Are you sure this data is correct? It shows that boiled brown rice has a glycemic load higher than white rice.
The data was taken from http://www.diogenes-eu.org/GI-Database/Default.htm (https://github.com/assafmo/gl-calc/tree/master/src_data)
Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
11–20 of 45 posts
Re: Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
#12A little off-topic but I recently realized the cultural history of "appetizers." Most of us, myself included, are used to appetizers being a restaurant thing. But I did some digging and it appears there is a valid scientific use. "Whetting one's appetite" is useful for everyone if they want to eat healthier meals. The average person consumes _pounds_ of food daily. If you're like me, it is difficult to eat a large meal even if it is tasty and healthy only if by the size of it. A good meal would include an appetizer to get one acclimated to the larger, less tasty, more work-required meal that is next.
Realizing this helped me adjust all my meals to include some kind of appetizer. Now I eat more healthy food and it isnt as much of a mental struggle.
Hope this realization helps someone else too..
Re: Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
#13> Glycemic index (GI) > GI is a measure of the effects of a foods carbohydrate component on blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and rapidly release glucose into the bloodstream are characterized as having a high GI value, whereas carbohydrates that are broken down slowly and release glucose into the bloodstream in a more gradual manner are characterized as having a low GI value.…
Something I rarely see addressed as an outsider and occasional consumer of this kind of info: I like bagels - this tool reports a GI / GL of 72 / 42 for 100g. I like peanut butter - 27 and 2.7 for 100g of creamy unsalted. What is the GI / GL of a peanut-buttered bagel? Is it an average? Can I calculate it? I don't see much advice around working toward an average glycemic load for a meal versus avoiding specific evils…
In the end your metabolism will have its own way of digesting which may or may not be close to the very general glycemic load. Which is compounded by your metabolism reacting differently based on time of day, what you ate before, what after, whether you're sick or just in a different state.
With that out of the way, of course it depends which things you eat together. Potatoes are high on the index but if you combine them with cheese (mmmm cheese) it will slow down digestion and thus lower the glycemic load. Similarly, bread has a high load. But add peanut butter and you slow it down.
As a general rule: Yes, add fat to slow digestion. There may be methods to calculate the load of a compund meal but don't count too much on them. The glycemic index is an average of how people react to foods. It's already impractical to study all the meals in that fashion and still you wouldn't know how you individually reacted to them.
Edit: If you want to watch how your body reacts, you can get a set of Freestyle Libre sensors from Abott which allows you to monitor your blood glucose levels. They're not super accurate, but they easily allow you to track up/down movements which is enough to see how long it takes you to digest a meal.
Re: Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
#14> Glycemic index (GI) > GI is a measure of the effects of a foods carbohydrate component on blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and rapidly release glucose into the bloodstream are characterized as having a high GI value, whereas carbohydrates that are broken down slowly and release glucose into the bloodstream in a more gradual manner are characterized as having a low GI value.…
Something I rarely see addressed as an outsider and occasional consumer of this kind of info: I like bagels - this tool reports a GI / GL of 72 / 42 for 100g. I like peanut butter - 27 and 2.7 for 100g of creamy unsalted. What is the GI / GL of a peanut-buttered bagel? Is it an average? Can I calculate it? I don't see much advice around working toward an average glycemic load for a meal versus avoiding specific evils…
I don't know how to calculate it. But I do know that the combination matters. Try this experiment. Eat a bagel plain for breakfast. Wait as long as you can for lunch. Note when you start feeling like you are starving and your hands get shaky (blood sugar crash). Next day eat the bagel with peanut butter. Note how you feel after the same amount of time. I predict the blood sugar crash will later, or won't happen at all.
I have found that the secret to sustaining a vegan diet is beans (resistant starch). They release sugar into your blood over many hours, blunting the blood sugar roller coaster that would otherwise be caused by eating a lot of fruits and vegetables without a lot of meats and fat.
I have done a version of the above proposed experiment with a foot long Subway sandwich, veggies only (no meat, no cheese, no mayo). I feel like I am starving in 3 hours. Add hummus, I feel fine for 6 hours. I know it adds some calories, but I'm convinced it is more about the resistant starch. According to this video https://nutritionfacts.org/video/beans-and-the-second-meal-e... eating beans in one meal even reduces the blood sugar spike in later meals!
Another interesting thing. There is a Ted Talk about how glycemic response varies by individual due to different makeup of gut bacteria. I think it is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z03xkwFbw4. The guy claims he can analyze your gut bacteria and tell you which foods will spike your blood sugar. Subway might be bad for me but fine for you!
Re: Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
#15A little off-topic but I recently realized the cultural history of "appetizers." Most of us, myself included, are used to appetizers being a restaurant thing. But I did some digging and it appears there is a valid scientific use. "Whetting one's appetite" is useful for everyone if they want to eat healthier meals. The average person consumes _pounds_ of food daily. If you're like me, it is difficult to eat a large me…
I don't understand your comment. Where I live people generally eat way too much. Me included. It's common understanding here that healthy meals would be smaller but people still eat big meals.
If I strain I can understand your comment to say that appetizers allow us to eat the healthier food that follows. This would require the second course to be more healthy than the first. In my experience this is a rare occurrence.
Re: Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
#16I was wondering: can you really take out from the equation the bodyweight/fit level/age variables? I'm heavy and also very tall and it seems to me an over simplified service using only a macro sheet of products.
Re: Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
#17These numbers are completely meaningless for nutrition purposes, and should be generally ignored and replaced with much simpler metrics like CHO digestion half-life.
Glucose levels are increased by digestion/conversion of CHO, and decreased by the effect of insulin. Different types of CHO digest slower(fiber), get into the blood stream faster (glucose) or release more insulin (fructose). A low glycemic load could mean either that all the sugar was immediately deposited in fat cells and now you’re hungry again because it’s dropping and your ghrehlin is spiking, or that your food is still digesting slowly.
Do not be deceived by the low GI/GL. Fructose goes right into your fat cells and makes you hungry by spiking insulin.
Seriously. Ignore GI/GL.
Re: Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
#18Glycemic load is DRAMATICALLY affected by what you are pairing your foods with. Add fat or fiber and the GL drops. This tool isn't all that helpful.
Re: Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
#19I wish there was something like this to see how foods would affect insulin levels.
I’ve taken to calling insulin the fat storage hormone. Surprisingly glycemic index doesn’t always correspond to insulin level rise.
Re: Show HN: Glycemic load calculator
#20Are you sure this data is correct? It shows that boiled brown rice has a glycemic load higher than white rice.
There are a wide variety of rice types, and YES, some white rice varieties have a lower glycemic index than brown rice varieties.