List Of High Glycemic Foods

For persons who are seeking to keep their blood glucose levels stable, avoiding foods with high glycemic index values could be one useful thing to do.

This article, which I first wrote and published on another website in 2008, contains a compilation listing numerous high glycemic foods.

Please note that glycemic index values are not an exact science, and differences do occur.

High Glycemic Foods to Avoid or Cut Down on

In general, grains and starches are good foods. However, high glycemic foods release glucose from digested foods into the bloodstream at a relatively fast rate. This results in many potential detrimental effects on health, especially in the long term if done continually.

Some examples of these adverse health effects are obesity, raised insulin levels, increased triglyceride levels, weakened pancreas, among others. It is thus wise to avoid consuming too much of foods with high glycemic index (GI) values. Click here for the health benefits of low glycemic diets and low glycemic foods.

This page lists some foods which have high GI values, i.e. glycemic index of 70 or more.

Please note that these values were compiled from online sources, and they had been obtained from specific tests on specific pieces of food and do not reflect the glycemic index values for all of those foods.

Do also note that specific versions of a particular food may have high GI, while other versions of that same food may have low GI, i.e. some foods have a very wide range of GI values.

Thus, for example, different GI values are shown for a particular type of food, for example white rice, or oats porridge.

For your quick information, the following foods tend to usually be high glycemic foods, and over-consumption should be avoided.

• Breads made from refined grains
• Grain food products which are instant or refined in nature
• Biscuits, chips, cookies and crackers which are plain, made with refined flour, and / or contain a lot of sugar
• Sugary snacks – these include candy, doughnuts, ice-cream, jelly beans, pancakes, waffles, etc.
• Sports energy drinks
• Sugary soft drinks
• Watermelons
• Potatoes, especially those which are mashed and / or instant

Carbohydrates from high glycemic foods do have one useful purpose, and that is to refuel the body’s immediate energy needs after exercise, especially heavy exercise.

For a more comprehensive glycemic index listing of foods, click here.

LIST OF HIGH GLYCEMIC FOODS

Grains, Rice
Amaranth, popped – 97
Millet, various – 71-107
Rice, brown – 80
Rice, glutinous – 83
Rice, instant – ?
Rice, puffed – 81-85
Rice, white, instant – 87
Rice, white, various – 70-112
Wheat – 90

Other Staple Foods
Cereal – 73
Cereal, breakfast, fruit-mix – 113
Cereal, oats – 77
Chapatti – 76-81
Cornflakes – 72-92
French fries – 75
Muesli – 86
Pasta, corn – 78
Pasta, made with rice – 92
Porridge, maize – 71-109
Porridge, oats – 80-82
Porridge, oats, raw – 75
Tortilla, corn – 78

Breads
Bread, fruit and cinnamon – 71
Bread, multi-grain, gluten-free 79
Bread, wheat, refined – 77-80
Bread, wheat, whole – 71-87
Bread, white, gluten-free – 71-80
French baguette – 72-95
Hamburger bun, white – 61

Fruits and Dried Fruits
Banana, raw – 70
Watermelon, raw – 72-80

Vegetables
Parsnips – ?
Potatoes – 70-111
Potatoes, baked – ?
Potatoes, mashed, instant – ?
Sweet potatoes, boiled – 77-78
Tapiocas – 70-81

Biscuits, Chips, Cookies, Crackers
Biscuits, wheat – 74-75
Cakes, rice – 82-87
Crackers, plain, various – 70-81
Crackers, rice, plain – 91
Crackers, soda – 74
Crackers, water – 78

Cakes, Muffins, Pastries
Cupcakes – 73

Other Snacks
Candy – 70
Doughnut – 76
Ice-cream – 80
Jelly beans – 76-80
Waffles – 76

Beverages (others)
Gatorade – 78-89
Lucozade – 95

Honey, Jams, Spreads and Syrups
Honey – 87
Jam, cactus – 91

Others
Glucose – 85-114
Sucrose – 82-110

Click here for a more comprehensive glycemic index listing of foods.