The Best Low GI Foods

The glycemic index (GI) is a rating scale ranking foods from 0 to 100, which indicates how severely or mildly a specific food raises an individual's blood glucose level. High-carbohydrate foods, such as pastas, breads and fruits, cause blood glucose levels to rise quickly and the body to respond by laboring to create insulin. Foods with a GI of less than 55 are considered low glycemic. Low glycemic foods can assist diabetics in creating slower rising blood sugar levels after meals and can help those trying to lose weight to feel fuller longer by slowing their digestion down.

Fruits

Some sweet fruits have a natural sugar called sucrose which is quickly absorbed when eaten through digestion into the bloodstream and this ranks them as intermediate or high glycemic on the GI scale. But fruits can be found which are low glycemic including dried fruits such as apricots or cranberries, which fall near or below 55 on the GI scale. Citrus fruits (such as grapefruit) and tart fruits (such as cherries) are also included as fruits ideal for low-glycemic diets.

Nuts

Walnuts, cashews, peanuts and almonds are low glycemic foods ranking below 55 on the GI scale which digest slowly. They are high in fiber but also high in calories so when following a low-glycemic diet plan, try to eat them in their natural form and avoid the sweetened butter forms such as almond butter or peanut butter.

Low sugar peanut butters can be sweetened with small amounts of 100 percent pure honey, which is a low glycemic sweetener containing fructose rather than high glycemic sucrose. Nuts are best used as small snacks or salad and entree toppings to avoid the caloric load.

Vegetables

Vegetables include some of the most ideal low-glycemic foods, which dieters and diabetics should routinely pack their diets with. Broccoli, onions, mushrooms and red peppers are high in fiber and low in calories either raw or steamed. Most salad lettuces fall below 55 on the GI scale with raw spinach being one of the lowest glycemic foods at 15 GI. Carrots, corn, beans and potatoes are some examples of intermediate to high glycemic foods which you should avoid because of their natural sugars which break down quickly in the digestive track and flood into the blood.

Dairy

Dairy selections which fall below 55 on the GI scale are sour cream, lowfat cottage cheese and unsweetened or sugar free yogurt. Dieters can buy unsweetened yogurt and then add low glycemic 100 percent pure honey if the unsweetened taste is not to their liking. Some hard cheeses such as aged parmesan and aged goat cheese fall within the 50s range of the GI scale and warrant occasional use as a low-glycemic diet ingredient rich in calcium. Soft cheeses and cream cheeses are intermediate to high glycemic and you should avoid them.

Cereals and Breads

The cereals and breads food group has the most intermediate to high ranking glycemic foods on the GI scale. Some low-glycemic options which use whole grains and their bran are slow to digest and do fall beneath 55 on the GI scale. Whole bran cereals, such as wheat or oat but not corn, are good low-glycemic diet choices along with non-instant steel cut oats for breakfast oatmeal cereal. Whole wheat sourdough or pumpernickel rye are the lowest glycemic breads which the dieter or diabetic can choose to toast or use in healthy sandwiches.