Foods That Metabolize Quickly

Quickly metabolizing foods like boiled potatoes leave you feeling hungry again soon after eating them.


The speed at which your body metabolizes food into glucose dictates how long you will stay satiated after eating. Foods that metabolize quickly often leave you unsatisfied after your meal. The tool used to measure how long foods take to digest and transform metabolically into glucose is called the glycemic index. If a food has a high glycemic index, it takes less time to digest. Certain carbohydrates have a high glycemic index.

Glycemic Index

The glycemic index, or GI, ranks carbohydrate-containing foods according to their effect on blood glucose. The scores of these foods vary from 0 to 100 based upon how fast their carbohydrate converts to glucose in your body and enters your bloodstream; the lower the number, the less impact the food has on your glucose. The standard by which each food is compared to get its GI is pure glucose, which has a numerical value of 100. Carbohydrates that break down in your body quickly during digestion have a high GI of 70 or over, whereas carbohydrates that take time to digest have a low GI of about 55 or less.

High-GI Foods

When you consume high-glycemic foods, your blood glucose levels rise rapidly and signal the pancreas to secrete more insulin. This brings down the levels of glucose in your blood. Examples of high-glycemic index foods include rice cakes, with a GI of 82 per 25-gram serving; watermelon, with a GI of 72 per 120-gram serving; baguette with a GI of 95 for a 70-gram serving; kaiser roll, with a GI of 73 per 30-gram serving; waffles, with a GI of 76 for a 35-gram serving; cornflakes, with a GI of 93 per 30-gram serving; white rice, with a GI of 89 for a 150-gram serving; oatmeal, with a GI of 83 per 250-gram serving and boiled white potatoes, with a GI of 82 for a 150-gram serving.

Benefits and Disadvantages of High-GI Foods

If you engage in heavy exercise regularly, then consuming high-GI foods can benefit you, as they produce rapid increases in blood glucose, provide instant energy and replace glycogen stores, according to Leah Hechtman, author of the book "Clinical Naturopathic Medicine." However, consuming high-GI foods may put you at risk of diabetes, obesity and heart disease, says Hechtman. In some people, these foods may cause a quick spike in blood glucose that is followed by a drop below the normal range -- which is usually between 70 and 99 milligrams per deciliter. This can lead to hypoglycemia, a condition in which blood glucose levels become too low. Hypoglycemia causes symptoms such as blurred vision, nausea, sweating and dizziness.


Use the glycemic index as a guide to make healthy food choices, advises Harvard Health Publications. Choose low-GI foods over high-GI foods, as they help keep your blood sugar even. These foods may also help you in your weight-loss endeavors by controlling your appetite and delaying the onset of hunger pangs. Examples of low-GI foods include fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, legumes, soy products, nuts and whole grains. With that said, be mindful of the amount of carbohydrate you eat because according to Dr. Frank Hu, nutrition professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, not all foods on the lower end of the GI scale are healthy. For example, while spaghetti has a low glycemic index of 42, eating a big plate of it will send your blood sugar into the stratosphere. To help avoid this, consume carbohydrates in moderation.

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