Digestive biscuit 59
• Hobnob 59
• Ice cream, vanilla 61
• Flapjack 63
• Croissant 67
• Danish Pastry 69

High Glycaemic index

• Chocolate bars (for example, Mars bar) 70
• Hot cross bun 72
• Doughnut 76
• Rice pudding 80
• Potato crisps 80
• Popcorn 85
• Rice cakes 87
• Jelly Babies 88

Please visit Diabetes UK for further information on diabetes, including the ‘Learning Zone’ which is a great way to learn about your diabetes at your own pace.

It’s packed full of interactive features to help you apply that knowledge to your own diabetes self-management.