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I've been wanting to post this for a while, but never really got around to it.
I know there is some confusion on glycemic LOAD. At first glance it may seem somewhat confusing, especially when we say things like:
That's not a particularly user-friendly way of talking about it...
In a nutshell, the glycemic load looks at both the glycemic index of a food AND it's portion-size (especially the amount of carbohydrate in your portion) in determining it's value for a serving/portion of a carbohydrate containing food.
Although the glycemic load for a food is expressed in a value of 1-100, it's also broken into low, medium and high 'load' rankings, as follows:
Examples:
For a detailed example, let's start at watermelon:
Watermelon has a glycemic index of 76. Because of this high GI value, many diabetics avoid watermelon. However, when you bring the glycemic load into consideration, we find that 1 cup of watermelon scores only 8 (low) on the glycemic LOAD... Here's the breakdown:
One cup of watermelon has only about 11g of carbohydrates
11 (grams of carb) x 76 (glycemic index) = 836
836 / 100 = 8.36
As such, the glycemic LOAD of 1cup of watermelon is 8.36, which is considered low on the scale.
Of course, many people would eat MUCH more than 1 cup of watermelon at a sitting, so trying to utilize the glycemic load concepts may involve measuring until you're sure of serving sizes. Personally, I stick with about 3/4c of watermelon in my servings to keep my sugar in check.
Other examples:
Banana, Medium
An average medium banana contains about 27g of carbohydrate and is roughly 55 on the Glycemic Index. 27x55 = 1485. As such, a medium banana has roughly a glycemic load of 14.85. (I sometimes use bananas in my smoothies, but now regularly limit to 1/3 of a frozen, mostly-green banana, for a glycemic load of < 5.)
Mashed Potato
1 little cup of mashed potato has about 40g of carbohydrate and is about 76 on the GI. 40x76/100 = a glycemic load of 30.4
... If 20 is considered 'High' I don't want to know what 30.4 is considered... (and baked potato is even HIGHER, fyi)
Strawberries
1C of strawberries has about 15g of carbohydrate and is roughly 36 on the GI. 15x36/100 = a glycemic load of 5.4 ... roughly 1/6th the load of mashed potato.
Breakfast
2 strips bacon, 2 eggs fried, 1 slice sprouted grain toast with butter. This meal contains 13g of carbohydrate (bread) which is roughly 45 on the GI scale. 13x45/100 = a glycemic load of roughly 5.85.
The reason I bring this up is that the GL (Glycemic Load) is starting to be a more recommended dietary concept to be familiar with than the glycemic index.

I know there is some confusion on glycemic LOAD. At first glance it may seem somewhat confusing, especially when we say things like:
"The glycemic load of a food is calculated by multiplying the glycemic index by the amount of carbohydrate in grams provided by a food and dividing the total by 100"
That's not a particularly user-friendly way of talking about it...
In a nutshell, the glycemic load looks at both the glycemic index of a food AND it's portion-size (especially the amount of carbohydrate in your portion) in determining it's value for a serving/portion of a carbohydrate containing food.
Although the glycemic load for a food is expressed in a value of 1-100, it's also broken into low, medium and high 'load' rankings, as follows:
- Low: 10 or less
- Medium: 11 - 19
- High: 20 and over
Examples:
For a detailed example, let's start at watermelon:
Watermelon has a glycemic index of 76. Because of this high GI value, many diabetics avoid watermelon. However, when you bring the glycemic load into consideration, we find that 1 cup of watermelon scores only 8 (low) on the glycemic LOAD... Here's the breakdown:
One cup of watermelon has only about 11g of carbohydrates
11 (grams of carb) x 76 (glycemic index) = 836
836 / 100 = 8.36
As such, the glycemic LOAD of 1cup of watermelon is 8.36, which is considered low on the scale.
Of course, many people would eat MUCH more than 1 cup of watermelon at a sitting, so trying to utilize the glycemic load concepts may involve measuring until you're sure of serving sizes. Personally, I stick with about 3/4c of watermelon in my servings to keep my sugar in check.
Other examples:
Banana, Medium
An average medium banana contains about 27g of carbohydrate and is roughly 55 on the Glycemic Index. 27x55 = 1485. As such, a medium banana has roughly a glycemic load of 14.85. (I sometimes use bananas in my smoothies, but now regularly limit to 1/3 of a frozen, mostly-green banana, for a glycemic load of < 5.)
Mashed Potato
1 little cup of mashed potato has about 40g of carbohydrate and is about 76 on the GI. 40x76/100 = a glycemic load of 30.4
Strawberries
1C of strawberries has about 15g of carbohydrate and is roughly 36 on the GI. 15x36/100 = a glycemic load of 5.4 ... roughly 1/6th the load of mashed potato.
Breakfast
2 strips bacon, 2 eggs fried, 1 slice sprouted grain toast with butter. This meal contains 13g of carbohydrate (bread) which is roughly 45 on the GI scale. 13x45/100 = a glycemic load of roughly 5.85.
The reason I bring this up is that the GL (Glycemic Load) is starting to be a more recommended dietary concept to be familiar with than the glycemic index.
- Many experts in the field are pushing to have the Glycemic Load placed on nutritional labels.
- Many research articles are touting the effectiveness of diets based on the glycemic load.
- Many organizations such as the IDF (International Diabetes Federation) and others are pushing for more education and awareness on glycemic load, etc..