Coconut milk glycemic index (GI) - Is It High or Low?
Based on the numbers provided by a Dutch study, the glycemic index of coconut milk is unexpectedly high, equaling 96.82±5.05, due to elevated glucose concentrations (1).
However, one study has shown that coconut milk porridge has a low GI of 31±5, making it a preferable breakfast choice for people with diabetes (2).
Even though coconut milk is considered to have a high glycemic index, it has a low glycemic load of 4.81, meaning it raises blood glucose levels slowly.
Knowing the glycemic load of a certain food is important because there is often a difference between the glycemic index and the glycemic load.
Fresh cow milk has a lower glycemic index of about 47 compared to milk substitutes. Of all the plant-based milk substitutes, the product with the highest GI was the organic brown rice drink, with a GI of almost 100. Overall, milk substitutes were found to have a much lower nutritional value compared to bovine milk.
One study indicated that using coconut milk porridge reduces low-density cholesterol, also called “bad cholesterol,” while increasing high-density cholesterol, also known as “good cholesterol” (3).
Coconut milk consumption has been shown to protect rats against kidney damage related to type 2 diabetes; however, the limitation is that the sample was used in rat populations and not humans (4).
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5325842/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22849311/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3824402/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8324991/
