Glycemic Index Food List
What is the glycemic index? Good question. For a short explanation, first check out our complete guide to the glycemic index here.
Here, however, you’ll find a list of 100+ foods on the glycemic index. We’ve listed the foods, their glycemic index numbers (on a scale of 1-100 with glucose (sugar) being 100) along with the glycemic load per serving.
There is a difference between glycemic index and glycemic load that is worth exploring. As our guide to the glycemic index explains, the GI # is indicative of how quickly your blood sugar levels will rise after a food is eaten. The higher the number, the more that food will spike your blood sugar. That being said, the glycemic index does not take into account the amount of carbohydrates in a serving size of the food. This is where the glycemic load value comes into play. The glycemic load of food is a number that estimates how much the food will raise a person’s blood glucose level after eating a serving. It is most commonly thought that the glycemic load # is a better estimation of how much your blood sugar levels will rise since serving size is considered.
A lower number means that food doesn’t affect your blood sugar and insulin levels as much. A higher number means that food affects those levels more. In short: low numbers = good and high numbers = bad.
A food is considered to have a low glycemic load if the value is 10 or below. A high glycemic load value is 20 or above.
This chart helps you to see the foods that have a low glycemic index so you can choose food that create a lower blood glucose level.
As you scroll through the chart below, you’ll probably notice that many of these foods aren’t Paleo-friendly. The Paleo diet is mostly composed of low carbohydrate and GI/GL foods. When a person eats a diet composed mainly of these low value foods it helps blood sugar levels stay more stable and can decrease the risk for chronic disease and increase weight loss.
Some Paleo foods that are included on the list below are fruits, vegetables, and various potatoes. You can compare their GI and GL scores and determine how these foods would affect your blood sugar levels.
| FOOD | Glycemic index (glucose = 100) | Serving size (grams) | Glycemic load per serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAKERY PRODUCTS AND BREADS | |||
| Banana cake, made with sugar | 47 | 60 | 14 |
| Banana cake, made without sugar | 55 | 60 | 12 |
| Sponge cake, plain | 46 | 63 | 17 |
| Vanilla cake made from packet mix with vanilla frosting (Betty Crocker) | 42 | 111 | 24 |
| Apple pie | 44 | 60 | 13 |
| Waffles, Aunt Jemima (Quaker Oats) | 76 | 35 | 10 |
| Bagel, white, frozen | 72 | 70 | 25 |
| Baguette, white, plain | 95 | 30 | 15 |
| Coarse barley bread, 75-80% kernels, average | 34 | 30 | 7 |
| Hamburger bun | 61 | 30 | 9 |
| Kaiser roll | 73 | 30 | 12 |
| Pumpernickel bread | 56 | 30 | 7 |
| 50% cracked wheat kernel bread | 58 | 30 | 12 |
| White wheat flour bread | 71 | 30 | 10 |
| Wonder™ bread, average | 73 | 30 | 10 |
| Whole wheat bread, average | 71 | 30 | 9 |
| 100% Whole Grain™ bread (Natural Ovens) | 51 | 30 | 7 |
| Pita bread, white | 68 | 30 | 10 |
| Corn tortilla | 52 | 50 | 12 |
| Wheat tortilla | 30 | 50 | 8 |
| Beverages | |||
| Coca Cola®, average | 63 | 250ml | 16 |
| Fanta®, orange soft drink | 68 | 250ml | 23 |
| Lucozade®, original (sparkling glucose drink) | 95±10 | 250ml | 40 |
| Apple juice, unsweetened, average | 44 | 250ml | 30 |
| Cranberry juice cocktail (Ocean Spray®) | 68 | 250ml | 24 |
| Gatorade | 78 | 250ml | 12 |
| Orange juice, unsweetened | 50 | 250ml | 12 |
| Tomato juice, canned | 38 | 250ml | 4 |
| BREAKFAST CEREALS AND RELATED PRODUCTS | |||
| All-Bran™, average | 55 | 30 | 12 |
| Coco Pops™, average | 77 | 30 | 20 |
| Cornflakes™, average | 93 | 30 | 23 |
| Cream of Wheat™ (Nabisco) | 66 | 250 | 17 |
| Cream of Wheat™, Instant (Nabisco) | 74 | 250 | 22 |
| Grapenuts™, average | 75 | 30 | 16 |
| Muesli, average | 66 | 30 | 16 |
| Oatmeal, average | 55 | 250 | 13 |
| Instant oatmeal, average | 83 | 250 | 30 |
| Puffed wheat, average | 80 | 30 | 17 |
| Raisin Bran™ (Kellogg's) | 61 | 30 | 12 |
| Special K™ (Kellogg's) | 69 | 30 | 14 |
| GRAINS | |||
| Pearled barley, average | 28 | 150 | 12 |
| Sweet corn on the cob, average | 60 | 150 | 20 |
| Couscous, average | 65 | 150 | 9 |
| Quinoa | 53 | 150 | 13 |
| White rice, average | 89 | 150 | 43 |
| Quick cooking white basmati | 67 | 150 | 28 |
| Brown rice, average | 50 | 150 | 16 |
| Converted, white rice (Uncle Ben's®) | 38 | 150 | 14 |
| Whole wheat kernels, average | 30 | 50 | 11 |
| Bulgur, average | 48 | 150 | 12 |
| COOKIES AND CRACKERS | |||
| Graham crackers | 74 | 25 | 14 |
| Vanilla wafers | 77 | 25 | 14 |
| Shortbread | 64 | 25 | 10 |
| Rice cakes, average | 82 | 25 | 17 |
| Rye crisps, average | 64 | 25 | 11 |
| Soda crackers | 74 | 25 | 12 |
| DAIRY PRODUCTS AND ALTERNATIVES | |||
| Ice cream, regular | 57 | 50 | 6 |
| Milk, full fat | 41 | 250ml | 5 |
| Milk, skim | 32 | 250ml | 4 |
| Reduced-fat yogurt with fruit, average | 33 | 200 | 11 |
| FRUITS | |||
| Apple | 39 | 120 | 6 |
| Banana, ripe | 62 | 120 | 16 |
| Dates, dried | 42 | 60 | 18 |
| Grapefruit | 25 | 120 | 3 |
| Grapes, average | 59 | 120 | 11 |
| Orange, average | 40 | 120 | 4 |
| Peach, average | 42 | 120 | 5 |
| Peach, canned in light syrup | 40 | 120 | 5 |
| Pear, average | 38 | 120 | 4 |
| Pear, canned in pear juice | 43 | 120 | 5 |
| Prunes, pitted | 29 | 60 | 10 |
| Raisins | 64 | 60 | 28 |
| Watermelon | 72 | 120 | 4 |
| BEANS AND NUTS | |||
| Baked beans, average | 40 | 150 | 6 |
| Blackeye peas, average | 33 | 150 | 10 |
| Black beans | 30 | 150 | 7 |
| Chickpeas, average | 10 | 150 | 3 |
| Chickpeas, canned in brine | 38 | 150 | 9 |
| Navy beans, average | 31 | 150 | 9 |
| Kidney beans, average | 29 | 150 | 7 |
| Lentils, average | 29 | 150 | 5 |
| Soy beans, average | 15 | 150 | 1 |
| Cashews, salted | 27 | 50 | 3 |
| Peanuts, average | 7 | 50 | 0 |
| PASTA and NOODLES | |||
| Fettucini, average | 32 | 180 | 15 |
| Macaroni, average | 47 | 180 | 23 |
| Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft) | 64 | 180 | 32 |
| Spaghetti, white, boiled, average | 46 | 180 | 22 |
| Spaghetti, wholemeal, boiled, average | 42 | 180 | 17 |
| SNACK FOODS | |||
| Corn chips, plain, salted, average | 42 | 50 | 11 |
| Fruit Roll-Ups® | 99 | 30 | 24 |
| M & M's®, peanut | 33 | 30 | 6 |
| Microwave popcorn, plain, average | 55 | 20 | 6 |
| Potato chips, average | 51 | 50 | 12 |
| Pretzels, oven-baked | 83 | 30 | 16 |
| Snickers Bar® | 51 | 60 | 18 |
| VEGETABLES | |||
| Green peas, average | 51 | 80 | 4 |
| Carrots, average | 35 | 80 | 2 |
| Parsnips | 52 | 80 | 4 |
| Baked russet potato, average | 111 | 150 | 33 |
| Boiled white potato, average | 82 | 150 | 21 |
| Instant mashed potato, average | 87 | 150 | 17 |
| Sweet potato, average | 70 | 150 | 22 |
| Yam, average | 54 | 150 | 20 |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |||
| Hummus (chickpea salad dip) | 6 | 30 | 0 |
| Chicken nuggets, frozen, reheated in microwave oven 5 min | 46 | 100 | 7 |
| Pizza, plain baked dough, served with parmesan cheese and tomato sauce | 80 | 100 | 22 |
| Pizza, Super Supreme (Pizza Hut) | 36 | 100 | 9 |
| Honey, average | 61 | 25 | 12 |
Sources & References
- http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/glycemicindlist.htm
- http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htm
- http://www.livestrong.com/glycemic-index-food-list/
- http://www.lifetimefatloss.com/glycemic-index-list-of-foods.html
photo credit: Matthew T Rader | PetitPlat – Stephanie Kilgast
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Hello,
I noticed that you used a photo of mine on your post:
The photo of the bee on the honeycomb.
I don’t mind at all and I’m glad you found it useful to use on your website. Can you please credit me as the photographer of the photo beneath it or some where on the page like this:
Photo by Texas Photographer, Matthew T Rader
Thank you
Hey Matthew,
Great image! We have a link to your flickr photo where we found it – would you rather it be your website?
Oh okay, I see that now, I apologize, I didn’t see that at first. But yest, I would appreciate that very much! Thank you 🙂