● Food Intelligence · Fruit

Pear Glycemic Index and Calculate Your Own Glucose Response

Across 1,352 single-item pear logs from 918 Signos members, the average glucose peak was +27.7 mg/dL — with 35.7% of responses topping +30 mg/dL. Pair with cheddar and the average falls to +29.7 mg/dL; add pear to a high-carb meal (≥60g) and the peak climbs 40% higher.

GS
Reviewed by Grace Shryack
Signos Proprietary Data·Updated May 2, 2026·10 min read

● Powered by Signos cohort dataHigh confidence · n=1,352
The swap calculator below draws on 7,172 matched-pair logs — a broader cohort than the page's single-item primary, used to give every ingredient swap statistical power. Welch's t-test on matched pairs, not third-party glycemic-index tables. Each swap shows its sample size and confidence tier inline.
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Build Your Own Low GI Recipe

Powered by 1,352
Signos food logs

Tap any ingredient below to swap it for a glucose-friendlier alternative. Your Signos Glucose Score, predicted curve, and nutrition update in real-time. Every swap is data-backed by real CGM response measurements.

Ingredients — Tap to Swap
Meal Context
Pre-meal sequence
Activity after meal
Time of day
43
of 100
Signos Glucose Score
Moderate Spike Risk
75% of members fall between +26 and +38 mg/dL
Predicted Curve · 3-hr window
1401001201401601800m30m60m90m120m150m180m+32
Peak
+32
mg/dL
Time in Range
100%
3hr window
Above 140
0m
danger zone
Swaps
0
applied
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● Key Findings · Do pears spike blood sugar?

Yes — but modestly. Across 1,352 meals where members ate a pear alone, the average glucose peak was +27.7 mg/dL, with 35.7% of responses exceeding +30 mg/dL. Across our single-item cohort of 1,352 pear logs from 918 unique members, pear produced the lowest average peak of any fruit we've measured — a mean of +27.7 mg/dL with a median of +25 mg/dL. Three levers shape most of the variance: total carb load at the meal (≥60g pushes peaks 40% higher, n=1,513, p<0.001), sugar content (≥20g at the meal lifts peaks 25.5%, n=2,758, p<0.001), and meal context — yogurt or cottage cheese pairings (n=1,015) drop the average by 2 mg/dL. The IQR spans 21 mg/dL (p25: +15, p75: +36), confirming that individual response still matters. These are observational findings, not causal.

  • ▸Carb load is the biggest lever: meals with ≥60g carbs spiked 40% higher than lighter builds (p<0.001, n=1,513 vs. n=4,094).
  • ▸Pear eaten alone averages +27.7 mg/dL (single-item, n=1,352), versus +32.4 mg/dL in multi-item meals (n=5,726) — a 15.3% combo effect.
  • ▸Yogurt or cottage cheese pairing (n=1,015) dropped the average peak to +29 mg/dL vs. +31.2 mg/dL alone — the highest-confidence pairing discount in the dataset.
  • ▸Going from a light meal (0–40g carbs, avg +28 mg/dL) to a very heavy one (110g+ carbs, avg +42.6 mg/dL) represents a 52% escalation in glucose response.
● Signos Rules

Three citable insights from this recipe's data

Rule 1
"The Carb-Load Penalty"
+40% peak
Across 1,513 meals where total carbs hit 60g or more, glucose peaks ran 40% higher than the low-carb baseline (p<0.001). For a low-GI fruit, stacking pear on top of a carb-heavy plate effectively cancels its glycemic advantage. The escalation tracks linearly: light meals (0–40g, n=4,094) averaged +28 mg/dL; very heavy meals (110g+ carbs, n=224) averaged +42.6 mg/dL — a 52% range from lightest to heaviest.
Rule 2
"The Cheese Pairing Rule"
−2 mg/dL peak
Cheddar (n=289) and walnuts / pecans (n=426) each dropped the average peak by 2 mg/dL versus the no-fat baseline (29.7 vs. 31.8 mg/dL). Blue cheese / gorgonzola (n=209) — the most iconic pear pairing — tracked slightly above baseline at +33.3 mg/dL; the fat content is offset by the typical serving context. Brie (n=41, low confidence) sat nearly at baseline. Fat pairings help, though no single option delivers a dramatic reduction.
Rule 3
"The Yogurt Edge"
−2 mg/dL peak
Adding yogurt or cottage cheese to a pear meal dropped the average peak from 31.2 to 29 mg/dL across 1,015 matched logs (high confidence) — the strongest context modifier measured. The protein-and-fat matrix of dairy slows gastric emptying and blunts fructose absorption. This is the pairing with the best-supported cohort N among context options; salad context (n=724) went the other direction, averaging +34 mg/dL vs. +31.2 mg/dL alone.
● Curious about your own?

Curious how your body responds to pears specifically?

Across 1,352 single-item pear logs, the average peak was +27.7 mg/dL — but the IQR spans 21 mg/dL, from +15 mg/dL at the 25th percentile to +36 mg/dL at the 75th. That's a wide range for a low-GI fruit. Your response depends on total meal carb load, what you pair the pear with, and your own metabolic baseline at the time of eating. A CGM makes that individual variability visible in real time.

Learn how Signos works
Why this meal spikes

This meal stacks 3 independent spike drivers — together they account for +31 mg/dL.

Driver 1
Natural fructose + glucose (~23g carbs per medium pear)
+18 mg/dL
A medium pear carries roughly 23g of carbohydrates, mostly fructose and glucose. This is the dominant driver of the +27.7 mg/dL single-item mean — fast-digesting natural sugars hit the bloodstream within 30 minutes when pear is eaten alone.
Driver 2
High total carb load (≥60g at the meal level)
+7 mg/dL
Meals logged at ≥60g total carbs spiked 40% higher than the low-carb baseline (p<0.001, n=1,513 vs. n=4,094). This is the single largest modifier measured — roughly +7 mg/dL above the light-meal mean.
Driver 3
High-sugar meal context (≥20g added sugar)
+3 mg/dL
In 2,758 meals flagged for high sugar (≥20g), peaks ran 25.5% higher than the 1,028-meal low-sugar baseline (p<0.001, CI: [+5.77, +8.34] mg/dL). Stacking the pear's own fructose atop an already sweet meal compounds the response.
● Which bucket are you in?

Some members spike +28 mg/dL. Others spike +42.6. The only way to know how you'll spike is to measure with a Signos CGM.

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● What surprised us
What surprised us about pears is how consistently they land below apples in the Signos cohort. Apple's single-item mean is +31.5 mg/dL; pear's is +27.7 mg/dL — a meaningful gap given they're the same GI tier. The fat-pairing story is also different: where almond butter moves the needle by −6 mg/dL on apples, no single pear pairing delivers that kind of discount. The biggest pairing win is yogurt or cottage cheese, at only −2 mg/dL across 1,015 logs. Pear is simply lower-spiking at baseline, not dramatically moldable by what you add.
— Signos Data Science Team

Why this happens, physiologically

Pears produce a mean peak of +27.7 mg/dL across 1,352 single-item pear logs — the lowest mean of any fruit measured in the Signos cohort. The IQR spans 21 mg/dL (p25: +15, p75: +36) and 35.7% of logs exceeded +30 mg/dL. Three mechanisms explain most of that range. First, total meal carb load is the dominant driver: meals in the very heavy carb bucket (110g+ carbs, n=224) spiked +42.6 mg/dL versus +28 mg/dL at the light end — a 52% escalation. Second, the meal's own sugar load matters: high-sugar contexts (≥20g, n=2,758) ran 25.5% above the low-sugar baseline (p<0.001). Third, fat-and-protein pairings offer a modest counter-pressure — yogurt or cottage cheese trimmed the mean peak from 31.2 to 29 mg/dL in 1,015 matched logs. These effects are observational from matched-pair Welch's t-tests, not controlled trials.

● Three mechanisms drive pear's glucose range

Carb load, sugar context, and fat-protein pairings together explain the 52% escalation seen across the cohort

  1. Mechanism 1
    +52%
    Carb-load escalation
    Total meal carb load is the single biggest lever. Light-carb meals (0–40g, n=4,094) averaged +28 mg/dL; very heavy meals (110g+ carbs, n=224) averaged +42.6 mg/dL — a 52% escalation from lightest to heaviest build.
  2. Mechanism 2
    +25.5%
    High-sugar meal effect
    High sugar content (≥20g at the meal level) lifted peaks 25.5% above the low-sugar baseline in 2,758 matched logs (CI: [+5.77, +8.34] mg/dL, p<0.001). Stacking sweet pairings amplifies pear's own fructose load.
  3. Mechanism 3
    −2 mg/dL
    Dairy pairing buffer
    Pairing with yogurt or cottage cheese dropped the mean peak from 31.2 to 29 mg/dL across 1,015 matched logs (high confidence). Protein and fat in dairy slow gastric emptying, blunting the rate of fructose absorption.
● Fit Check
Pear is one of the lowest-spiking fruits in the Signos cohort — the bigger question is whether you surround it with a light or heavy carb load.
✓ This is for you if
  • ▸You eat pear as a standalone snack. Across 1,352 single-item pear logs, the average peak was +27.7 mg/dL — the lowest single-item mean of any fruit we've measured.
  • ▸You pair pear with yogurt or cottage cheese. That context dropped the average peak from +31.2 to +29 mg/dL across 1,015 paired logs (high confidence).
  • ▸You keep total meal carbs under 40g. The Light carb bucket averaged +28 mg/dL vs. +42.6 mg/dL for very heavy meals — a 52% swing based on what surrounds the pear.
  • ▸You reach for a whole pear rather than adding it to oatmeal. The oatmeal context pushed the average to +43 mg/dL across 65 logs, nearly 15 mg/dL above eating pear alone.
✗ Not for you if
  • ▸You eat pear in a high-carb meal (≥60g total carbs). That load lifts the peak by 40% above the low-carb baseline (p<0.001, n=1,513) — canceling pear's low-GI advantage.
  • ▸You eat pear with a high-sugar meal (≥20g sugar). High-sugar contexts ran 25.5% above baseline in 2,758 matched logs — a meaningful compounding effect on top of pear's own fructose.
  • ▸You add pear to a salad expecting a lower spike. Salad context (n=724) averaged +34 mg/dL vs. +31.2 mg/dL eaten alone — the opposite direction.
  • ▸You eat pear at dinner. Dinner logs averaged +34.6 mg/dL across 1,554 pear meals — the highest meal-time window in the cohort, versus +27.3 mg/dL at snack time.
● How it fits your day

Calorie band and pairings (member-measured)

Per serving
98–460 kcal
Single-item pear logs averaged 98 kcal; multi-item meals containing pear averaged 460 kcal across 5,726 logged meals. Pairings and context drive nearly all the calorie spread.
● Pair before
  • ▸Keep total meal carbs under 40g: Light builds averaged +28 mg/dL vs. +42.6 mg/dL for very heavy carb loads — a 52% reduction.
  • ▸Pair with yogurt or cottage cheese before eating: matched logs tracked +29 mg/dL vs. +31.2 mg/dL alone — the highest-confidence pairing discount in the dataset (n=1,015).
● Pair after
  • ▸A 20-min walk within 30 min of eating helps clear circulating glucose — especially relevant given that 35.7% of solo pear logs exceed +30 mg/dL.
  • ▸Avoid adding pear to a high-sugar dessert context: high-sugar meals (≥20g) spiked 25.5% above the low-sugar baseline across 2,758 matched logs.
● Avoid pairing
  • ▸Adding pear to oatmeal: the oatmeal context averaged +43 mg/dL across 65 logs — roughly 15 mg/dL above eating pear alone (low confidence; treat as directional).
  • ▸Eating pear at dinner: dinner logs averaged +34.6 mg/dL (n=1,554) vs. +27.3 mg/dL at snack time (n=1,601) — a 7 mg/dL timing gap.
● Quick definitions (click to expand)
mg/dL — milligrams per deciliter. The unit blood glucose is measured in. A rise of "+30 mg/dL above baseline" means blood sugar went up 30 units after the meal.
Glycemic Index (GI) — a 0–100 score for how fast a food raises blood sugar in lab tests. Under 55 = low, 56–69 = medium, 70+ = high.
Glycemic Load (GL) — GI adjusted for portion size. Under 10 = low, 10–19 = medium, 20+ = high.
CGM — Continuous Glucose Monitor. A wearable sensor that tracks blood glucose every few minutes. Signos members wear CGMs while eating meals they log.
● Related Foods: Pear is among the lowest-spiking fruits in the Signos dataset — here's how it ranks against adjacent foods and why the comparison matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Methodology

This page draws on three nested cuts of the Signos production PPGR cohort, collected between March 2025 and April 2026. The page-primary number — cited in the dek, key findings, FAQs, and CTAs — comes from the single-item cohort: 1,352 logs where a pear was eaten without other foods, from 918 unique members, with a mean peak of +27.7 mg/dL, a median of +25 mg/dL, and an IQR of p25 +15 to p75 +36 mg/dL (cohortConfidence: high). The broader cohort covers 7,172 meals containing pear in any form, including pairings and mixed meals, with a mean peak of +31.5 mg/dL across 2,833 unique members. The swap calculator's matched-pair table draws on the broader cohort (cohort_n=7,172) and powers the per-option Ns in the modifier slots. Data was filtered to meals with a measured glucose rise between 0 and 100 mg/dL (ppgr_case='regular'). Statistical comparisons between modifier groups use Welch's t-test on matched pairs; all dominant modifier effects cited carry p<0.001. Pear logs were identified via regex matching on the canonical food name and its sub-forms; prickly pear, pear-based desserts (tarts, crumbles, pies), and pear brandy / wine were excluded. A minimum of 30 matched meals was required for any option to appear in the modifier table; options below the high-confidence threshold of 500 are noted.

Limitations

  • Self-reported portion sizes introduce measurement noise — a 'medium pear' in member logs may range from 120g to 200g, directly affecting carb load and peak estimates.
  • Cohort skews health-motivated; Signos members actively monitoring glucose tend to be more metabolically aware than the general population, so average responses may understate what a representative sample would show.
  • Single-item cohort is 1,352 meals — high-confidence per pipeline thresholds, but smaller than sibling-fruit cohorts like apple (12,934). Modifier estimates carry wider uncertainty than those foods.
  • Baked pear (n=4) and canned pear (n=0) sub-cohorts failed the minimum group threshold and are excluded from the recipe builder; their effects cannot be characterized from this dataset.
  • Poached pear (n=9) sub-cohort also failed the threshold; the +18.1 mg/dL delta observed is directionally plausible but not statistically grounded.
  • Brie pairing (n=41, low confidence) and blue cheese / gorgonzola (n=209, medium confidence) fat-pairing estimates are directional; the cohort Ns are too small for precise delta claims.
  • All findings are observational, not causal — confounders such as concurrent medications, activity levels, sleep quality, and individual insulin sensitivity are not controlled for.
● Get your own data

See your own pear response

Across 1,352 single-item pear logs, the average glucose peak was +27.7 mg/dL — but the IQR spans 21 mg/dL (p25: +15, p75: +36). Pear is low-GI, but that doesn't mean low-spike for everyone. A light-carb meal averages +28 mg/dL; a very heavy carb load pushes it to +42.6 mg/dL — a 52% swing that depends entirely on what else is on your plate. Only a CGM tells you which end of that range is yours.

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