Glycemic Load Calculator
Glycemic load accounts for both how fast a food raises blood sugar (Glycemic Index) and how much carbohydrate is actually in the serving — making it a more practical measure of blood-sugar impact than GI alone.
g
g
Medium GL — moderate blood-sugar impact per serving
- 1
Net carbohydrates = total − fiber
30 − 5 = 25 - 2
GI × net carbs
55 × 25 = 1,375 - 3
Glycemic Load = product ÷ 100
1,375 ÷ 100 = 13.8
How does this calculator work?
Glycemic Load = (GI × Net Carbs) / 100, where Net Carbs = Total Carbs − Fiber. GL < 10 is low (minimal blood-sugar impact), 10–20 medium, > 20 high. Enter a food's Glycemic Index and its carbohydrate content per serving to see GL and which category it falls into.
Formula
How this is calculated
The Glycemic Index (GI) rates how quickly a carbohydrate-containing food raises blood glucose on a 0–100 scale (pure glucose = 100). However, GI alone can mislead: a food may carry a high GI yet barely affect blood sugar if a typical serving contains very few carbohydrates. Glycemic Load corrects for this by multiplying GI by the actual net carbohydrate content of the portion and dividing by 100.
Net carbs equal total carbohydrates minus dietary fiber. Fiber is not digested and absorbed in the small intestine and does not raise blood glucose, so it is excluded. The resulting GL reflects the combined effect of carbohydrate quality and quantity for that specific serving.
GL is classified as: Low < 10 (minimal impact), Medium 10–20, and High > 20 (significant impact). A daily total GL under 80 is generally considered a low-GL diet. GI values vary with ripeness, cooking method and food preparation — treat them as estimates. Published GI values can be found in the University of Sydney International GI Database and the American Diabetes Association resources.
Frequently asked questions
GI measures how fast a food raises blood sugar per gram of carbohydrate it contains, but ignores how much carbohydrate is in a typical serving. GL multiplies GI by the net carb content of the serving and divides by 100. For example, watermelon has a high GI (76) but a low GL (about 7) because a 120 g portion contains only about 9 g of net carbs.
The University of Sydney's International GI Database (glycemicindex.com) is the most comprehensive source. The American Diabetes Association and many clinical nutrition databases also publish GI values. Remember that GI varies with variety, ripeness, processing and cooking — always treat any GI figure as an approximation.
This calculator uses the standard GL formula that subtracts only dietary fiber. Some low-carb approaches also subtract half of sugar alcohols, but their glycaemic effect varies widely (erythritol is near zero; maltitol is high), so it is safest to assess them separately and adjust the net-carb figure manually if needed.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Glycemic Load Calculator [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/glycemic-load-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Glycemic Load Calculator." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/glycemic-load-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Glycemic Load Calculator," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/glycemic-load-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_glycemic_load_calculator, title = {Glycemic Load Calculator}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/glycemic-load-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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