Spaghetti glycemic index and glycemic load
Spaghetti has a low glycemic index of 48 (the median of 9 lab tests, range 33 to 56) in the 2021 International Tables, where pure glucose is 100. A serving of 1 cup spaghetti not packed (4.4 oz, 124 g) has 36 g of carbs minus fiber, which gives a glycemic load of about 17.
Glycemic load by portion
| Portion | Carbs | Fiber | Carbs minus fiber | Glycemic load |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup spaghetti not packed (4.4 oz, 124 g) | 38.3 g | 2.2 g | 36 g | 17 |
| 1 cup spaghetti packed (5.3 oz, 151 g) | 46.6 g | 2.7 g | 43.9 g | 21 |
| 1 cup elbows not packed (4.2 oz, 120 g) | 37 g | 2.2 g | 34.9 g | 17 |
| 1 cup elbows packed (4.7 oz, 132 g) | 40.7 g | 2.4 g | 38.4 g | 18 |
Glycemic load = GI 48 × carbs minus fiber ÷ 100. Carbs from USDA FoodData Central, Pasta, cooked, enriched, without added salt. Carbs are for enriched pasta cooked without salt, USDA's entry for spaghetti and other dry pasta.
Every standardized test
| Food as tested | GI | Category | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spaghetti n°5 (Barilla, Italy) | 33 | low | Italy |
| Spaghetti, white, boiled 15 min in salted water (Unico, Concord, ON, Canada) | 44 | low | Canada |
| Spaghetti, white (Unico, Canada) | 45 | low | Canada |
| Spaghetti, white (Nishin Shokuhin, Japan) | 46 | low | Japan |
| Spaghetti, white (Unico, Canada) | 48 | low | Canada |
| Spaghetti, white (Vetta, Greens Foods, Glendenning, Australia), boiled for 12 min | 49 | low | Australia |
| Spaghetti n°12 (De Cecco, Italy) | 50 | low | Italy |
| Spaghetti classici (Voiello, Italy) | 51 | low | Italy |
| Spaghetti pasta, dried (Budget, Safeway Traders Ltd, New Zealand) | 56 | medium | New Zealand |
Glucose = 100. Low 55 or less, medium 56 to 69, high 70 or more (category cut-offs from the International Tables). Only tests that followed the ISO 26642:2010 method: at least 10 healthy adults, a portion with 25 or 50 g of available carbs (Supplemental Table 1).
Older and smaller studies
27 more tests of spaghetti are listed in the tables' second list (32 to 65, median 43). They deviate from the ISO method: fewer than 10 people, people with diabetes, a different reference food or sampling time, or wide variation. They are not part of the number at the top.
Show the 27 tests
| Food as tested | GI | Country | Who was tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spaghetti, boiled 5 min (Lancia-Bravo Foods Ltd., Canada) | 32 | Canada | type 1 and type 2 diabetes, 13 people |
| Spaghetti, white, boiled for 10 min | 33 | Denmark | type 2 diabetes, 6 people |
| Spaghetti, boiled 15 min (Lancia-Bravo Foods Ltd., Canada) | 33 | Canada | type 1 and type 2 diabetes, 13 people |
| Spaghetti, boiled 5 min | 35 | Canada | type 2 diabetes, 11 people |
| Spaghetti, boiled 5 min (Lancia-Bravo Foods, Toronto, Canada) | 35 | Canada | type 2 diabetes, 11 people |
| Spaghetti, white, durum wheat | 35 | Denmark | type 2 diabetes, 7 people |
| Spaghetti, boiled 15 min (Lancia-Bravo Foods Ltd., Canada) | 37 | Canada | type 2 diabetes, 7 people |
| Spaghetti, white, boiled | 38 | Australia | type 2 diabetes, 10 people |
| Spaghetti, white | 39 | France | healthy, 12 people |
| Spaghetti, boiled 5 min | 40 | Canada | type 1 diabetes, 6 people |
| Spaghetti, boiled 15 min (Lancia-Bravo Foods Ltd., Canada) | 42 | Canada | type 1 diabetes, 4 people |
| Spaghetti, white | 42 | Israel | gestational diabetes, 7 people |
| Spaghetti, white | 42 | Italy | type 2 diabetes, 7 people |
| Spaghetti, white | 43 | Canada | type 2 diabetes, 6 people |
| Spaghetti, boiled 5 min (Lancia-Bravo Foods, Toronto, Canada) | 45 | Canada | type 1 diabetes, 7 people |
| Spaghetti, white | 45 | Canada | type 2 diabetes, 7 people |
| Spaghetti, white, durum wheat semolina (Panzani, Marseilles, France) | 46 | France | healthy, 12 people |
| Spaghetti, white, durum wheat flour | 48 | Sweden | healthy, 10 people |
| Spaghetti, white, durum wheat (Catelli Ltd, Montreal, Canada) | 48 | Canada | type 2 diabetes, 9 people |
| Spaghetti, white | 48 | Germany | diabetes |
| Spaghetti, white | 50 | Canada | healthy, 6 people |
| Spaghetti, white, durum wheat flour | 54 | Sweden | healthy, 9 people |
| Spaghetti, durum wheat, boiled in water | 55 | South Korea | healthy, 11 people |
| Spaghetti, white, durum wheat semolina (Panzani, Marseilles, France) | 59 | France | healthy, 12 people |
| Spaghetti, durum wheat semolina, boiled for 5 min | 62 | UK | healthy, 9 people |
| Spaghetti, durum wheat, boiled 20 min | 64 | France | type 2 diabetes, 3 people |
| Spaghetti, white, durum wheat semolina (Panzani, Marseilles, France) | 65 | France | healthy, 12 people |
Supplemental Table 2 of the International Tables. NS means the study did not specify.
How much the glycemic index tells you
Researchers and health bodies do not agree on how much weight to give the glycemic index of single foods.
- Level E The World Health Organization examined the glycemic index, found it inconsistent, and refused to build guidance on it. Carbohydrate intake for adults and children: WHO guideline, 2023
- Level C A year after the World Health Organization set the glycemic index aside, a meta-analysis of cohorts each over a hundred thousand people linked high glycemic index diets to more diabetes, heart disease and death. Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 2024
- Level C Glycemic index and glycemic load, the other two ways of judging carbohydrate, held up far worse than fiber in the same analysis. Reynolds et al., The Lancet, 2019
What studies found about spaghetti and blood sugar
- Level A The famous result that pasta helps people lose weight never tested pasta on its own. Every trial in it tested a whole low-glycemic diet. BMJ Open, 2018
- Level A Pasta raises blood sugar less than bread or potato, and that is as far as the evidence goes. What it does to disease risk has not been shown. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis, 2017
- Level B Regular, wholewheat and high-fiber spaghetti all landed in the low glycemic range, and none of them beat the others. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2022
- Level B What makes pasta behave differently from bread is its physical form rather than its fiber: same flour, different structure, different insulin response. Am J Clin Nutr, 2002
- Level E Europe refused to let pasta be labeled as low glycemic index, even though laboratory measurement puts it there. EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-6873, snapshot 2026-09-21
Levels: A is a meta-analysis of trials, B a randomized trial, C an observational study, D lab or animal work, E an expert position. How we grade evidence.
Keep exploring
Sources
- Atkinson FS, Brand-Miller JC, Foster-Powell K, Buyken AE, Goletzke J. International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values 2021: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr 2021;114(5):1625-1632, Supplemental Table 1 and Supplemental Table 2, PMID 34258626, doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqab233 (accessed 2026-10-12)
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (2018): Pasta, cooked, enriched, without added salt, FDC ID 169737
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (2018): Rice noodles, cooked, FDC ID 168914
- Evidence cards: each study above links to its source. Card review dates are listed in our methodology.
Sources checked 2026-10-12. Bioma Learn provides information, not medical advice.