The glycemic index (GI) ranks how quickly a carbohydrate food raises blood glucose relative to pure glucose. Honey's GI varies widely (roughly 30–65) depending on its floral source and fructose-to-glucose ratio — fructose-rich honeys like acacia are absorbed more slowly and produce a flatter, lower blood-sugar curve than an equal amount of table sugar (sucrose), which has a consistently higher GI near 65.
GI × carbohydrate grams ÷ 100; it combines how fast (GI) and how much (portion) sugar hits the bloodstream.Because honey is roughly 82% carbohydrate and sweeter-tasting per gram than table sugar, people often use less of it to achieve the same sweetness — meaning a "spoon-for-spoon swap" isn't the whole nutritional picture; portion size matters as much as the food's glycemic index.
Choose a honey portion and floral variety and watch a 3D blood-glucose response curve rise and fall over 180 simulated minutes, compared side-by-side against an equal-carbohydrate portion of table sugar.
Glycemic load combines glycemic index and portion size to predict how high and how fast blood glucose rises. Lower-GI honeys like acacia produce a flatter, slower curve than an equal amount of sucrose.
Set portion size and honey variety, then scrub the timeline (or hit auto-play) to read glucose values off both curves. Toggle the sugar comparison ribbon on or off.
Honey's higher fructose content slows gastric absorption relative to sucrose, which is why equal-carbohydrate honey portions tend to produce a lower, later glucose peak — but portion size still matters most.