By Bornika Das
The Glycemic Index (GI) is a measure of how quickly the carbohydrates in food raises the blood sugar levels by converting into glucose. Low GI foods are absorbed slowly and cause less increase in the blood sugar levels. Sweets can quickly increase the blood sugar levels and thus we have created a list of Indian sweets that has low GI value.
This is one of the most popular sweets made during Ganesh Chaturthi. It is a steamed dumpling filled with coconut and jaggery. It GI ranges from 35-40.
This is a delicious sweet dish that’s made out of cashew nuts, sugar and saffron. To make it diabetic friendly use stevia instead of sugar. Besides, the GI ranges from 40-45.
This Bengali sweet dish is prepared with cottage cheese and sugar and is flavoured with cardamom and saffron. To make the sandesh healthy, use jaggery instead of sugar. The GI range is 30-35.
This sweet dish is made with ash gourd or petha and sugar and has a glycemic index of 35.
Popularly prepared during Eid, the traditional Indian dessert is made with vermecilli, milk and dried fruits. It can be sweetened with jaggery as well. Its GI index is of 30-35.
Made with coconut and jaggery, Nariyal Laddoo has low glycemic index of 30.
This is another popular Bengali sweet dish made with chena or cttage cheese, sugar and cardamom powder. The glycemic index of chena murki is around 40.
It is prepared with yogurt or hung curd, sugar and cardamom, shrikhand has a glycemic index of 40-45. If you’re making for diabetics, use date jaggery instead of sugar.
The glycemic index of chena dal barfi can vary depending on the recipe and the amount of sugar used. However chana dal has low GI of around 8-33.
Ragi is a healthy cereal and is rich in fibre and protein. Ragi halwa is made with ragi flour, ghee, milk, nuts and sugar. It is often flavoured with cardamom powder. Its GI is between 50-55.