A good guide to good carbs: The glycemic index
If you have diabetes, you know all too well that when you eat carbohydrates, your blood sugar goes up. The total amount of carbs you consume at a meal or in a snack mostly determines what your blood sugar will do. But the food itself also plays a role. A serving of white rice has almost the same effect as eating pure table sugar — a quick, high spike in blood sugar. A serving of lentils has a slower, smaller effect.
Picking good sources of carbs can help you control your blood sugar and your weight. Eating healthier carbohydrates may help prevent a host of chronic conditions, especially diabetes, but it is also associated with a lower risk of heart disease and certain cancers.
One way to choose foods is with the glycemic index (GI). This tool measures how much a food boosts blood sugar.
The glycemic index rates the effect of a specific amount of a food on blood sugar compared with the same amount of pure glucose. A food with a glycemic index of 28 boosts blood sugar only 28% as much as pure glucose. One with a GI of 95 acts like pure glucose.
Glycemic index chart
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High glycemic foods result in a quick spike in insulin and blood sugar (also known as blood glucose). Low glycemic foods have a slower, smaller effect. |
Choose low glycemic foods
Using the glycemic index is easy: choose foods in the low GI category instead of those in the high GI category (see below), and go easy on those in between.
- Low glycemic index (GI of 55 or less): Most fruits and vegetables, beans, minimally processed grains, pasta, low-fat dairy foods, and nuts.
- Moderate glycemic index (GI 56 to 69): White and sweet potatoes, corn, white rice, couscous, breakfast cereals such as Cream of Wheat and Mini Wheats.
- High glycemic index (GI of 70 or higher): White bread, rice cakes, most crackers, bagels, cakes, doughnuts, croissants, most packaged breakfast cereals.
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Swaps for lowering glycemic index |
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Instead of this high-glycemic index food |
Eat this lower-glycemic index food |
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White rice |
Brown rice or converted rice |
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Instant oatmeal |
Steel-cut oats |
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Cornflakes |
Bran flakes |
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Baked potato |
Pasta, bulgur |
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White bread |
Whole-grain bread |
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Corn |
Peas or leafy greens |
To learn more about keeping your meals healthy and on track with Diabetes, read Healthy Eating for Type 2 Diabetes, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.
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