The following common foods have been split into tables depending on their GI Value

Low GI = GI Value lower than 55
Medium GI = GI Value between 56 and 69
High GI = GI Value between 70 and 100

Quick GI tip: You should be aiming to avoid High GI foods and eat a mix of low and medium GI foods as part of a healthy balanced diet containing good quality protein and fats.

GI Values of Common Foods

Low GI Foods		Medium GI Foods		High GI Foods
Banana fruit smootie	30	Coca Cola	53	Lucozade	95
Unsweeted orange juice	52	Orange Cordia	66	Sports drinks	80
Multigrain Loaf	54	Wholemeal Loaf	67	White bread	70
All Bran	42	Frosties	55	Coco-Pops	77
Museli (oat & whole grain)	50	Instant Porridge	66	Cornflakes	81
Sweetcorn	53	Couscous	65	Rice cakes	78
Brown rice	54	Basmati rice	58	Instant rice	69
Yogurt	24	Rye crisp bread	64	Corn chips	72
Baked beans	48	Mars bar	65	Watermelon	72
Kidney beans	28	Beetroot	64	Popcorn	72
Red Lentils	26	Sweet potato	66	Pretzels	83
Instant noodles	47	Arborio rice	69	Pumpkin	75
Spagetti	44	Rolled barley	66	Parsnips	97
Honey	48	Porridge	58	Baked potato	85

General Guideline

It can be difficult to work out the GI value of some foods without refering to an index or chart, but one rule that you can generally rely on is:

Is the food unprocessed and in its natural state?

Processed food will generally have a higher GI value than un processed and whole foods. For example has it been processed in any of the following ways: cooked, ground up, preserved, had sugar added etc.

Examples:

• A raw carrot has a much lower GI value than a cooked carrot because your body can much more easily digest a cooked carrot and its energy enters your blood faster. So consider eating more raw foods or if cooking vegetables don’t boil them for hours, leave them slightly crispy.
• Museli has a much lower GI value than cornflakes. Again museli is harder to digest because it typically contains whole oat flakes and whole nuts and seeds. Cornflakes on the other hand have been cooked (toasted) and had sugar added.
• Wholegrain bread versus Wholemeal Bread versus White bread. You guessed it, wholegrain bread will have a lower GI value because of the whole grains. Wholemeal bread has a higher GI value because the grains have been ground. White bread is highly processed and has a high GI value.

A Slimmer You Diet Plans dieting food GI Diet gi foods Healthy Eating healthy balanced diet low gi slimming

Possibly related articles:

• Eating a Balanced Diet
• GI Diet
• Cabbage Soup Diet - A New Look and Weekly Menu
• Practical Dieting Tips
• Omega 3 Fish Oil Dosage Guide for Children and Adults

This article was published on Tuesday, July 4th, 2006 at 12:33 pm and is related to the following categories: Uncategorized, Slimming, A Slimmer You, Healthy Eating, Diet Plans, GI Diet, Dieting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.