A Short Explanation: Why Ground Flaxseed has such a Low Glycaemic Index (Low GI)

Ground Flax has a low Glycaemic index and improves the glycaemic index of breakfast.

Understanding the Glycaemic Index of Ground Flaxseed 

The glycaemic index (GI) of ground flaxseed is generally considered to be very low, close to zero. However, it’s important to clarify what that means and why it’s difficult to give a single definitive number:

 What is the estimated GI of ground flaxseed?

• Estimated GI: ~0–15
  Most sources and nutrition databases don’t list an exact GI for ground flaxseed because:
  • It contains very little carbohydrate (typically less than 1g per 30g serving).
  • The majority of those carbs are non-starch polysaccharides (i.e. fibre), especially soluble fibre, which slows digestion and glucose absorption. [Most laboratory analysis makes it hard to accurately separate the values for starches and sugars from the non-digestible fibre, which means these values are often even lower in reality.]
  • It has no sugar and virtually no available starch.

Why Ground Flaxseed has such a low GI:

• The bulk of the carbohydrate in ground flaxseed is indigestible fibre.
• Its soluble fibre forms thick mucilage gels in the gut, which slow gastric emptying and inhibit glucose uptake from other foods in a meal.
• It has minimal impact on blood glucose when eaten on its own or with other foods.

The Glycaemic Index of Ground Flaxseed Compared with similar foods:

• Whole flaxseed also has an extremely low GI but is less digestible unless well chewed or ground. [In whole flaxseeds, some of the soluble fibre doesn’t become gelled as quickly as in the ground form. Therefore, whole seeds aren’t as effective in reducing the rate sugars and starches in a meal are absorbed. For this purpose, ground flaxseed is better.  Ground flaxseed is also better for feeding the gut biome, generating short chain fatty acids (SFAs) butyrate and the like, and maintaining regularity]
• Foods made with ground flaxseed + other ingredients (like porridge or Flaxjacks) will have a slightly higher GI depending on the other ingredients, but still often fall into the Low GI range (below 55), sometimes as low as 28–40.

Shop for Low GI Foods

For the reason shown above, Flax combined with other ingredients makes for lower GI foods which is why our Porridges, mueslis and Flaxjacks are so good – as well as tasting great.

Flax Farm Ground Flaxseed is available for our website. Other Low GI Flax Foods made with ground flaxseed include Flax Flour, Flax Porridge and Muesli, and Flaxjacks/ Cold-pressed Flaxseed Oil is virtually zero GI too.

Read More:

For more information about using Flax’s Glycaemic Index and managing Blood Sugar: see our Focus on Low Glycaemic Index (GI) and Flax

AI assisted

I asked my AI tool which is trained in nutrition, to give a quick informative explanation about the Glycaemic Index of Flax Farm’s Ground Flaxseed. I was very pleased to see how accurate it is and impressed with how clearly it explains it. I have added some notes, shown in square brackets.