With insulin resistance and diabetes reaching epidemic levels in the United States, it is imperative to know the glycemic index of the foods we are commonly eating. Unfortunately, this data is usually locked away in research journals and when it is made available, you get a million listings with a ton of garbage results for foods you’ve never heard of. Well, we got tired of that and fixed up a nice GI table.

We dug around a bit and have come up with the latest information on GI values for the most common foods, pulled from many sources by esteemed researchers at the Diabetes Care Journal.

This is by no means the whole list. There must be 3,000-4,000 foods and products profiled for this survey. We cherry picked what we felt would be the most important for you to see. Sometimes less is more and we feel this is one of those times.

If we missed any major ones, let us know. The full lists are at the bottom if you want to download/view them.

Enjoy the list.

Glycemic Index (GI) of Common Foods

Note: Both charts can be re-categorized by clicking on the column headings

Grains, Breads, Cereals

Food GI Value Accuracy
Whole Wheat Bread 74 ± 2
White Bread 75 ± 2
Multi-Grain Bread 53 ± 2
Whole Wheat Indian Bread (Roti/Chapatti) 62 ± 3
White Indian Bread (Roti/Chapatti) 52 ± 4
Tortilla, Corn 46 ± 4
Brown Rice 68 ± 4
White Rice 73 ± 4
Basmati Rice, White 57 ± 4
Barley 28 ± 2
Whole Wheat Pasta 48 ± 5
White Pasta 49 ± 2
White Rice Noodles 53 ± 7
Udon Noodles 55 ± 7
Couscous (Wheat) 65 ± 4
Cornflakes (Kellogg’s) 81 ± 52
Instant Oats 79 ± 3
Rolled Whole Oats 55 ± 2
Millet 67 ± 5
Museli 57 ± 2
Clif Bar 101 ± 6
Powerbar 83 ± 11
Mac and Cheese 64 n/a
Amaranth 97 ± 19
Rice Krispies (Kellogg’s) 82 n/a
Rice Chex 89 n/a
Total (General Mills) 76 n/a
Life (Pepsico) 66 n/a
Grapenuts (Altria) 67 n/a
Cream of Wheat 66 n/a
Cheerios (General Mills) 74 ± 0
Sourdough Rye 56 ± 0
Gluten-Free Bread 74 ± 6
Bagel 72 ± 0
Waffles 76 ± 0
Muffins (average) 67 ± 35
Doughnut 76 ± 0
Flan 65 ± 0
Cake (Average) 52 ± 13
Croissant 67 ± 0
Pancakes (Wheat) 64 ± 18
Pancakes (Buckwheat) 102 ± 11
Gluten-Free Bread (Average) 64 ± 24
Spelt Bread, Whole 63 ± 0
Coco Pops (Kelloggs) 77 ± 8
Corn Pops (Kelloggs) 80 ± 4
Froot Loops (Kelloggs) 69 ± 9
Kashi Seven Whole Grains (Kelloggs) 65 ± 10
Special K, US Variety (Kelloggs) 69 ± 5
Buckwheat (Soba) Noodles 59 ± 1
Brown Rice Noodles 92 ± 8
Gluten-Free Pasta 76 ± 6

Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts & Legumes (raw unless noted)

Food GI Value Accuracy
Sweet Corn 52 ± 5
Apples 36 ± 2
Oranges 43 ± 3
Banana 51 ± 3
Pineapple 59 ± 8
Mango 51 ± 5
Watermelon 76 ± 4
Dates 42 ± 4
Peaches, Canned 43 ± 5
Strawberry Jam 49 ± 3
Apple Juice 41 ± 2
Orange Juice 50 ± 2
Potato, boiled 78 ± 4
Potato, instant 87 ± 3
Carrots, boiled 39 ± 4
Carrots 16 n/a
Pumpkin, Boiled 64 ± 7
Plantain 55 ± 6
Taro, boiled 53 ± 2
Chickpeas 28 ± 9
Kidney Beans 24 ± 4
Lentils 32 ± 5
Edimame (Raw Soybeans) 16 ± 1
Black Beans 30 n/a
Brown Beans 38 n/a
Yam 25 ± 4
Sweet Potato 48 ± 6
Beets 64 ± 16
Peas, Cooked 35 ± 4
Peanuts 18 ± 3
Pinto Beans 42 n/a
Lentils – Red 26 ± 4
Lentils – Green 26 ± 8
Kidney Beans 23 n/a
Grapefruit Juice 48 n/a
Raisins 66 ± 6
Pear 38 ± 10
Peach 42 ± 14
Papaya 60 ± 8
Grapes 46 ± 6
Kiwi 47 ± 4
Grapefruit 25 n/a
Apricots 34 ± 3
Ginger 10 ± 4
Strawberries 40 ± 7
Cranberry Juice 59 ± 0
Tomato Juice (V8 – Campbell’s) 33 ± 3
Cashews 25 ± 1

Dairy Products

Food GI Value Accuracy
Milk, Cow – Full Fat 39 ± 3
Milk, Cow – Skim 37 ± 4
Yogurt 41 ± 2
Soy Milk 34 ± 4
Rice Milk 86 ± 7
Ensure 75 ± 10
Slimfast 35 ± 2

Junk Food / Sugars

Food GI Value Accuracy
French Fries 63 ± 5
Chocolate 40 ± 3
Potato Chips 56 ± 3
Soft Drink 59 ± 3
Rice Crackers/Chips 87 ± 2
Popcorn 65 ± 5
Fructose 15 ± 4
Sucrose 65 ± 4
Glucose 103 ± 3
Honey 61 ± 3
Corn Chips 74 n/a
Pizza, Cheese 70 n/a
Gatorade (Pepsico) 89 ± 12
Coca-Cola 63 ± 0
Lean Cuisine (average- Nestle) 46 ± 8
Hamburger (McDonalds) 66 ± 8
Chicken McNuggets (McDonalds) 55 ± 6
Ice Cream 51 ± 3
Gelato 38 ± 5
Lifesavers – Nestle, Peppermint 70 ± 6
Milky Way (Mars) 62 ± 8
Snickers (Mars) 51 ± 0
Agave Syrup (high fructose) 13 ± 0
Hummus 6 ± 4

The rest of the table, Parts I + II:


Notes:

GI Index values do not tell you the whole story! Blood sugar can be effected by factors like which foods you eat together, how long ago your last meal was, etc.

Additionally, food high in fructose register very low in their glycemic index. This occurs because fructose takes a special metabolic detour in your body, straight to the liver – and only the liver deals with fructose. This general idea is one of the major theories behind the rise in insulin resistance and diabetes across America. Beware of all sugary foods (minus produce – apples arent going to kill you).

Sources:

  • Atkinson FS, et al. International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2008. Diabetes Care. 2008 Dec;31(12):2281-3.
  • Chart from the study

Version 1.0 – (2009.06.07)