Is Fruit a High-Glycemic Food?

One of the biggest complaints I hear about a high fruit raw vegan diet is that many fruits are high-glycemic foods.  This means that the sugars in these foods enter the bloodstream far too quickly, leading to a raise in blood sugar levels.

The individuals who believe this are simply not examining the whole picture when it comes to determining a foods absorption rate.

Glycemic Index

The glycemic index is used as a way to measure how quickly particular foods are digested and how quickly the sugars in those foods enter into the blood stream.

For example, pineapple rates 59 on the glycemic index.

A glycemic index rating of 1-55 is low, 56-69 is medium, and 70 and above is high.

By only relying on the glycemic index, it appears as though many fruits are medium-to-high glycemic foods.  In other
words, the simple sugars in these foods enter your bloodstream very quickly.

The problem here is that the glycemic index only measures the rate at which the sugar enters the blood, not the amount of sugar in a particular amount (let’s say a serving) of food.

That’s where the oft-ignored glycemic load comes in.

Glycemic Load

In The 80/10/10 Diet, Dr. Graham explains the glycemic load and how it is necessary to truly make sense of sugar
digestion.

The glycemic load is calculated by multiplying a food’s glycemic index value by the amount of available carbohydrate per serving (grams of carbohydrates less fiber), then dividing by 100.  Thus, fruits, which are, mostly water, have a low glycemic load even though they rate high on the
glycemic index.

For example, watermelon rates high on the glycemic index at 72.  However, its glycemic load is low at only 4.

A glycemic load rating of 1-10 is low, 11-19 is medium, and 20 and above is high.

As it turns out, all fruits rate low to medium on the glycemic load scale.

So stop worrying about eating “high-glycemic” fruit and go EAT MORE FRUIT!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze