Upma: one glycemic test and a lot of wheat

Upma has exactly one direct measurement of what it does to blood sugar. In a randomized crossover trial in 19 healthy young Chinese and Indian men in Singapore, a commercial upma had a glycemic index of 71 (SEM 6), in the high band, while Western whole-grain breakfast cereals scored 44 to 55. That was one product on one test day in men only. Across the ten breakfasts in the trial, foods with more fiber, protein and fat had a lower GI, fiber most strongly (rs -0.42), and we found no test of adding fiber to upma itself. The only trial where people ate upma for weeks made it from oats. In 69 Indian adults with mildly raised cholesterol, 1.2 oz (35 g) of oats as morning porridge plus 35 g as oat upma in the afternoon lowered total cholesterol by 8.1 percent over 28 days. On usual diet it fell 3.1 percent, and LDL fell 11.6 against 4.1 percent. It was open label, the oats were a Quaker product, and it tells us nothing about ordinary semolina upma.

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Across ten breakfast foods tested in 19 men, GI fell as protein, fat and fiber rose, with fiber the strongest link (rs -0.42). — 19 healthy Chinese and Indian men, 10 breakfast foods (n = 19) Evidence C source
  Rs -0.366 protein, -0.268 fat, -0.422 dietary fiber, all P<0.001
• Across 243 field studies, durum wheat grain had a median 35.7 mg/kg zinc and 36.9 mg/kg iron, close to bread wheat. — wheat grain samples from 243 field studies in 41 countries (n = 243 studies) Evidence C source
  Durum Zn 35.7 vs bread 34.4 mg/kg; durum Fe 36.9 vs bread 37.9 mg/kg

What a real portion looks like

• In the Indian oat trial, one upma serving was built on 1.2 oz (35 g) of dry oats with only 20-30 g of vegetables added. — 36 intervention participants, Indian adults, 4 weeks (n = 36) Evidence B source
  35 g oats per upma serving, 70 g oats per day including porridge
• USDA lists cooked upma at 87 calories per 3.5 oz (100 g), so a 170 g cup gives about 148 calories, 23.5 g carbohydrate and 2.2 g fiber. — US food composition reference, FNDDS food code 58174000 Evidence E source
  87 calories, 13.81 g carbohydrate, 1.3 g fiber per 3.5 oz (100 g); 1 cup cooked = 170 g

What your body absorbs

• Lab tests on durum semolina show that cooling cooked semolina raises resistant starch and that high-amylose semolina pudding digests more slowly in vitro. — in vitro digestion of wild-type and sbeIIa/b mutant durum semolina Evidence D source
  RS 4.87 vs 0.77 g per 3.5 oz (100 g) after retrogradation; in vitro C90 33.29% vs 47.38%

What cooking and storage change

• Plain semolina spaghetti had a GI of 64 in 9 healthy adults, and adding 10% barley beta-glucan cut it to 29. — 9 healthy adults, 50 g available carbohydrate test meals (n = 9) Evidence B source
  GI 64 (plain semolina) vs 29 (10% Barley Balance), 54% lower, P<=0.02

What it does to your health

• In a 4-week RCT in 69 mildly hypercholesterolemic Indian adults, oats served as porridge and oat upma lowered total cholesterol by 8.1% vs 3.1% on usual diet. — Indian adults aged 20-50 with total cholesterol 200-240 mg/dL, 28 days (n = 69) Evidence B source
  Total cholesterol -8.1% vs -3.1% (p<0.02); LDL-C -11.6% vs -4.1% (p<0.04)

Safety, limits and interactions

• FDA names wheat among the nine major food allergens, so semolina upma is a wheat food for allergy labeling. — US consumers, packaged food labeling Evidence E source
  Wheat is one of nine major allergens that must be declared
• In 167 raw durum wheat samples from Tunisia, ochratoxin A was found in 68 at a mean 1.85 ug/kg, and estimated exposure of Tunisian adults crossed safety margins. — 167 field samples of durum wheat, Tunisia, 2021-2022 (n = 167) Evidence C source
  OTA in 68/167 samples, mean 1.85 ug/kg; MOE for OTA and HQ for ZEN and DON beyond thresholds

Who this works differently for

• In a double-blind crossover trial in 42 people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity, two weeks of an old durum variety pasta gave lower symptom scores than standard pasta. — adults with NCGS on a gluten-free diet, Italy, 2-week periods (n = 42) Evidence B source
  Lower overall symptom score with Senatore Cappelli pasta, p = 0.03; 34 completed
• A case report describes a one-year-old with delayed vomiting after durum wheat pasta who tolerated bread and noodles made from common wheat. — one child, age 1 year, Japan (n = 1) Evidence D source
  Reproducible FPIES reaction to durum wheat only; later tolerance on repeat challenge

What is still unknown

• In a randomized crossover trial in 19 healthy young Asian men, upma had a high glycemic index of 71 (SEM 6), while Western whole-grain breakfast foods scored 44 to 55. — 19 healthy men (9 Chinese, 10 Indian), mean age 24.7 years, BMI 21.7, Singapore (n = 19) Evidence B source
  GI 71 (SEM 6) for upma vs 44-55 for whole-grain cereals; glucose reference = 100
• In 10 healthy adults eating about 50 g of starch as semolina pudding, the slower in vitro digestion of high-amylose semolina did not translate into a lower GI. — 10 healthy adults, single test meals (n = 10) Evidence B source
  No evidence of GI difference between mutant and wild-type semolina pudding

The bottom line

A cup of cooked upma in the US survey database weighs 6 oz (170 g) and comes to about 148 calories, 23.5 g of carbohydrate and 2.2 g of fiber, figures scaled from a standard US recipe at 87 calories per 3.5 oz (100 g). The oat upma in the trial above was mostly oats, with 20 to 30 g of vegetables added for taste. Semolina is milled wheat, and the grain research here is on durum wheat. Whole durum grain across 243 field studies had a median of 35.7 mg/kg zinc and 36.9 mg/kg iron, close to bread wheat, and milling removes part of that by an amount the paper did not measure. Changing the grain can move the glucose response. Semolina spaghetti had a GI of 64 in 9 healthy adults, and a modified spaghetti with 10 percent barley beta-glucan came in at 29. A mutant high-amylose durum semolina, cooled after cooking, held 4.87 g of resistant starch per 3.5 oz (100 g) against 0.77 g and digested more slowly in the lab. When 10 healthy adults ate it as pudding, the pilot found no evidence of a lower GI. Upma is a wheat food, and wheat is one of the nine major allergens the FDA requires on labels. A single case report describes a one year old with delayed vomiting after durum wheat pasta who ate bread and noodles from common wheat without trouble, and who later tolerated durum on a repeat challenge. In a double-blind crossover trial in 42 adults with non-celiac gluten sensitivity, of whom 34 finished, two weeks of pasta from an old durum variety, Senatore Cappelli, gave lower symptom scores than standard pasta (p = 0.03). People with celiac disease or wheat allergy were excluded from it, and we hold no card on celiac disease, pregnancy or medicines for upma. In 167 raw durum wheat samples from Tunisia, ochratoxin A turned up in 68 at a mean of 1.85 ug/kg, a finding about raw grain from one region that says nothing direct about milled semolina or cooked upma.

Sources

1. upm-r5-02 · randomized crossover trial
   The GI of test foods negatively correlated with protein (r s -0·366), fat (r s -0·268) and dietary fibre (r s -0·422) (all P<0·001).
   Br J Nutr, 2018 · checked 2026-09-28
2. upm-r5-13 · meta-analysis of field data
   The median grain Zn concentration in bread wheat (34.4 mg kg−1) was lower than that in durum wheat (35.7 mg kg−1) (Fig. 2 and Supplementary Table 2). The median grain Fe concentration in bread wheat (37.9 mg kg−1) was higher than that in durum wheat (36.9 mg kg−1)
   Nat Food, 2026 · checked 2026-09-28
3. upm-r5-04 · randomized controlled trial
   The intervention group received 35 g of oats twice daily (total of 70 g/day) in the form of porridge (35 g of oats) for breakfast (Quaker ® Oats, PepsiCo India) and a second serving of oats in the form of upma1 (35 g of oats) in the afternoon at the study site. ... Vegetables were added in very small amount (20-30 g; two table spoons full) just to improve the palatability and acceptability of oats.
   Lipids Health Dis, 2017 · checked 2026-09-28
4. upm-r5-05 · reference dataset
   FNDDS 2709128 Upma: Energy 87 kcal/100 g, 1 cup cooked 170 g 147.9 kcal · Carbohydrate 13.81 g/100 g, 1 cup 23.5 g · Fiber 1.3 g/100 g, 1 cup 2.2 g
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, food code 58174000 (fdc_id 2709128) · checked 2026-09-28
5. upm-r5-06 · in vitro
   Retrograded sbeIIa/b-AB semolina showed a higher RS concentration than the WT control (RS = 4.87 ± 0.6 g per 100 g, 0.77 ± 0.34 g per 100 g starch DWB, respectively), so pudding was selected as the test food. ... the starch digestibility was significantly lower in sbeIIa/b-AB pudding compared to the WT control in vitro (C90 = 33.29% and 47.38%, respectively).
   Food Funct, 2020 · checked 2026-09-28
6. upm-r5-08 · randomized controlled trial
   In particular, the GI of 10% BB spaghetti was 54% lower (P ≤0.02; GI = 29) than that of the control (GI = 64).
   Nutrition, 2011 · checked 2026-09-28
7. upm-r5-03 · randomized controlled trial
   There was a reduction of 3.1% in total cholesterol levels in the control group as against 8.1% reduction in the intervention group (p < 0.02). Greater reductions were also seen in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the intervention group (11.6%) as compared to control group (4.1%, p < 0.04) over a period of 28 days.
   Lipids Health Dis, 2017 · checked 2026-09-28
8. upm-r5-10 · agency position
   milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame
   US Food and Drug Administration, Food Allergies, 2026 · checked 2026-09-28
9. upm-r5-12 · prevalence survey
   Among regulated mycotoxins, OTA was the most prevalent, detected in 68 out of 167 samples with a mean concentration of 1.85 µg/kg. ... Both the Margin of Exposure (MOE) values for OTA and the Hazard Quotients (HQ) for ZEN and DON exceeded established safety thresholds, indicating potential health risks for Tunisian adults.
   Toxins (Basel), 2025 · checked 2026-09-28
10. upm-r5-09 · randomized crossover trial
    Patients reported lower overall symptoms scores after eating Senatore Cappelli pasta than standard pasta (p = 0.03)
    Nutrients, 2019 · checked 2026-09-28
11. upm-r5-11 · case report
    We report a child who developed reproducible delayed vomiting after ingestion of pasta made from durum wheat at one year of age, while tolerating comparable amounts of other common wheat-based foods such as bread and noodles.
    Cureus, 2026 · checked 2026-09-28
12. upm-r5-01 · randomized crossover trial
    In all, nineteen healthy men (nine Chinese and ten Indians) aged 24·7 (sem 0·4) years with a BMI of 21·7 (sem 0·4) kg/m2 completed the study. ... to high GI (rice idli=85 (sem 4); rice dosa=76 (sem 5); upma=71 (sem 6)), whereas Western breakfast foods were all of low GI
    Br J Nutr, 2018 · checked 2026-09-28
13. upm-r5-07 · randomized controlled trial
    Ten healthy participants consumed ∼50 g of total starch from WT and sbeIIa/b-AB pudding and a standard glucose drink. ... We found no evidence of difference in GI between sbeIIa/b-AB pudding and the WT control
    Food Funct, 2020 · checked 2026-09-28