Glycemic Load: The Key to a Smarter Diabetes Diet
Find out why the glycemic load of foods is more important than the glycemic index — and how you can use one to calculate the other.
you’ve mastered counting carbs, just a little more math will let you fine-tune
your diabetes diet plan. Figuring out the glycemic load of a food can help you
craft a menu that won’t put your blood sugar on a roller coaster.
Glycemic Index vs. Glycemic Load
carbohydrate counting, you might already be looking at the glycemic index (GI)
number, which tells you how quickly your blood sugar might spike after eating a
certain type of food. The GI of carb-based foods is a measurement of how
quickly blood sugar rises after eating in comparison to a slice of white bread,
which has a GI of 100. In general, the lower the GI number, the less
dramatically the food will affect blood sugar. Low-GI foods are generally 55 or
calculating the glycemic load (GL) can provide an even more accurate picture of
what that food will do to your blood sugar. “Glycemic load accounts for
carbohydrates in food and how much each gram of it will raise your blood sugar level,” says Krista Wennerstrom, RD, food and
nutrition services director at Thorek Memorial
To find a
food’s GL, multiply its GI by the number of carbohydrate grams in a serving,
and then divide by 100. A low GL is between 1 and 10; a moderate GL is 11 to
19; and a high GL is 20 or higher. For those with diabetes, you want your diet to
have GL values as low as possible.
example, an average cake-type doughnut has a GI of 76 and 23 carbohydrate
grams. Multiply 76 by 23 and then divide by 100, and you get 17.48, which is
close to the top of the moderate range for glycemic load.
GL of carb-rich foods into account can have a direct impact on diabetes control. There’s
a strong correlation between eating a high-GL diet and the risk for ongoing
high blood sugar, according to research in the April 2014 issue of the European Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, which reviewed the dietary habits of 640 adults with type 2
Putting Glycemic Load to Work for
strategy for effectively using glycemic load to evaluate your diet requires
some research and math — this is where the trusty calculator on your
smartphone can come in handy. Begin by focusing on the carb-rich foods you eat
most often. Assess the GL of your favorite foods and, where needed, find lower
GL substitutions where possible, says Patrice Atencio, MEd, RD, CDE, a
dietitian with the East Carolina University Physicians Endocrinology Program in
Greenville, N.C. “I have worked with some clients who want to have very good blood
sugar control, and this is a great approach for them.” You can also use existing
tables to make this easier, such as the one listed in the journal Diabetes Care.
some sample meal swaps based on the GL of common foods:
Breakfast: Choose a serving of an all-bran
cereal, which has a GL of 12, instead of corn flakes, which has 24 GL. Add
a serving of milk, with 3 GL, and berries.
Lunch: Instead of a ham-and-cheese sandwich on
white bread, which has a GL of more than 10 per serving, go for a wheat
tortilla with refried beans and salsa, which comes in at a 6 GL. Add a side
salad or fruit, such as an orange with 4 GL, to fill out the meal.
Dinner: Skip the two slices of pizza —
18 to 24 GL — and have instead a serving of baked fish, a side of
whole grains at 17 GL (rather than the 23 GL of white rice) and cooked
Snacks: Consider a serving of cashews with
3 GL rather than the GL of 15 in some chocolate bars.
emphasizes that calculating GL isn’t for everyone, and it’s not always easy,
such as when
somewhere and faced with new foods. In those instances, the closer you can get
to choosing fresh whole foods, such as salad, the more favorable your GI and GL
numbers are likely to be. But when in doubt, ask, she says. Many facilities
have a dietitian who can be reached for advice, or your diabetes educator can
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