Low Glycemic Food List

Covering the low glycemic food list and chart

Low Glycemic Food List

As discussed in the glycemic index diet plan, the glycemic index (GI) of a food is defined as a measurement of the effect of a carbohydrate on the blood sugar levels in one's body. That is to say, measuring the speed at which glucose from a given carbohydrate food enters your blood stream. Simply put, it is a measure of a food's susceptibility to raise blood sugar. There are certain carbohydrates such as cornflakes, parsnips and baked potato which are broken down quickly by your body during digestion, releasing glucose into the blood stream rapidly, thereby causing the blood sugar level to suddenly spike in a short period of time.

This is why, if you are diabetic, you are encouraged to have more of the foods from the low glycemic food list. You may have the other foods also but moderately. Or in cases where your blood sugar level has gone too low, also known as hypoglycemia. Or you are experiencing the symptoms of low blood sugar such as lethargy or fatigue. The low glycemic food list is important when planning your diet and you want to be eating healthy. This is because foods that have a low glycemic index are digested slowly into your system, thus keeping your blood sugar levels even.

A low glycemic carbohydrate diet has many advantages. It improves the body's response to insulin, reduces the risk of heart disease, helps in maintaining a healthy weight and keeps you fuller in between meals. The low glycemic food list has been seen to be very helpful in the management of diabetes. Such foods keep the blood cholesterol level in check and refill the carbohydrate supplies after any physical activity.

By now, you may be wondering just what is a high and what is a low glycemic index food. The GI of foods may be classified by the following:

• High glycemic index foods have a GI that's greater than 70
• Medium glycemic index foods have a GI that ranges from 56-69 and finally,
• Low glycemic index foods have a GI than is 55 or less.

Often times, the lowest GI foods are also high in fiber and nutrients. Most eggs, dairy products and high protein meats and fats and oils are near zero on the glycemic index. Eating excess fat is not necessarily healthy.The best fats which you can use regularly are flaxseed oil and olive oil.

You can either use them in your cooking or as part of a salad dressing. It is, however, best to choose foods from the low glycemic index food list that do not contain large amounts of saturated fat. This means that you choose white meat over dark meat.

Fruit nutrition and vegetable nutrition facts would be great pieces of information to have under your belt. This is because all fruits and vegetables rank lower when they are raw in the low glycemic food list. Cooking breaks down the cell walls and allows for food to be digested faster, raising the index level. Many vegetables such as broccoli, parsley, cauliflower, cilantro, cucumber, lettuce. asparagus, avocados, tomatoes, green beans and cabbage have a low glycemic index.

Below is the low glycemic food list, bear in mind as you review these numbers that they are approximate, usually with a plus or minus factor of 2 - 4 points.

Low Glycemic Food List Chart

Food	G.I	Food	G.I
Corn on the cob	55	Apples	39
Raw mango	55	Plum	39
1 medium raw banana	55	Pinto beans	39
Oatmeal cookies	55	Dried peas	39
Brown rice	55	Navy beans	38
2 cups light microwave popcorn	55	Mung beans	38
1 Tablespoon Apricot jam with no sugar added	55	Pear	38
1 cup cooked thin Linguine pasta	55	1 cup canned tomato soup	38
50g Haricot beans	54	Lima beans	35
half a cup Taro, peeled and boiled	54	Non-fat Fruit flavored yogurt with sugar	35
1 slice homemade pound cake	54	Prune	33
Kiwi fruit	54	half a cup boiled chickpeas (garbanzo beans)	33
Peas	52	Skim milk	32
1 slice sour dough bread	52	1 cup cooked fettuccini	32
Bran cereal	51	half a cup boiled yellow split peas	32
boiled Yam	51	Beans	31
1 tablespoon strawberry jam	51	1 cup soy milk	31
Cooked Oatmeal made with water	40	Raw carrot	31
Half a cup baked beans	48	Dried apricots	31
1 cup parboiled rice	48	Black beans	30
Cooked carrot	47	Kidney beans	30
1 slice banana bread cake	47	Lentils	29
Grapes	46	Dried apple	29
Orange juice	46	Sausages	28
half a cup boiled cranberry (Romano) beans	46	Barley	25
1 cup cooked capellini pasta	45	Grapefruit	25
1 cup cooked macaroni	45	10 large Cherries	22
Oranges	44	Cashew nuts	22
Black-eyed peas	44	1 tablespoon rice bran	19
50g butter beans	44	Soy beans	18
Peach	43	Non-fat plain yogurt with artificial sweetener	14
half a cup custard	43	Nuts	13
1 cup cooked whole wheat spaghetti	37	Asparagus	8
1 cup cooked white spaghetti	41	1 cup steamed Broccoli	6
1 large slice Rye, pumpernickel bread	41	1 cup raw Tomatoes	6
Whole milk	40	1 cup raw cabbage	6
Strawberry	40	1 cup steamed spinach	6
Unsweetened apple juice	40
1 cup cooked ravioli meat-filled	39

 

When you avoid high-glycemic-index foods you avoid many, if not all the ills associated with diet. Below is a list of the medium glycemic index foods.

Medium Glycemic Food List Chart

Food	Glycemic Index
White Bread	69
Shredded wheat	68
1 cup cooked Gnocchi	68
Wheat cereal	67
Medium croissant	67
2 slices fresh pineapple	66
Nutrigrain cereal	66
Rye Bread	65
Raw Cantaloupe	65
Cooked couscous	65
Beets	64
half a cup black bean soup	64
Shortbread cookies	64
Raisins	64
Macaroni and cheese	64
3 milk arrowroot cookies	63
5 small, boiled, unpeeled potatoes	62
1 cup ice cream	62
Sweet Potato	61
hamburger bun	61
Split pea soup	60
2 slices cheese and tomato pizza	60
Oat Bran muffin	60
Swiss muesli cereal	60
Blueberry muffin	59
Rice vermicelli	58
White Basmati rice	58
Papaya	58
Whole wheat pita bread	57
Apricots	57
Natural Muesli cereal	56

You may get the list of the high glycemic index foods in the article glycemic index diet plan.High glycemic foods will cause your blood sugar level to spike. Low glycemic index foods on the other hand will help to keep your blood sugar level constant. In other words, they help to keep your blood sugar stable. At the end of the day, the choice of what you eat is yours really.