The chart
| Food | Common form | GI (range) | Band | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalia (broken wheat) | உடைத்த கோதுமை | ~41–54 | Low | Coarse and intact — the best of the wheat family |
| Pasta, firm-cooked | பாஸ்தா | ~45–55 | Low–Med | Dense structure digests slowly; overcooking raises it |
| Chapati, whole atta | சப்பாத்தி / ചപ്പാത്തി | ~52–62 | Medium | The benchmark — unsifted atta, no maida blend |
| Semiya (vermicelli) | சேமியா / സേമിയ | ~58–65 | Medium | Upma form with vegetables better than sweet payasam |
| Wheat dosa | கோதுமை தோசை | ~55–65* | Medium | Batter fineness decides; thicker and coarser is better |
| Atta bread, genuine whole-grain | முழு கோதுமை பிரெட் | ~62–70* | Med–High | Check fibre on label — most “brown” isn’t this |
| Rava / sooji upma | ரவை உப்புமா / റവ | ~66–75 | High | Refined middlings; soft cooking speeds it further |
| Brown bread, commercial | பிரவுன் பிரெட் | ~69–74 | High | Coloured refined flour in most brands |
| White bread | வெள்ளை பிரெட் | ~70–75 | High | Fast by design |
| Maida porotta | பரோட்டா / പൊറോട്ട | high* | High | Refined flour + oil + soft layers; occasional food |
| Maida sweets/bakery | மைதா பலகாரம் | high | High | Refined flour plus sugar plus fat |
| Marie-type biscuits | பிஸ்கட் | ~55–70 | Medium | Portion collapse is the real problem |
* limited direct published data — banded by composition and clinical behaviour, stated as such.
Why wheat surprises people
The chapati-is-safe belief comes from comparing the best wheat product against the most polished rice. It holds there — and fails everywhere else, because most wheat eaten in this region is refined: maida in porotta and bakery items, rava in upma and kesari, fine flour in commercial bread. Milling destroys the grain structure that slows digestion, exactly as polishing does to rice. So the useful question is never “wheat or rice?” but “how intact is the grain, and how much is on the plate?” A dense chapati from coarse atta and a firm serving of matta rice are closer cousins than either is to porotta. The full rice-versus-chapati decision — portions, meal patterns, who benefits from switching — has its own page.
Making wheat work here
Choose unsifted atta and knead at home where possible; bakery “wheat” items rarely are. Keep chapatis to two medium with generous dal and vegetables — the pairing does half the work. Treat porotta, kesari and bakery items as occasional foods in the same category as sweets. Read bread labels for fibre per 100 g rather than the word “brown.” And apply the rice rules unchanged: firmer over softer, coarse over fine, never carbohydrate alone.