Basmati rice glycemic index: GI, load and what it means

The basmati rice gi index and the basmati chawal glycemic index are one question in two languages, and the University of Sydney GI database gives a single answer for plain white basmati: 50. The entry describes a polished grain boiled for 26 minutes in an electric rice cooker with two parts water to one part rice by weight; twelve people gave the blood readings, published in a 2016 paper in Nutrients. On the database's scale, 55 or below counts as low and 70 or above as high; 50 lands in the low band, the one the University describes as producing smaller fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels.

One entry is a thin base, so the honest frame matters. The same database carries fourteen more plain white basmati readings, every one tested outside India; they run from 50 up to 84 and average 62, most of them in the middle band. That spread is why this page leans on the India-tested number, the figure for the grain as it is bought and cooked in India, and why a pack that prints a GI should say which test its number came from. Indian food law draws a matching line: the FSSAI claims regulations define a low-GI claim as a value below 55, which the 50 meets.

A glycemic index is not measured per 100 g, so there is no basmati rice glycemic index per 100g figure to quote. Under the standard method, ten or more healthy people eat a portion of the food that holds 50 g of digestible (available) carbohydrate, and their blood glucose over the next two hours is set against their own response to a glucose drink. The number labels the food as tested in that portion, not per gram: 100 g of raw basmati alone holds 78.24 g of carbohydrate, far more than the test's 50 g.

The per-100 g column is a different tool, and the table below prints what 100 g of the raw grain holds, beside brown rice from the same IFCT 2017 tables. White basmati carries 357 kcal and 78.24 g of carbohydrate, and the two grains part ways most clearly on fibre, 2.81 g against 4.43 g. The nutrient-by-nutrient reading of the white grain is on the basmati rice calories page.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). GI: University of Sydney GI database. — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Glycemic load multiplies the GI by the carbohydrate in the portion actually eaten, divided by 100. One katori of cooked basmati comes from 40 g of raw grain, which holds 143 kcal and 31.3 g of carbohydrate, so its glycemic load works out to about 15.7. A second katori takes the carbohydrate to 62.6 g and the load climbs with it, which is the arithmetic behind counting the rice rather than the meal. The portion thinking for a diabetic plate is worked through on is basmati rice good for diabetes.

For context, the rices eaten every day in Indian kitchens test higher. A 2012 study from the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation cooked three commonly consumed varieties and every reading cleared the high line: sona masoori came in at 72, ponni at 70.2 and Surti Kolam at 77. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians print their own indicative figure for rice, 78.23, an average over ten participants that the annexure itself marks as indicative only and says may differ by ingredient ratios and preparation. Against both, the India-tested 50 is the lower reading.

The worldwide picture is just as varied. The 2021 international GI tables list rice among the foods that come in high, medium and low GI versions, and cereals as a group show wide variation in values. The side-by-side with the everyday white grains is on the difference between basmati rice and normal rice page, and the wider shelf of gentler rices is mapped on low GI rice in India.

A tested GI is a snapshot, not a fixed property of the grain. A 2023 review in Foods lists what shifts a rice's number: the variety, the grain's nutrient composition, how it was processed, and the factors that accompany the meal. A 2017 study from Sri Lanka polished red and white basmati to 10 percent and to 100 percent and found the degree of polishing made no difference to the reading, while the samples richest in amylose and fibre returned the lowest figures.

The kitchen can move it too. In one 2015 trial, white rice chilled in the fridge for 24 hours and then reheated gave a lower glycemic response in 15 healthy adults than the same rice eaten straight from the pot, its resistant starch having climbed from 0.64 g to 1.65 g per 100 g. The pot-side method, the water ratio and the rinsing are on how to cook basmati rice.

The 50 is best read inside a mixed plate. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians say that dietary fibre delays the absorption of carbohydrate and fat and adds to satiety; their list of fibre foods includes pulses and vegetables. So the working pattern is one katori of basmati beside dal and sabzi, cooked plainly, or the same grain as a soft basmati rice khichdi when you want one pot. Where a medical condition sets your portions, the amount is one to settle with your doctor or dietitian.

What the grain's other numbers do for you, benefit by benefit, is on basmati rice benefits. Names in Indian languages, storage and buying notes are gathered on the basmati rice hub.

Does basmati rice spike blood sugar?

Basmati is mostly starch, and any starch raises blood glucose after a meal; the portion decides how far. The India-tested figure of 50 sits under the 55 low line, the readings from other countries mostly land in the middle band, and one katori carries a glycemic load of about 15.7. Your own meter, two hours after the meal, shows the answer for your plate.

Is basmati rice good for diabetics?

It can fit, counted in katoris. The single India-tested reading for plain white basmati is 50, inside the low band, and one katori holds 31.3 g of carbohydrate. Serve it with dal and sabzi, count each katori, and let your doctor or dietitian set how many fit your meals; the full working is on is basmati rice good for diabetes.

Does basmati rice have sugar?

No added sugar; the grain's carbohydrate is starch. IFCT 2017 counts 78.24 g of carbohydrate per 100 g of raw rice, a katori holds 31.3 g of it, and digestion turns that starch into blood glucose. For anyone watching blood sugar, the tested GI of 50 and the size of the katori matter more than the word on the pack.

What is the glycemic index of basmati rice per 100g?

There is no per-100 g glycemic index: the standard test measures the blood glucose answer to a portion holding 50 g of available carbohydrate, so the number labels the food as tested. What the 100 g measure gives is composition: 357 kcal, 78.24 g of carbohydrate and 2.81 g of fibre, with the GI of 50 applying to the tested grain.

Why is basmati rice better?

Better is the wrong word for a grain; the honest answer is different on two measured counts. The India-tested 50 sits below the high-band readings of the everyday Indian varieties, and the long grains, delicate aroma and fluffy cooked texture are what the premium buys. The composition is one shared milled-rice figure, as the table on the difference between basmati rice and normal rice page shows.