Helsa Health

    Rice & grains · Glycemic index

    Does jasmine rice spike blood sugar?

    Yes — jasmine rice has a high GI of 89, and a 158 g serving (1 cup cooked) has a glycemic load of 39, which is high. Jasmine rice has one of the highest average GIs of any rice in the international tables, so it tends to raise blood sugar faster than basmati or parboiled rice.

    Key numbers

    Glycemic index
    89
    High GI
    Glycemic load
    39
    High GL
    Available carbs
    44 g
    0.6 g fiber
    Serving
    1 cup cooked
    158 g · boiled or rice-cooker

    GI vs GL for jasmine rice

    The glycemic index (GI) compares how fast the carbohydrate in a food raises blood sugar against pure glucose (100), using a fixed amount of carbohydrate. The glycemic load (GL) adds the other half of the story — how much carbohydrate a normal serving actually contains: GI × available carbs Ă· 100. For jasmine rice: 89 × 44 g Ă· 100 ≈ 39.

    That figure is an average reported in the 2021 international GI tables (“Jasmine rice, white, mean of 18 studies”). Individual jasmine rice tests in the University of Sydney GI database range from 68 to 116 depending on brand, country and cooking method, but most results sit in the high band. Composition is for cooked long-grain white rice.

    Eating a different amount? Work out the glycemic load of your portion.

    How to eat jasmine rice with less of a spike

    • Keep it to a few spoonfuls beside a curry or stir-fry rather than a full bowl underneath it.
    • Leftovers are an advantage: chill cooked rice overnight and reheat it — in a study of white rice from India, cooling and reheating lowered the GI from 72 to 53.
    • Start the meal with the vegetables and the meat, fish or tofu, and finish with the rice.

    Lower-GI swaps

    Compare with

    See all 67 foods in the glycemic index table

    Frequently asked questions

    What is the glycemic index of jasmine rice?

    Jasmine rice has a glycemic index of 89, which is high. That figure is an average reported in the 2021 international GI tables (“Jasmine rice, white, mean of 18 studies”). A 158 g serving (1 cup cooked) contains about 44 g of available carbohydrate, giving a glycemic load of 39 (high).

    Is jasmine rice good for prediabetes?

    Treat jasmine rice as a small-portion or occasional food if you are managing prediabetes. If rice is a daily staple, switching to basmati or a high-amylose variety for most meals lowers the GI of that staple without giving up rice.

    Which rices have a lower GI than jasmine rice?

    In the 2021 international GI tables, averages were 60 for white basmati, 62 for long-grain white rice, 64 for parboiled rice and 54 for the high-amylose variety Doongara — all well below jasmine's 89.

    Sources

    GI values come from the international GI tables; carbohydrate and fiber per serving are calculated from USDA FoodData Central.

    1. 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
    2. USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 168878: Rice, white, long-grain, regular, enriched, cooked
    3. The University of Sydney, Glycemic Index Research Service — GI database search
    4. Atkinson FS, Foster-Powell K, Brand-Miller JC. International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2008 — online appendix, Table A1
    5. Shukla AP, Iliescu RG, Thomas CE, Aronne LJ. Food order has a significant impact on postprandial glucose and insulin levels. Diabetes Care. 2015;38(7):e98–e99

    Data last checked .

    Real meals aren’t single foods

    GI tables measure one food eaten on its own. Helsa’s photo and voice meal logging uses AI nutrition analysis to estimate how a whole meal — the rice with the curry, the toast with the eggs — is likely to affect your blood sugar, with no CGM needed. Helsa is free to download, with optional premium features.

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