Which Pastas Have the Highest Glycemic Index?

When you think of foods that raise your blood sugar, you probably think of pasta.

Foods that are high in carbohydrates can raise your blood sugar because they’re high on the glycemic index scale. Which pastas have the highest glycemic indexes?

Regular pasta made from durum wheat is considered low on the glycemic index scale (score of 47). Some types of pasta that we can theorize to be higher on this scale include gluten-free pasta and rice pasta.

If you’re wondering how in the world regular pasta doesn’t end up with a high glycemic index (and why gluten-free pasta and rice pasta might be higher on the GI scale) – we’ll explain!

What is the glycemic index?

The glycemic index (GI) is a measurement tool that measures the extent that a single food affects your blood sugar levels. The scale for the glycemic index goes from 0-100, with pure glucose (the same type of sugar in your bloodstream – also called blood sugar) having a score of 100. 

Foods and drinks can be classified as low, medium, or high on the glycemic index scale depending on their nutrition stats. Here is how the categories for the glycemic index are broken down:

Low GI: 0-55

Medium GI: 56-69

High GI: 70-100

Glycemic index of pasta

The glycemic index of pasta depends on the type of flour it’s made from. Reliable glycemic index scores aren’t available for all types of pasta, so we’ve estimated which types of pasta have higher glycemic index based on the information we do have. 

For instance, we know the glycemic index of lentils, so we can estimate if lentil pasta has a high glycemic index or not! (It’s low on the GI scale if you’re wondering!)

Some things that can raise the glycemic index are high starch and/or sugar content, low fiber content, low protein content, and low fat content. (Fat and fiber slow down the release of sugar into your bloodstream so it can lower the glycemic index score.)

Highest glycemic index pastas

We know you’ll probably be wondering this question, so we’ll go ahead and address it here: regular pasta is made from durum wheat flour, which is LOW on the glycemic index scale (a GI score around 47). However, eating a large portion of a low-glycemic index food can still raise your blood sugar!

Rice pasta

We’re speculating here since we don’t have glycemic index values for different types of pasta. Rice flour is used to make rice pasta, and white rice is high on the glycemic index scale (88-95), so it can be assumed that rice pasta is higher on the glycemic index scale.

Gluten-free pasta

Gluten-free pasta (e.g. Barilla gluten-free) is generally made from corn and rice flour. Corn and rice are high-starch grains, so it’s safe to assume gluten-free pasta is higher on the glycemic index scale compared to some other types of pasta.

Also, we know the glycemic index for corn flour (70) and rice flour (95), which further supports our assumption that pasta made with these flours has a high glycemic index.

Gluten-free pasta is slightly higher in carbs, slightly lower in fiber, and lower in protein compared to regular pasta, which is another reason it’s likely higher on the GI scale than regular pasta.

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