Is sona masoori rice good for diabetes? GI, portion and how to eat it

The honest answer is that it can be, on two conditions: the portion is a measured katori and the plate carries dal, sabzi or both. Sona masoori is not a low-GI rice. The University of Sydney database holds one entry for it, a GI of 72, and 70 and above counts as high on its scale. In the 2012 study behind that entry, three Indian white rices — Sona Masuri (72), Ponni (70) and Surti Kolam (77) — all landed in the high band, and their three values did not differ significantly.

So the question is not which white rice, but how much of it and with what. The numbers, the research and the plate rules are the next three sections; the sona masoori rice nutrition page holds the full per-100 g table.

One entry exists, so there is no spread to hide in. The database records white rice of the Sona Masuri variety — rice cooker, 35 minutes, India, 23 people — with a GI of 72 (Shobana et al., 2012). The study fed healthy volunteers 50 g of available carbohydrate after an overnight fast and measured the glucose response against the glucose reference. On the University of Sydney scale, a food at 55 or below counts as low and one at 70 or above as high, so 72 lands just inside the high band.

For comparison, ICMR-NIN's own annexure prints rice at 78.23, the mean of ten participants, and adds that its figures are only indicative — the values may change with ingredient ratios and preparation. The same caution applies to any single number, 72 included.

Per 100 g, IFCT 2017 gives 78.24 g of carbohydrate, 2.81 g of fibre, 7.94 g of protein and 357 kcal for rice, raw, milled — the entry sona masoori sits under. A katori of cooked rice — 40 g of raw grain — carries about 31.3 g of carbohydrate, 1.1 g of fibre, 3.2 g of protein and 143 kcal.

In 2022, BMJ Open published a systematic review and meta-analysis pooling eight cohort studies of white and brown rice. In the extreme intake categories, white rice was tied to a higher diabetes risk (pooled relative risk 1.16), and above about 300 g a day the risk climbed with the amount: 13 percent more per 158 g a day serving. Brown rice ran the other way, with a relative risk of 0.89, and every 50 g a day serving of brown rice was associated with a 13 percent lower risk. The trials that swapped brown rice for white reported a small rise in HDL cholesterol and no other significant differences in risk factors, and the review covered rice in general, not sona masoori alone.

A 2023 Foods review takes the same view: rice is counted among high or medium-high GI foods, though the figure shifts with variety, nutrient composition, processing and what the review calls accompanying factors. ICMR-NIN's guidelines add the plate-level point: foods containing sugar or refined carbohydrates have a high glycemic index and increase the glycemic load of the meal.

Portion first. A katori of cooked rice starts from 40 g of raw grain — the measure to count by: 31.3 g of carbohydrate and 143 kcal a katori. ICMR-NIN's My Plate for the Day builds a day on 250 g of cereals, a budget rice shares with rotis and millets, so one katori is a part of that day, not the whole of it; if you count carbohydrates, set the katori against your dietitian's target for the meal.

Then the pairing. The guidelines count fibre's work in slow motion: it holds back carbohydrate and fat absorption and raises satiety, so dal, beans and vegetables on the same plate do real work. A mixed meal of rice, dal and sabzi is the form sona masoori is built for.

One tested kitchen trick from a 2015 study in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition: rice chilled a full day at 4 °C and warmed again brought a gentler glucose rise in 15 healthy adults than the same rice straight from the pot, and its resistant starch moved from 0.64 to 1.65 g per 100 g. The study was small, in Indonesia, and on white rice generally rather than sona masoori, but chilling cooked rice in the fridge and reheating it the next day is a low-cost habit. The pot side of the grain — ratios, whistles, cookers — lives on how to cook sona masoori rice.

Within the rice shelf the tested figures spread wide, and each comes from a single entry, so read them as pointers, not a league table. Brown rice's single India-tested figure sits at GI 58, against sona masoori's 72, and its 4.43 g of fibre per 100 g faces the 2.81 g here, while the energy figures are nearly a tie at 354 kcal against 357 kcal. For plain white basmati the database's lone India-tested figure is a GI of 50.

Sona masoori's steam (parboiled) form carries no GI entry of its own, so no claim is made for it here; the two forms are set side by side on the sona masoori raw vs steam rice page. Surti Kolam, the third rice in the Shobana study, scored 77 — a reminder that the three rices in that study did not differ significantly and all three sat in the high band.

The worst options are not varieties but preparations: sweetened kheer, sugar-heavy pongal, or rice served with a fried, oily side and no dal. Choose the grain, then keep the plate mixed.

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.

• Double helpings. Two katoris carry 62.6 g of carbohydrate; the second katori doubles the load, and no grain's reputation changes that.
• Sweet rice dishes. Kheer, sweet pongal and sugar-stirred rice stack added sugar onto what the grain already carries.
• Rice alone. A plate of plain rice with nothing fibrous beside it loses the dal-and-sabzi effect the guidelines describe.
• Trusting one number over your meter. The GI of 72 comes from one laboratory average; the reading you take two hours after your meal shows how your own plate behaves.
• Swapping rice for medication. Changing what you eat does not replace tablets or insulin; take your readings to the doctor, not the pantry.

Keep sona masoori in rotation with brown rice, millets and whole wheat across the week, and check the sona masoori rice hub for the grain's fuller story.

Diabetes care rests on three things — the tablets, the monitoring and a diet plan fitted to one person — and swapping a staple grain nudges all three. On insulin or glucose-lowering tablets, a big shift in meal carbohydrate can push blood sugar readings too low or too high, so agree the swap with your doctor first. A dietitian can fit a measured katori into your carbohydrate count and calorie target. For anyone living with diabetes, swapping the daily rice is a call for the clinic rather than the pot — talk to your doctor or dietitian.

Is sona masoori rice good for diabetics?

It can be, as a measured katori with dal and vegetables — it is not a free food. The one tested figure is a GI of 72, which the University of Sydney classes as high, and one katori carries 31.3 g of carbohydrate. Portion and pairing decide the meal, and your doctor or dietitian decides where it fits.

Does sona masoori rice increase blood sugar?

Yes, like any carbohydrate food. Per 100 g it carries 78.24 g of carbohydrate, and its single tested GI of 72 sits in the high band. The rise is bigger when the portion is large or the meal is rice alone; a measured katori with dal and sabzi is the smaller-rise way to eat it, and your meter after the meal shows your own response.

Is sona masoori rice good for diabetes type 2?

Type 2 diabetes does not change the numbers: the tested GI is 72 (high), so the rice earns its place through portion and company, not through the grain itself. A 2022 meta-analysis tied heavier white rice eating to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, and brown rice to a lower one. Keep the katori measured and talk to your doctor or dietitian.

Does sona masoori rice have low glycemic index?

No. Its only database entry is 72, and the University of Sydney scale puts anything from 70 upward in the high class, with low sitting at 55 and below. Sona masoori is a milled white rice, and in the 2012 study that produced the figure, three white Indian rices all tested in the high band. Brown rice's single India-tested entry of 58 and plain basmati's 50 are the lower figures in the rice family.

Does sona masoori rice have sugar?

No added sugar — the grain itself is nearly all starch. IFCT 2017 prints 78.24 g of carbohydrate per 100 g of the raw grain, which is why the portion matters; sugar added at the table or in the recipe sits on top of that. One katori of cooked rice carries about 31.3 g of carbohydrate and 143 kcal.

What is the difference between sona masoori rice and basmati rice?

Both are milled white rices, and IFCT 2017 has no separate entry for either, so both carry the figures for raw milled rice; the tested GI is where they separate. The database holds one India-tested entry each: 72 for sona masoori and 50 for plain white basmati. Basmati is the long grain for biryani and pulao; sona masoori is a medium grain for daily meals. Both belong in measured portions.