Low GI Fruits

Low GI Fruits

The glycemic index (GI) tells you high quickly foods containing carbohydrates affect your blood sugar level. Carbohydrates are needed by our body to provide energy to cells. To convert carbohydrate into energy, insulin is needed. When your body doesn’t produce insulin or are unable to use it (type 1 diabetes) or make enough of it properly (type 2 diabetes) you are at risk for high blood sugar levels. High levels of blood sugar leads to nerve, eye, or kidney damage. 

According to “American Diabetes Association”, GI scores are rated as:

1. Low: 55 or below
2. Moderate: 56 to 69
3. High: 70 and above

Most of the whole fruits are packed with vitamin A, vitamin C and fiber and have a low to moderate GI. Glycemic load (GL) is a more accurate estimation of food-blood sugar effect. It has more narrow categories of low, medium, and high foods. For calculating GL, GI plus the gram of carbohydrates per servings of the food is taken into account. GL better estimates the possible real-life impact when someone eats a particular food. For calculating GL:

GL = (GI x grams of carbohydrates) / 100

GL scores are rated as:

1. Low: 0 to 10
2. Moderate: 11 to 19
3. High: 20 and above

GI and GL scores of some commonly used and low GI fruits:

 

 

GI and GL scores are general guides to help you select fruits for yourself.