What’s A Glycemic Index?

Since starting on the Schwarzbein Principle, we have also been using the Glycemic Index rating of foods to determine what we should and shouldn’t eat. Our doctor gave us a nice chart when she discovered that my husband is borderline diabetic. She told him to only eat those foods that are 45 or lower on the chart, so that is the magic number for us.

The glycemic index gives us an idea of which foods raise our blood glucose fastest and highest. It is the rate of absorption of carbohydrates. This chart does not take into account the quantity of food, but you can figure out the Glycemic Load with this formula:

Glycemic Load = [GI] x [total carbs (in grams, minus fiber content)]

The chart our doctor gave us says to keep the Load below 300 per meal. Since this involves too much math for me when I’m trying to prepare a meal, we just try to limit any foods that go over the 45 mark. I really don’t have all day to spend in the kitchen! It is time consuming enough since we’ve eliminated processed foods from our meals.

There are a lot of web sites that have GI lists, and I found a few discrepancies in the numbers, but nothing too major. This chart is fairly simple and it has worked for our family. If there’s a food that isn’t on the list, I’m sure it wouldn’t take too much research to find out the information you need.

Anyway, here is the chart. I hope you find it helpful.

VEGETABLES GI
Parsnips	97
Baked Potato	85
Pumpkin	75
Beets	64
Corn	55
Sweet Potato	54
Yams	51
Carrots	49
Green Beans	40
all lettuces	<30
cauliflower	<30
eggplant	<30
onions	<30
radishes	<30
yellow squash	<30
water chestnuts	<30
sauerkraut	<30
tomatoes	15

FRUIT
watermelon	72
pineapple	66
cantaloupe	65
raisins	64
mango	56
banana	54
kiwi	53
grapefruit juice	48
grapes	46
orange	44
peach	42
plum	39
apple	38
pear	37
apricots, dried	31
grapefruit	25
cherries	22

SWEETENERS
maltose	105
glucose	100
sucrose (table sugar)	64
high fructose corn syrup	62
honey	58
fructose (fruit sugar)	22
splenda	7
Stevia	3

DAIRY PRODUCTS
Tofutti	115
Ice cream, full fat	61
Yogurt, sweetened	33
Skim Milk	32
Soy Milk	30
Whole Milk	27
Yogurt, plain	14
GRAINS & CEREALS
french bread	95
instant rice	90
cornflakes	83
pretzels	81
white bread	78
waffles	76
cheerios	74
bagel	72
shredded wheat	69
wheat bread, high fiber	68
stoned wheat thins	67
grapenuts	67
couscous	65
hamburger bun	61
white rice	58
pita bread	57
muesli	56
brown rice	55
special K cereal	54
oatmeal, slow cooking	49
rye kernel bread	46
pita bread, stone ground	45
all-bran cereal	42
spaghetti, white	41
spaghetti, protein enriched	27
LEGUMES
baked beans, canned	48
pinto beans	39
chickpeas	33
black beans	30
kidney beans	29
lentils	29
peas, dried	22
soy beans	18

OTHER FOODS
dates	103
jelly beans	80
rice cakes	77
vanilla wafers	77
french fries	75
graham crackers	74
pizza, cheese	60
popcorn	55
chocolate	49
olives	18
nuts	15-30

MOST COMMON HIGH GLYCEMIC OFFENDERS:

alcohol - beer and drinks made with juice, soda or sugar

candy - all types

dried fruits – except apricots

frozen yogurt – pure sugar and carbs with no fat or protein to slow the rate of absorption

sugar-sweetened beverages – Coke, Sprite, Snapple, bottled teas, spritzers

Sugar - on coffee, tea and on cereal

tubers & roots – parsnips, potatoes, beets, etc.

watermelon

refined foods – cereal, breads, cookies, rice/rice cakes, crackers

P.S. This chart came from Cenegenics Medical Institute