The Glycemic Index of Rye Bread

If you’re watching your blood sugar levels, you might want to look for bread with a lower glycemic index (GI).

Rye bread’s GI is reliably moderate compared with some other popular grain products.

What’s the Glycemic Index?

The glycemic index of food is a measurement between 0 and 100 that tells you how quickly the carbohydrate content breaks down in your body, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Foods with a lower GI are digested more slowly, so they produce a less significant, more gradual rise in blood sugar. Foods with a higher GI spike your blood sugar very quickly. Pure sugar has a GI of 100. Foods like fruit, nuts, beans, seeds, and vegetables tend to have lower indexes.

There are a few aspects of food that can affect the glycemic index. Fat and fiber are nutrients that slow digestion, thus lowering the GI of a food, according to the American Diabetes Association. This explains why fruit, although high in sugar, has a lower glycemic index — because of its fiber content.

It’s also important to note that people who are watching their blood sugar levels can lessen the effect of high-GI foods by combining them with low-GI foods.

Rye Bread’s Glycemic Index

Rye flour has more soluble fiber than wheat flour, according to the Grains and Legumes Nutrition Council. That said, many rye breads can be made from a combination of rye flour and wheat flour.

Both the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Diabetes Association list rye bread as a moderate-GI food, with a GI level between 56 and 69.

How to Choose a Bread

If you’re looking for bread that’s going to be good for your blood sugar, stick with low– to medium–GI breads like rye, whole grain, and multigrain, according to Mayo Clinic. Avoid white bread and potato bread, which have glycemic indexes that are on the higher side.

Even though potato bread might sound healthy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lists potato bread as being made from refined wheat flour and sugar, with dehydrated potatoes included in the ingredients that make up 2 percent or less of the product. Also, Russet potatoes themselves have high glycemic indexes, according to the American Diabetes Association.