Bread Unit

The bread unit (BU), or carbohydrate unit, is a conventional measure that simplifies estimating the amount of carbohydrate in a given food. The concept was introduced by German dietitians back in the 1990s to make meal planning easier for people with diabetes; today the insulin index is increasingly used alongside it.

One bread unit corresponds to roughly 10–12 g of carbohydrate in a food (depending on whether fiber is counted or not) — about the same amount found in a 20–25 g slice of white bread. This amount of carbohydrate is estimated to raise blood glucose by an average of about 2.8 mmol/L.

Once you know the total carbohydrate content of a food, you can calculate how many bread units it contains — and use that number when planning your meals. Read more about carb counting and other approaches on the "Diabetes Nutrition" page.