1 July 2020

YOUR GI SHOPPING GUIDE

WHICH STARCHY SNACK FOODS? 

Spending more time at home means easier access to food, especially unplanned extras, like snacks. Ideally snacks are chosen from core foods - things like a piece of fruit, a handful of nuts, a hard-boiled egg or a slice of wholegrain bread - and make a valuable nutrient contribution to our diet. More popular options like crispy, crunchy crisps and cookies don’t give us much except starchy carbohydrate that add to the glycemic load of the diet. Here we’ve taken a look at how the GI and GL of starchy snack foods compares.

Starchy snack

PWD

Popcorn (commercial microwave popcorn) 
GI 51-67
Serving: 1 small bag (25g/1oz)
Starchy snack

Potato chips/crisps 
GI 51-60
Serving: 1 single serve bag (50g/1 ¾oz)
Starchy snack

Flavoured extruded crispy packaged snack 
GI 74-90
Serving: 1 single serve bag (50g/1 ¾oz)
Starchy snack

Wholegrain rye crackers 
GI 59-74
Serving: 2 large crackers (20g/ ¾oz)
Starchy snack

Plain crackers - white flour based, e.g., Soda cracker or Sao
GI 63-78
Serving: 3 large, or 6 small crackers (20g/ ¾oz)
Starchy snack

Puffed Rice cake 
GI 82-91
Serving: 3 thick or 5 thin rice cakes (30g/1oz)
Starchy snack

Oatmeal biscuit or cookie 
GI 45-55
Serving: 2 cookies (20g/3/4 oz)
Starchy snack

Read more:

 Kaye Foster-Powell     
Kaye Foster-Powell is an Accredited Practising Dietitian who has worked with people with diabetes for 30 years. She was co-author of the original series of international, best-selling books on the glycemic index. She conducts a specialized private practice for people with diabetes in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia.    
Contact: Via her website.