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What is the insulin index?

The insulin index was developed to overcome some of the limitations of the glycemic index, which ranks different foods according to their effect on blood sugar levels.

Normally, the carbohydrate in the food you eat is eventually broken down into sugar. As it enters the blood, the sugar triggers the release of the hormone insulin. Insulin helps to move nutrients from the blood into the cells of your body.

Traditionally, nutritionists thought that a greater glycemic response means a greater insulin response. Because insulin (combined with excess calories) promotes the storage of nutrients such as carbohydrate or fat, a diet with a low glycemic index, in theory at least, is supposed to make weight loss faster and easier.

However, while the link between the glycemic index and insulin holds true with some foods, it certainly isn't the case with all of them. When you eat a food high in protein (such as beef, for example), insulin levels will rise, even though blood sugar levels stay the same.

So, scientists from the University of Sydney decided to develop the insulin index [10]. Foods are given a score based on the insulin response to a fixed amount (239 calories) of a test food.

The list below shows you what happened to insulin levels for two hours following the...

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