Hey guys, I’ve posted lots of questions lately… I’m really digging this insulin index. My only problem is why is it not available? Obviously it’s way too early for it to be required to be put on food labels, but by now I figured you ought to be able to obtain a good copy listing everything, kind if like with the GI.
I have a little conspiracy theory about this. Tell me if it’s far fetched or not. It makes sense to me. In the oil industry, oil companys buy out patents for more efficient engines so that they won’t ever make the market, which obviously keeps oil comsumption way up. I’m thinking that the food industry is trying to do the same thing with the insulin index. They’re afraid that if it catches on, they’ll be required to put GI and II scores on their labels. So they’re doing what they can to slow down the research and acceptance of the insulin index. Possible… or am I just a little too paranoid?
probably a little paranoid, but interesting thought. It’s a lot easier for them to make “healthy” foods taste good if they can add lots of high GI sugar to them then if they can’t.
I went to a store yesterday that sold only zero carb or lowGI products. Everything was $$$.
No need to formulate a conspiracy theory…you can find II numbers by doing a google search on the term “insulin index”. You won’t find many foods on it because they havent done a whole lot of research on this topic yet. It’s as simple as that.
Here is the list of GI and II foods. In this list I noticed that bread is listed as 100, while in most lists I find it to be 70, (where glucose = 100,) so they are probably using a different score. They might use table sugar as the base instead of glucose.
Food----------Glycemic Score----Insulin Score
BREAKFAST CEREALS
All-Bran----------------40---------------32
Porridge (Oatmeal)—60---------------40
Muesli ------------------60---------------40
Special K---------------70---------------66
Honeysmacks----------60---------------67
Sustain -----------------66---------------71
Cornflakes--------------76---------------75
CARBOHYDRATE-RICH FOODS
White pasta-------------46---------------40
Brown pasta------------68---------------40
Grain [rye] bread------60---------------56
Brown rice------------104---------------62
French fries------------71---------------74
White rice-------------110---------------79
Whole-meal bread-----97---------------96
White bread----------100---------------100
Potatoes---------------141---------------121
PROTEIN-RICH FOODS
Eggs---------------------42---------------31
Cheese ------------------55---------------45
Beef---------------------21---------------51
Lentils ------------------62---------------58
Fish----------------------28---------------59
Baked beans----------114--------------120
FRUIT
Apples ------------------50---------------59
Oranges-----------------39---------------60
Bananas-----------------79---------------81
Grapes ------------------74---------------82
SNACKS AND CONFECTIONARY
Peanuts------------------12---------------20
Popcorn-----------------62---------------54
Potato chips------------52---------------61
Ice cream---------------70---------------89
Yogurt ------------------62--------------115
Mars bar----------------79--------------112
Jellybeans-------------118--------------160
BAKERY PRODUCTS
Doughnuts--------------63---------------74
Croissants---------------74---------------79
Cake---------------------56---------------82
Crackers---------------118---------------87
Cookies-----------------74---------------92
Does anyone know how things like lemon juice, cinnamon, turmeric affect the insulin index? If I eat a not ideal meal (with respect to the insulin index) can I mitigate this by using, say, cinnamon? By non-ideal I’d mean something high carb (maybe a sweet potato) and high fat (say, butter).
you should also check into glycemic load (GL) along with GI… as there are some things with a high GI(the carbs highly affect insulin) but a low GL(not enough carbs in a serving to make a significant difference… In example you would have the eat multiple servings to even think about a spike in insulin)
If I remember correctly, something like a carrot would have a high GI & a low GL. one of those “Safe but sweet, so watch portions” ^^
That chart that was posted was really interesting- how is it possible though, that white pasta, something we’re told religiously to avoid as a source of carbs, has a lower GI and II than cheese, and comparable to eggs and all-bran? Does this mean I can put small amounts of white pasta back on my shopping list, or am I missing something?
The reason that most people (myself included) recommend avoiding pasta is because it is so calorically dense. No one eats just one serving. I could eat about three boxes of the stuff in one sitting…
“In the oil industry, oil companys buy out patents for more efficient engines so that they won’t ever make the market, which obviously keeps oil comsumption way up.”