Glycemic Index Calculator
Look up the glycemic index of a food by name and see at a glance whether it counts as low, medium, or high GI, along with its carbohydrate content per 100 g. Every result links straight to the glycemic load calculator, where the same food can be portioned into a real serving.
Find a food
Search by food name
Start with a common food name, then choose the best match.
Result
Glycemic index details
Search a food above and choose the best match to see its glycemic index here.
The basics
What the glycemic index measures
The glycemic index ranks carbohydrate-containing foods on a 0–100 scale by how quickly a fixed 50-gram dose of their available carbohydrate raises blood glucose, compared with pure glucose at 100. A food digested and absorbed quickly scores high; one that releases its carbohydrate slowly scores low. Because the test always uses the same carbohydrate dose, GI is a statement about carbohydrate quality, not about any particular plate of food.
The bands on this page follow the conventional cut-offs as continuous intervals with no gaps: a GI of 55 or below counts as Low, anything above 55 and below 70 counts as Medium, and 70 or above counts as High. The boundaries are conventions, not biological thresholds — a GI of 56 and a GI of 54 describe nearly identical foods even though they land in different bands.
GI vs GL
Glycemic index vs glycemic load
GI answers “how fast?” — glycemic load answers “how much, given what I am actually eating?”. Because the GI test normalizes every food to the same 50-gram carbohydrate dose, it hides how carbohydrate-dense a food really is. Watermelon is the classic illustration: its GI is high, but 100 g of watermelon holds only a few grams of carbohydrate, so a normal slice produces a small glucose load. Densely packed foods work the other way — a moderate GI applied to a large pile of carbohydrate still adds up.
That is why this page deliberately stops at GI and carbohydrate density and hands portion math to the glycemic load calculator: the two numbers answer different questions, and reading GI as if it already accounted for your serving is the most common way to misread it.
Reference
GI reference table: 27 everyday foods
| Food | GI | Band | Carbs per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rye bread | 89 | High | 47 |
| Brown bread. average | 73 | High | 42.1 |
| Spaghetti. white. boiled | 44 | Low | 22.2 |
| Couscous | 65 | Medium | 69 |
| Sweet potato. boiled in salted water | 61 | Medium | 20.5 |
| New potatoes. boiled in unsalted water | 63 | Medium | 17.8 |
| Apple | 38 | Low | 11.1 |
| Banana | 52 | Low | 19.4 |
| Oranges | 42 | Low | 9.5 |
| Grapes | 53 | Low | 13.3 |
| Mango | 51 | Low | 14.3 |
| Watermelon | 76 | High | 8.1 |
| Carrots | 47 | Low | 6 |
| Peas | 48 | Low | 8.5 |
| Sweet corn fresh | 55 | Low | 16 |
| Beetroot. boiled in salted water | 64 | Medium | 9.5 |
| Parsnip. boiled in unsalted water | 97 | High | 12.9 |
| Skim milk | 48 | Low | 5 |
| Yoghurt | 35 | Low | 3.7 |
| Yogurt. low fat. fruit | 32 | Low | 13.7 |
| Custard. ready to eat | 38 | Low | 16.3 |
| Ice cream. dairy. premium | 61 | Medium | 16.8 |
| Lentils | 26 | Low | 14.6 |
| Kidney beans | 45 | Low | 14.6 |
| Baked beans | 45 | Low | 12.3 |
| Chickpeas/Bengal gram. raw | 28 | Low | 50 |
| Hummus | 6 | Low | 12.7 |
These GI values are category-level assignments from the DiOGenes database — reference numbers shared across similar foods, not individually measured results for each item listed. Use them to compare foods and orient yourself, not as lab-grade measurements of a specific product.
FAQ
Glycemic index questions
Why do some foods show GI: N/A instead of a number?
Because their glycemic index cannot actually be measured. The standard GI test feeds volunteers a portion of the food containing 50 grams of available carbohydrate and tracks their blood glucose. For foods with less than 2.5 grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams — egg whites, most meats and oils — that test portion would be absurdly large, so no real measurement exists. Any number attached to such a food in a GI database is a category placeholder, not a result, which is why this page shows GI: N/A for them instead of repeating a misleading value. Their glycemic load is effectively zero at any normal serving.
How is the glycemic index different from the glycemic load?
The glycemic index grades carbohydrate quality: it compares fixed 50-gram carbohydrate portions, so it says nothing about how much of the food you actually eat. The glycemic load multiplies that quality grade by the carbohydrate in your real serving, which is why a high-GI food eaten in a small or watery portion can still produce a small overall glucose effect. Use this page to check a food's GI, and use the glycemic load calculator when you want the number that reflects your actual portion.
Where do these GI values come from?
From an archived copy of the DiOGenes GI database, a European research project dataset. Many of its values are category-level assignments — one reference number shared by a whole group of similar foods — rather than individual laboratory measurements of each specific item. That makes them useful for orientation and comparison, but you should not read a difference of a few points between two foods as a precise, measured distinction.
Is a low-GI food automatically a good choice?
No. GI describes only how quickly a food's carbohydrate raises blood glucose relative to pure glucose — it ignores portion size, calories, fat, protein, fiber quality, and everything else about the food. Some low-GI items are energy-dense desserts; some high-GI items, like watermelon, carry very little carbohydrate per serving. GI works best as one input alongside serving size (that is what glycemic load adds) and the rest of the food's nutrition, not as a standalone verdict.