Carbohydrate Effects and Glucose Management
Is what you eat slowly killing you? What we eat has both short term and long term effects. Overtime the food you eating can have a bio-accumulative on multiple body systems including an irreversible impact on blood sugar that leads to Type 2 diabetes. Understanding carbohydrate effects and glucose management not only can help you be happier and healthier today but it can save your life. Gaining an awareness of what you are eating not only in just one meal but the scope of months to years is the key to improving the quality and length of your life for years to come. The ultimate goal is not a life of absence food joy but gaining a long term awareness of your intake so that you are able to balance the occasional ‘decadent meal’ and working to improve your overall health and wellness while reducing the significant health risks that come from long term repeated shocks of high blood glucose levels.
The glycemic index helps understand the impact food has on blood glucose levels. Blood sugar levels above normal are toxic and can cause blindness, kidney failure, or increase cardiovascular risk. The glycemic index is a value assigned to foods based on how slowly or how quickly those foods cause increases in blood glucose levels. Also known as “blood sugar,” blood glucose levels above normal are toxic and can cause blindness, kidney failure, or increase cardiovascular risk. Foods low on the glycemic index (GI) scale tend to release glucose slowly and steadily. Foods high on the glycemic index release glucose rapidly. Low GI foods tend to foster weight loss, while foods high on the GI scale help with energy recovery after exercise, or to offset hypo- (or insufficient) glycemia. Long-distance runners would tend to favor foods high on the glycemic index, while people with pre- or full-blown diabetes would need to concentrate on low GI foods. Why? People with type 1 diabetes and even some with type 2 can’t produce sufficient quantities of insulin—which helps process blood sugar—which means they are likely to have an excess of blood glucose. The slow and steady release of glucose in low-glycemic foods is helpful in keeping blood glucose under control.
But the glycemic index of foods tells only part of the story. What it doesn’t tell you is how high your blood sugar could go when you actually eat the food, which is partly determined by how much carbohydrate is in an individual serving. To understand a food’s complete effect on blood sugar, you need to know both how quickly the food makes glucose enter the bloodstream, and how much glucose it will deliver. A separate value called glycemic load does that. It gives a more accurate picture of a food’s real-life impact on blood sugar. The glycemic load is determined by multiplying the grams of a carbohydrate in a serving by the glycemic index, then dividing by 100. A glycemic load of 10 or below is considered low; 20 or above is considered high. Watermelon, for example, has a high glycemic index (80). But a serving of watermelon has so little carbohydrate (6 grams) that its glycemic load is only 5.
To help you understand how the foods you are eating might impact your blood glucose level, here is an abbreviated chart of the glycemic index and glycemic load, per serving, for more than 100 common foods.
| 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 muffin, made with rolled oats and sugar | 44 | 60 | 13 |
| Apple muffin, made with rolled oats and without sugar | 48 | 60 | 9 |
| Waffles, Aunt Jemima® | 76 | 35 | 10 |
| Bagel, white, frozen | 72 | 70 | 25 |
| Baguette, white, plain | 95 | 30 | 14 |
| Coarse barley bread, 80% kernels | 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, average | 75 | 30 | 11 |
| Wonder® bread, average | 73 | 30 | 10 |
| Whole wheat bread, average | 69 | 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® (US formula) | 63 | 250 mL | 16 |
| Fanta®, orange soft drink | 68 | 250 mL | 23 |
| Lucozade®, original (sparkling glucose drink) | 95 | 250 mL | 40 |
| Apple juice, unsweetened | 41 | 250 mL | 12 |
| Cranberry juice cocktail (Ocean Spray®) | 68 | 250 mL | 24 |
| Gatorade, orange flavor (US formula) | 89 | 250 mL | 13 |
| Orange juice, unsweetened, average | 50 | 250 mL | 12 |
| Tomato juice, canned, no sugar added | 38 | 250 mL | 4 |
| BREAKFAST CEREALS AND RELATED PRODUCTS | |||
| All-Bran®, average | 44 | 30 | 9 |
| Coco Pops®, average | 77 | 30 | 20 |
| Cornflakes®, average | 81 | 30 | 20 |
| Cream of Wheat® | 66 | 250 | 17 |
| Cream of Wheat®, Instant | 74 | 250 | 22 |
| Grape-Nuts® | 75 | 30 | 16 |
| Muesli, average | 56 | 30 | 10 |
| Oatmeal, average | 55 | 250 | 13 |
| Instant oatmeal, average | 79 | 250 | 21 |
| Puffed wheat cereal | 80 | 30 | 17 |
| Raisin Bran® | 61 | 30 | 12 |
| Special K® (US formula) | 69 | 30 | 14 |
| GRAINS | |||
| Pearled barley, average | 25 | 150 | 11 |
| Sweet corn on the cob | 48 | 60 | 14 |
| Couscous | 65 | 150 | 9 |
| Quinoa | 53 | 150 | 13 |
| White rice, boiled, type non-specified | 72 | 150 | 29 |
| Quick cooking white basmati | 63 | 150 | 26 |
| Brown rice, steamed | 50 | 150 | 16 |
| Parboiled Converted white rice (Uncle Ben’s®) | 38 | 150 | 14 |
| Whole wheat kernels, average | 45 | 50 | 15 |
| Bulgur, average | 47 | 150 | 12 |
| COOKIES AND CRACKERS | |||
| Graham crackers | 74 | 25 | 13 |
| 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, average | 62 | 50 | 8 |
| Ice cream, premium (Sara Lee®) | 38 | 50 | 3 |
| Milk, full-fat, average | 31 | 250 mL | 4 |
| Milk, skim, average | 31 | 250 mL | 4 |
| Reduced-fat yogurt with fruit, average | 33 | 200 | 11 |
| FRUITS | |||
| Apple, average | 36 | 120 | 5 |
| Banana, raw, average | 48 | 120 | 11 |
| Dates, dried, average | 42 | 60 | 18 |
| Grapefruit | 25 | 120 | 3 |
| Grapes, black | 59 | 120 | 11 |
| Oranges, raw, average | 45 | 120 | 5 |
| Peach, average | 42 | 120 | 5 |
| Peach, canned in light syrup | 52 | 120 | 9 |
| Pear, raw, average | 38 | 120 | 4 |
| Pear, canned in pear juice | 44 | 120 | 5 |
| Prunes, pitted | 29 | 60 | 10 |
| Raisins | 64 | 60 | 28 |
| Watermelon | 72 | 120 | 4 |
| BEANS AND NUTS | |||
| Baked beans | 40 | 150 | 6 |
| Black-eyed peas | 50 | 150 | 15 |
| Black beans | 30 | 150 | 7 |
| Chickpeas | 10 | 150 | 3 |
| Chickpeas, canned in brine | 42 | 150 | 9 |
| Navy beans, average | 39 | 150 | 12 |
| Kidney beans, average | 34 | 150 | 9 |
| Lentils | 28 | 150 | 5 |
| Soy beans, average | 15 | 150 | 1 |
| Cashews, salted | 22 | 50 | 3 |
| Peanuts | 13 | 50 | 1 |
| PASTA and NOODLES | |||
| Fettucini | 32 | 180 | 15 |
| Macaroni, average | 50 | 180 | 24 |
| Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft®) | 64 | 180 | 33 |
| Spaghetti, white, boiled, average | 46 | 180 | 22 |
| Spaghetti, white, boiled 20 min | 58 | 180 | 26 |
| Spaghetti, whole-grain, boiled | 42 | 180 | 17 |
| SNACK FOODS | |||
| Corn chips, plain, salted | 42 | 50 | 11 |
| Fruit Roll-Ups® | 99 | 30 | 24 |
| M & M’s®, peanut | 33 | 30 | 6 |
| Microwave popcorn, plain, average | 65 | 20 | 7 |
| Potato chips, average | 56 | 50 | 12 |
| Pretzels, oven-baked | 83 | 30 | 16 |
| Snickers Bar®, average | 51 | 60 | 18 |
| VEGETABLES | |||
| Green peas | 54 | 80 | 4 |
| Carrots, average | 39 | 80 | 2 |
| Parsnips | 52 | 80 | 4 |
| Baked russet potato | 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 |
What you eat in one meal is not the end all, nor does one meal cause type 2 diabetes but the long term repeated shocks of high blood glucose levels work to slowly damage the entire body slowly over time. This leads to increased inflammation levels, decreased energy and higher stress levels on the kidneys. As those effects accumulate (or add up over time) all those ultra small effects of one meal become a massive effect that not only can cause irreversible damage it crease a cascade effect increasing pain and reducing mobility. The take away is; while one meal does not make a massive difference a long term habit of bad meals can be devastating so approach your intake on daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. Don’t beat yourself up for one meal or one bad day but monitor and adjust your intake to maintain a healthy balance on a weekly. Allow good intake choices to accumulate over a monthly and annual basis and instead of facing a host of health issues and Type 2 diabetes you will find yourself in less pain, feeling happier and with a much better overall body composition. Remember the choice is yours, you can either allow your intake to put you in a situation of poor health or with a small amount of effort to make the right choices for your intake you can be healthier, happier and in less pain than you are today.
The complete list of the glycemic index and glycemic load for more than 1,000 foods can be found in the article “International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2008” by Fiona S. Atkinson, Kaye Foster-Powell, and Jennie C. Brand-Miller in the December 2008 issue of Diabetes Care, Vol. 31, number 12, pages 2281-2283.
