Glycemic Highs and Lows: Which Fruits are Best for You?

By Susan McQuillan While most fruits have low to moderate values, there are some exceptions.

After you eat, your blood sugar (glucose) levels rise. This signals the need for insulin to be released into the blood to carry that sugar to individual body cells where they will be  used for energy production and other activities. The amount and type of food you eat can have a dramatic effect on your blood sugar levels.

The glycemic index (GI) is a numeric scale that compares the effect of eating various carbohydrates on your blood sugar to the effect of eating pure sugar (glucose), which will dramatically raise your blood sugar levels. Pure sugar has a GI value of 100.  Foods with a GI value of 100 or more are considered very high GI foods that can raise your blood sugar levels just as quickly as pure sugar. Some of these foods include white bread, bagels, croissants, doughnuts, potatoes, hard candies, and many common types of crackers and ready-to-eat cereals.

Foods with a GI value between 70 and 100 are considered high GI foods.  A moderate GI food falls between 55 and 70. A value of 55 or less indicates a low GI food. Almost all fruits and fruit juices are rated low to moderate on the GI list. That's because the primary natural sugar in fruit is fructose, which has a GI of 27, the lowest of all sugars.

A high-GI food raises blood sugar higher and more quickly than a low-GI food.  The higher the spikes in blood sugar, the more insulin is produced. Over time, excess insulin production can lead to inflammation, weight gain, and a condition known as insulin resistance, which can progress to type II diabetes.  However, the GI value of a food changes when it is eaten with other foods, and high GI foods normally have a lower value when eaten as part of a meal or snack that includes several different types of food.

From highest to lowest, here are GI values for 20 common fruits and fruit juices. Keep in mind that since there are often many varieties of a particular fruit, and fruit can take different forms-fresh, frozen, canned, dried, and juiced-each type will have a different GI value. For instance, GI values for bananas range from 30 to 62 and the GI for orange juice from 46 to 57, depending on the varieties of oranges used and whether the juice is fresh or reconstituted. All fruit is good for you, especially fresh, whole fruit, and it is wise to eat a wide variety. But since fruit is often eaten on its own, the range of values within this one food group may be significant if you are concerned about sugar in your diet.

Fruit	Glycemic Index	Fruit	Glycemic Index
Watermelon	72	Banana	49
Cantaloupe	70	Orange	48
Cranberry Juice ****tail (sweetened)	68	Orange Juice	46
Pineapple	66	Strawberries	40
Raisins	64	Apple Juice	37
Mango	60	Apple	36
Kiwi	58	Pear	36
Peach	56	Apricot, raw	34
Raisins	54	Apricots, dried	32
Blueberries	53	Grapefruit	25

 

The Lowdown on Glycemic Load

Carbohydrates are controversial when it comes to diet these days. But what separates the good from the bad is a food's glycemic load, which has a big impact on blood sugar levels.

By Diana RodriguezMedically reviewed by Christine Wilmsen Craig, MD

Every food you eat affects your body differently, and not just in terms of your long-range health, but also in the way it is processed and the effect it has on your energy level and blood sugar.

Glycemic Load and Diet: The Basics

The glycemic load is a classification of different carbohydrates that measures their impact on the body and blood sugar. The glycemic load details the amount of carbohydrates a food contains and its glycemic index, a measurement of its impact on blood sugar. “The glycemic index ranks foods based on how quickly they're digested and get into the bloodstream," says Sandra Meyerowitz, MPH, RD, a nutritionist and owner of Nutrition Works in Louisville, Ky. “Its glycemic load takes into consideration every component of the food as a whole, so it's a different number. It changes everything."

Because the glycemic load of a food looks at both components, the same food can have a high glycemic index, but an overall low glycemic load, making it better for you than it originally might have appeared.

Glycemic Load and Diet: The Effect on Your Health

Foods with a low glycemic load keep blood sugar levels consistent, meaning that you avoid experiencing the highs and lows that can be caused by blood sugar that jumps too high and quickly drops — the candy bar effect.

Watching the glycemic load of the foods you eat can have a big impact on your health in many ways. A diet focused on foods with a low glycemic load can:

• Make it easier to lose weight and avoid the dreaded diet plateau
• Keep blood sugar levels more consistent
• Burn more calories
• Help prevent insulin resistance and diabetes
• Lower heart disease risk

"It makes more sense to use the glycemic load because when you eat a food you don’t just eat one food by itself — you eat a whole bunch of foods together," says Meyerowitz. Looking at the total picture of foods you eat, rather than just the individual pieces, gives you a clearer and more accurate picture of the foods that make up your diet.

Glycemic Load and Diet: Glycemic Loads in Favorite Foods

It's tough to figure out on your own if a food has a high or a low glycemic load, but as a general guideline, the more fiber a food has the better. Here is a glycemic load reference list with many common foods to let you know which are low, medium, and high.

Foods with a low glycemic load of 10 or less:

• Kidney, garbanzo, pinto, soy, and black beans
• Fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, like carrots, green peas, apples, grapefruit, and watermelon
• Cereals made with 100 percent bran
• Lentils
• Cashews and peanuts
• Whole-grain breads like barley, pumpernickel, and whole wheat
• Whole-wheat tortillas
• Tomato juice
• Milk

Foods with a medium glycemic load of 11 to 19:

• Whole-wheat pasta and some breads
• Oatmeal
• Rice cakes
• Barley and bulgur
• Fruit juices without extra sugar
• Brown rice
• Sweet potato
• Graham crackers

Foods with a high glycemic load of 20 or more:

• High-sugar beverages
• Candy
• Sweetened fruit juices
• Couscous
• White rice
• White pasta
• French fries and baked potatoes
• Low-fiber cereals (high in added sugar)
• Macaroni and cheese
• Pizza
• Raisins and dates

Focusing on the glycemic load of foods is particularly important for people with diabetes to help maintain a steady blood sugar, but everyone can benefit from understanding and monitoring the glycemic load in their diet.

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You also have to be aware of the Glycemic Load, GL, which is based more on what an average serving size is.