Glycemic load
One line of arithmetic separates a food's ranking from what a real portion of it does.
Only use a glycemic index that somebody has measured. The measured values are here.
Nothing here can diagnose you, and nothing here is a treatment plan. Blood glucose results are interpreted by a doctor alongside your history, your symptoms and a repeat test — a single number on a screen is not a diagnosis. If any reading concerns you, or if you feel unwell, see a doctor rather than a website.
The formula
glycemic load = glycemic index × available carbohydrate in the portion (g) ÷ 100
Glycemic index is always measured at a fixed 50 g of available carbohydrate, whatever quantity of food that takes. That makes it a fair ranking and a poor guide to eating, because 50 g of carbohydrate is a modest bowl of one food and an implausible amount of another.
Worked through: a 60 g jowar roti (sorghum) carries about 29.6 g of available carbohydrate on the figures from the study that measured its GI of 84.1. So 84.1 × 29.6 ÷ 100 ≈ 24.9 — a high glycemic load as well as a high glycemic index.
Now white chickpea sundal, GI 24.1. A 100 g bowl carries 22.3 g of available carbohydrate, so its glycemic load is about 5.4 — low on both measures.
The two measures diverge whenever a food's carbohydrate is dilute: a high glycemic index in a portion that contains very little carbohydrate produces a small glycemic load. That case is exactly where glycemic-index-only advice misleads.
The categories
| Category | Glycemic index | Glycemic load, per serving |
|---|---|---|
| Low | 55 or less | 10 or less |
| Medium | 56 to 69 | 11 to 19 |
| High | 70 or more | 20 or more |
Every measured value on this site, with its load
| Food | GI | Band | Carbohydrate | GL for the stated portion | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ragi mudde (finger millet stiff porridge) | 98.2 | High | 26.7 g per 100 g | 39.3 (one ball, about 150 g) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Jowar roti (sorghum) | 84.1 | High | 49.4 g per 100 g | 24.9 (one roti, about 60 g) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Onion dosa | 79.7 | High | not published | cannot be calculated | J Food Sci Technol 2022 |
| Makki roti (maize) | 74.8 | High | 44.8 g per 100 g | 20.1 (one roti, about 60 g) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Wheat flakes chivda | 72.5 | High | 42.8 g per 100 g | 9.3 (a 30 g bowl) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Bajra roti (pearl millet) | 70.1 | High | 47.8 g per 100 g | 20.1 (one roti, about 60 g) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Adai (mixed lentil pancake) | 66.2 | Medium | 32.6 g per 100 g | 21.6 (one adai, about 100 g) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Multigrain roti (whole-grain blend) | 64.7 | Medium | 55.4 g per 100 g | 21.5 (one roti, about 60 g) | Prev Nutr Food Sci 2020 |
| Wheat dosa (godhuma dosa) | 61.8 | Medium | 32.5 g per 100 g | 18.1 (one dosa, about 90 g) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Jowar idli (sorghum idli) | 61.3 | Medium | 27.6 g per 100 g | 13.5 (two idli, about 80 g) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Methi paratha | 60.2 | Medium | 42.4 g per 100 g | 20.4 (one paratha, about 80 g) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Dalia upma (broken wheat) | 51.7 | Low | 26.3 g per 100 g | 27.2 (one katori, about 200 g) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| Vada sambar | 36.9 | Low | not published | cannot be calculated | J Food Sci Technol 2022 |
| White peas sundal (safed vatana) | 29.8 | Low | 13.6 g per 100 g | 4.0 (a 100 g bowl) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
| White chickpea sundal (kabuli chana) | 24.1 | Low | 22.3 g per 100 g | 5.4 (a 100 g bowl) | Indian J Med Res 2022 |
15 foods. That is a small table on purpose — glycemic index is measured by feeding a food to volunteers and sampling their blood, so it exists only where somebody has run that study. Sites listing a GI for hundreds of Indian dishes are, for most of those dishes, publishing a guess.
PeakForm is a training and accountability programme. It is not a treatment for diabetes or prediabetes, it is not a substitute for your doctor's advice, and nothing on this site should be acted on before speaking to one.
The limits, plainly
These figures are measured on single foods eaten alone, in one preparation, by a modest number of volunteers, and they carry real person-to-person variation. A roti eaten with dal, sabzi and curd is not the roti that was tested. Cooking time, cooling and reheating all move the result.
None of this is a treatment. No food treats diabetes, and no arrangement of glycemic loads is a substitute for medical care. If you have diabetes or prediabetes, what belongs on your plate is a conversation with a doctor or a registered dietitian who has seen your results.
Common questions
What is glycemic load?
How do you calculate glycemic load?
What is a low glycemic load?
General information only — NOT medical advice, and never a diagnosis. Only a doctor can interpret your results and diagnose or treat diabetes. If a reading concerns you, see a doctor rather than a website. Every threshold, equation and glycemic index value used on this site is listed with its publication on the data & method page.