BYTETOOLS

Glycemic Load Calculator

Calculate glycemic load from glycemic index and carbs per serving, using a built-in table of 65 common foods, with low/medium/high bands and a daily total.

Foods eaten

42.5
Total glycemic load
76.0 g
Available carbs
56
Weighted average GI
3
Foods listed

Glycemic load per food

FoodGICarbs/servingGL/servingServingsGL totalBand
White rice, boiled7343.0 g31.41.031.4High
Apple, raw3613.0 g4.71.04.7Low
Lentils, boiled3220.0 g6.41.06.4Low
Day total76.0 g42.5
Day so far:Low daily glycemic load

Glycemic load = glycemic index × available carbohydrate (g) ÷ 100. Per serving, a GL of 10 or less is low, 11–19 is medium and 20 or more is high. Across a whole day, under 80 is commonly called low and over 120 high. Available carbohydrate means total carbohydrate minus fibre — that is how the published tables are built.

Estimates only, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or manages diabetes. The built-in GI values are published population means from the International Tables of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values (2008); the same food tested in different laboratories routinely varies by 20 points or more, and one person's glucose response to a food can differ substantially from another's. Ripeness, cooking time, processing, fat and protein eaten alongside, and even the order of the meal all shift the real response. If you take insulin or another glucose-lowering medication, dose from your meter and your clinician's advice.

What is the Glycemic Load Calculator?

Glycemic load equals the glycemic index multiplied by the available carbohydrate in a serving, divided by 100. A GL of 10 or less per serving is low, 11 to 19 is medium and 20 or more is high.

  • Built-in glycemic index table of 65 common foods with standard serving carbohydrate figures
  • Manual GI entry for anything not in the table
  • Per-serving and per-day glycemic load with low / medium / high bands
  • Weighted average glycemic index across everything you ate
  • Editable servings, so portion size drives the answer as it should
  • Runs entirely in the browser — no food log is ever uploaded

How to use the Glycemic Load Calculator

  1. 1

    Choose a food from the dropdown, which fills in its published glycemic index and the carbohydrate in a standard serving.

  2. 2

    Adjust the servings figure to match what you actually ate, and edit the GI or carbohydrate values if you have better numbers.

  3. 3

    Pick “Custom food” and type a name, GI and carbohydrate figure for anything not in the list.

  4. 4

    Use Add food to build the whole meal or day, and the bin icon to drop a row.

  5. 5

    Read each food's glycemic load and band in the table, then check the day's total glycemic load underneath.

About the Glycemic Load Calculator

The ByteTools Glycemic Load Calculator answers the question glycemic index on its own cannot: how much a realistic portion of a food will actually shift your blood glucose. Pick foods from a built-in table of 65 common items, or type your own glycemic index, and the tool multiplies GI by the available carbohydrate in your serving to give the glycemic load.

Every food is banded low, medium or high, and the day's foods are summed into a total glycemic load with its own band. That is why watermelon, with a high GI of 76 but only 6 g of carbohydrate in a serving, lands at a GL of about 5 while a plate of white rice reaches 31 — the portion is doing most of the work.

The GI values are published population means from the International Tables of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values (2008). Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is uploaded. These are estimates, not medical advice, and they do not diagnose or manage diabetes — individual glucose responses vary widely.

Frequently asked questions

What is the formula for glycemic load?

Glycemic load = glycemic index × available carbohydrate in grams ÷ 100. Available carbohydrate means total carbohydrate minus fibre. An apple with a GI of 36 and 13 g of carbohydrate has a glycemic load of about 5.

What is the difference between glycemic index and glycemic load?

Glycemic index measures how fast a fixed 50 g of carbohydrate from a food raises blood glucose, regardless of how much of that food you would realistically eat. Glycemic load scales that by the carbohydrate in an actual serving, so it reflects the portion on your plate. Watermelon is the classic example: high GI, low GL.

What counts as a low glycemic load?

Per serving, 10 or less is low, 11 to 19 is medium and 20 or more is high. Across a whole day, a total under about 80 is commonly described as low and over 120 as high, though those daily thresholds are rules of thumb rather than formal cut-offs.

How accurate are published glycemic index values?

Less accurate than the tidy numbers suggest. The same food tested in different laboratories can differ by 20 points or more, and one person's glucose response to a food can differ substantially from another's. Ripeness, cooking time, processing, and the fat and protein eaten alongside all shift the real response.

Can I use glycemic load to manage diabetes?

It is a useful planning idea but not a treatment plan. Glycemic load says nothing about total calories, protein, fat or micronutrients, and it cannot replace glucose monitoring. If you take insulin or another glucose-lowering medication, dose from your meter and your clinician's advice.

Where do the built-in GI values come from?

They are the published means from the International Tables of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values: 2008 by Atkinson, Foster-Powell and Brand-Miller in Diabetes Care, on the glucose = 100 scale. Every value stays editable so you can substitute a figure you trust more.

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