UNPROCESSED OR MINIMALLY PROCESSED FOODS, GI AND GL
One of the hypotheses about the associations found between ultra-processed foods and adverse health effects like obesity and type 2 diabetes is that increased processing is associated with higher blood glucose levels. A group of Australian and North American researchers tested this hypothesis and determined that in fact GI and GL do not differ between NOVA processing levels (1). In this month’s shopper’s guide, we look at the GI and GL values of a range of unprocessed or minimally processed foods (NOVA Group 1) to help illustrate this finding.
For people with diabetes
To those of you who count your carbohydrate intake in grams, exchanges or portions, we have included the details for each of these.
15g carbohydrate exchange – a serve containing 12-18g carbohydrate.
10g carbohydrate portion – a serve containing 7.6-12.5g carbohydrate.
Rock melon/Cantaloupe, raw, average of 2 foods
GI 68
Serving: 1 Cup (169 g or 6 Ounces)
| Energy | Available carbohydrate (g) | Fibre (g) | Exchanges | Portions | Glycemic load (g) |
| 170 kJ or 40 Cal | 8 | 2 | 0.5 | 1 | 5 |
Boiled potato, average of 29 foods
GI 73
Serving: 1 large potato (300 g or 10.5 Ounces)
| Energy | Available carbohydrate (g) | Fibre (g) | Exchanges | Portions | Glycemic load (g) |
| 1220 kJ or 290 Cal | 33 | 3.4 | 2 | 3 | 24 |
Rice long grain, average of 6 foods
GI 62
Serving: 1 Cup (205 g or 7 Ounces)
| Energy | Available carbohydrate (g) | Fibre (g) | Exchanges | Portions | Glycemic load (g) |
| 1070 kJ or 255 Cal | 52 | 3.3 | 3 | 5 | 32 |
Milk, Cow, full-fat, average of 3 foods
GI 37
Serving: 1 Cup (260 g or 9 Ounce)
| Energy | Available carbohydrate (g) | Fibre (g) | Exchanges | Portions | Glycemic load (g) |
| 725 kJ or 170 Cal | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 | 6 |
Lentils, boiled, average of 8 foods
GI 16
Serving: 1 Cup (185 g or 6.5 Ounce)
| Energy | Available carbohydrate (g) | Fibre (g) | Exchanges | Portions | Glycemic load (g) |
| 655 kJ or 155 Cal | 19 | 6.8 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
- Basile and colleagues. Food processing according to the NOVA classification is not associated with glycemic index and glycemic load: results from an analysis of 1995 food items. Am J Clin Nutr. 2024
- The University of Sydney. Glycemic Index database.
- Atkinson and colleagues. International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values 2021: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2021.
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