[Medicalidiot]

One of the most important parts of diet we fail to educate the public on is glycemic index vs glycemic load. Index is essentially the raw score for how drastically a particular food will raise blood sugar. Glycemic load looks at the totality of what one eats then predicts what the effect of one's blood sugar will be. For example eating sugar with fat will spike blood sugar less than simply eating sugar.

Further reading: https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-l...

[kszxgz]

Glycemic Load = GI * carbohydrates (g) ÷ 100. Accordingly, the GL in the example would only decrease if fat replaced some of the sugar. GL does not consider the totality of food intake but can be calculated for individual foods. (https://www.gisymbol.com/what-about-glycemic-load/)

What you are referring to may be the glycemic response, which, apart from GL, also depends on the intake of fat and protein among other things. Adding fat and protein does indeed reduce the glycemic response:

"It is generally accepted that adding fat and protein to carbohydrate reduces glycemic responses by delaying gastric emptying and stimulating insulin secretion (1,2). These effects have a number of possible implications for human nutrition, such as supporting the role of high protein or high fat diets in the management of diabetes (3,4) or being a source of criticism for the application of the glycemic index to mixed meals (1,5)." https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/136/10/2506/4746688

[woodandsteel]

Agreed. What glycemic load gets at is the concentration of carbohydrates. So for instance, watermellon has a high glycemic index because it has a form of carbohydrate that moves quickly into the blood stream. But it doesn't spike your blood sugar hardly because there is so little total carbohydrate.

[tagh]

I think a bigger issue is that GI is only defined over 2 hours after eating. The four-hour GI is always higher and a much better indicator of high blood sugar exposure (due to eating that food).

After all, pizza is low GI if you only measure it over 2 hours.

[chewz]

> For example eating sugar with fat will spike blood sugar less than simply eating sugar.

You mean chocolate bar or any dessert.

[jokoon]

The opposite being a soda, which is close to sugar water, which makes sugar being absorbed very quickly.

[iserlohnmage]

I've read one that most food that make one addicted is a good combination of sugar and fat, which is decided by our genes.

[brian_cunnie]

> make one addicted ...

I think you're on to something. I think the large portion of people have an addiction to certain foods.

My first inkling was when my friend, Dr. Ross, said to me, "None of my type II diabetic patients are able to control it with diet. They all need medication." (His patients are all upper-middle class, well-adjusted for the most part).

I've seen it with my dad (type II), an ex-marine (type II), a marketing executive (type II). In all cases they were eating french toast with maple syrup (the crack cocaine of type II diabetics). It was something they knew they should not be eating, and yet they were.

These are people with discipline and strength, and yet they are unable to stick to a diet. What gives? Rather than blaming them, we should ask, "Why is this so hard for them? Why can these people who can do so many things, not eat properly?"

[Spooky23]

Or milk.