Blueberry Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL)
One cup of blueberries provides 21.4g of carbohydrates, including 17.8g of net carbs and 3.6g of dietary fiber.
Glycemic Index
According to The International Tables of Glycemic Index Values 2021, wild blueberries from Canada have a glycemic index of 53±7 (1). Glycemic index values below 55 fall in the low GI category.
Blueberry fruit spread can have varying glycemic index values depending on nutritional content and production method. One blueberry fruit spread from Italy was calculated to have a GI of 74, whereas blueberry jam from a different brand had a GI of 63.
An Australian brand blueberry muffin had a GI of 50, while the GI of a Canadian brand blueberry was 60.
Blueberries have been researched to have anti-diabetic qualities that can improve insulin resistance, glucose tolerance, glycemic and lipid profiles (2, 3).
Blueberries were also found to have beneficial glycemic qualities by extending glucose response after a meal (4).
If interested, you can find the complete chart of glycemic index values of over 350 foods here.
Glycemic Load
The study above presents the glycemic load of blueberries to be 8. However, this is intended only as a guide based on the whole food group and not for blueberries exactly.
We have calculated the glycemic load of one cup of blueberries (148g) to be 18, based on the formula of GL = the GI of the food x available carbohydrates per serving (g) / 100.
GL value of 10 or less falls in the low category, while Gl values falling in the range of 11 to 19 are considered medium.
References
- https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/114/5/1625/6320814
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5187542/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7202899/
- https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2017/fo/c7fo00724h
