What is the Glycemic Load?

For a more effective planning of a diet, knowledge of the glycemic index of foods must be accompanied by one additional parameter: The Glycemic Load (GL).

The meaning of GL is that it complements the classification of foods based on GI (as is shown in table 2), since it takes into account the amount of carbohydrates which are consumed per portion and determines the total glycemic effect of the food to be consumed, while the GI relates only to the quality of the carbohydrates.

The definition of GL is shown in the following formula:
Glycemic Load= GI x Total amount of carbohydrates (per portion) of the food / 100.

Table 2.  Classification of foods based on GL*

*Source: American Diabetes Association