Low GI Foods – List Of Low GI Foods
The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly a food or drink spikes your blood sugar, which depends upon how quickly the food turns into sugar after you eat it. The Glycemic index chart runs from 1 to 100, and in this case, the lower the score, the better.
Foods and drinks that score low on the GI scale are healthy sources of steady, long-term energy. These are the foods that you should be eating the most of.
High GI foods and drinks, on the other hand, make your blood sugar behave like a bottle rocket – it shoots up, then crashes to earth. Simple table sugar, for example, has a GI of about 150!
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition defines “low glycemic” as foods with a GI of less than 55, and “high glycemic” as foods with a GI of 70 or more. A GI value tells you how rapidly a particular carbohydrate turns into sugar. Mid-range GI foods, which have a rating of 56 to 69, can be included in your diet in moderation, and the great thing is that you can even have your favourite high GI index foods on occasion.
There are many reasons why you should strive to eat Low GI foods…
Here are a few:
- Low GI foods mean a smaller rise in blood glucose levels.
- Low GI foods keep you feeling full longer.
- Low GI foods can help you lose weight.
- Low GI foods can improve your body’s sensitivity to insulin.
- Low GI foods can help to control diabetes.
- Low GI foods can prolong physical endurance.
- Low GI foods remain in your system long enough to refuel your body with carbs after you exercise.
One of the other bad aspects of having your system flooded with insulin after a high GI meal is that insulin suppresses the release of glucagon in your body.
Glucagon is a hormone that pulls fat out of your cells and gives it to your muscles to burn for fuel. If you’re trying to lose weight, you want glucagon circulating in your body. This is yet another reason why you DON’T want your system flooded with insulin. You can find a list of the GI scale foods below. Alternatively, you can see our Low GI Recipes for healthy nutritios meals.
Low GI Diet Foods List
This is by no means a comprehensive list however, here is a list of Low GI Foods that you can use as a guide to what you can eat. The foods below all have a glycemic index rating of under 55 which means that these foods will have a reduced effect on your blood sugar levels.
For a searchable database of 1000′s of foods you can use this searchable database as provided by the University of Sydney.
| Food | GI Index |
|---|---|
| Brown Rice | 55 |
| Apple Juice | 41 |
| Baked Beans | 48 |
| Banana | 53 |
| Broccoli | 6 |
| Carrots, cooked | 39 |
| Cauliflower | 6 |
| Cheese tortellini | 50 |
| Cherries, fresh | 22 |
| Chocolate | 49 |
| Fruit cocktail, canned | 55 |
| Grapefruit | 25 |
| Grapes | 43 |
| Ice Cream, low fat | 50 |
| Kidney Beans | 52 |
| Kiwifruit | 52 |
| Lentils | 28 |
| Lettuce | 7 |
| Linguine | 55 |
| Lowfat Yogurt, sweetened | 33 |
| Macaroni | 45 |
| Milk, fat free | 32 |
| Milk, Soy | 30 |
| Oatmeal Cookies | 55 |
| Oatmeal, old fashioned | 49 |
| Orange Juice, fresh | 52 |
| Peach, fresh | 28 |
| Peanuts | 14 |
| Peas | 48 |
| Popcorn | 55 |
| Potato Chips | 54 |
| Pound Cake | 54 |
| Snickers Bar | 40 |
| Spaghetti | 41 |
| Special K Cereal | 54 |
| Spinach | 12 |
| Sweet Corn | 55 |
| Sweet Potato | 54 |
| Tomato | 15 |
Medium GI Foods List
Here is a list of Medium GI foods in the glycemic index rating between 56-69. While this is not a comprehensive list it still gives you some idea of what to eat sparingly on the Low GI diet.
| Food | GI Index |
|---|---|
| Angel Food Cake | 67 |
| Beets | 64 |
| Blueberry Muffin | 59 |
| Bran Muffin | 60 |
| Cheese Pizza | 60 |
| Couscous | 65 |
| Hamburger Bun | 61 |
| Ice Cream | 61 |
| Mac & Cheese | 64 |
| Mini Shredded Wheat | 58 |
| Oatmeal | 65 |
| Orange Juice | 56 |
| Pea Soup | 66 |
| Peaches, canned | 58 |
| Pineapple | 66 |
| Pita Bread | 57 |
| Raisins | 64 |
| Rye Bread | 68 |
| Sourdough Bread | 57 |
| Taco Shells | 69 |
| Wheat Thins | 67 |
| White rice | 56 |
| Whole Wheat Bread | 69 |
High GI Foods List
Below you will find a list of foods that are high on the GI index (above 70) and these foods should be avoided. Remember, the Low GI Diet is more of a Lifestyle change than a typical diet – Don’t cheat! There are plenty of tasty and sometimes naughty foods to be found on the Low Gi Diet..
| Food | GI Index |
|---|---|
| Bagel | 72 |
| Baked Potato | 85 |
| Cheerios | 74 |
| Cream of Wheat | 74 |
| Doughnut | 76 |
| French Fries | 76 |
| GatorAde | 78 |
| Graham Cracker | 74 |
| Honey | 73 |
| Jelly Beans | 80 |
| Mashed Potatoes | 73 |
| Rice Cakes | 82 |
| Rice Crispies | 82 |
| Rye Bread | 76 |
| Vanilla Wafers | 77 |
| Watermelon | 72 |
| White Bread | 70 |
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