Is This Better Than Carb Counting ?

Saw this on another site and found it really interesting. Basically, this looks at an insulin response to certain foods, taking into account fats and proteins. Link here:

https://optimisingnutrition.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/most-ketogenic-diet-foods/

Very interesting! Cheers Mo! Looks like my love of Brie cheese and olives as snacks are quite low in terms of insulinogenic percentage plus many of the other low carb foods I enjoy so even more happy days I say!

If a non diabetic may say ....  

Marty (Optimising nutrition blog) is an engineer with an interest in nutrition who tries to optimise things with numbers. His wife is a type 1 diabetic and Marty has a genetic predisposition for type 2 diabetes and obesity.

It's interesting how many engineers look at diabetes and its related issues with such clarity. It can help so many to share information.

All the best Jan

I just think same as a calorie is not always the same calorie, the same can be said for carbs. Regular carb counting is OK and is a pretty good guide but as I guess we've all found at one time, there's more to it than than.

Thanks for the link to my blog.  

Using this approach you can keep a tally of your insulinogenic calories (i.e. including protein and considering fibre) rather than just tracking carbs which are only part of the story.  

My overall goal is to provide suggestions on foods that you can prioritise and meals that are nutritious and have a low insulin load rather than requiring people to track and count everything.

I hope you find it to be a useful resource.  Let me know if you have any feedback or questions.

Cheers

Marty Kendall

https://optimisingnutrition.wordpress.com/

martykendall wrote:Thanks for the link to my blog.  

Using this approach you can keep a tally of your insulinogenic calories (i.e. including protein and considering fibre) rather than just tracking carbs which are only part of the story.  

My overall goal is to provide suggestions on foods that you can prioritise and meals that are nutritious and have a low insulin load rather than requiring people to track and count everything.

I hope you find it to be a useful resource.  Let me know if you have any feedback or questions.  

Cheers

Marty Kendall

https://optimisingnutrition.wordpress.com/

Thanks for joining Marty and I hope to continue picking up on your ideas. Carb counting is old hat now really and your approach makes much more sense. Take care, Mo :-)

Hi Marty, great to see you've joined our Forum. Your blog does have some wonderful information.

Hope to see you post here again  

All the best Jan

Hi Marty welcome aboard, Jan speaks highly of you. Re. the insulin index something I blogged around four years ago.

The insulin index and protein

In the days when I spent too much time on diabetes forums, a very common post went alone the following lines.

“I have been lowcarbing for around three months, I have lost around three stone in weight and my numbers are good, however, I seem to have stalled on my weight loss and would like to lose another stone”

Have you considered your protein intake ?

We all know carbs require the most insulin to control, then protein, then fat. But how many of us type two’s consider the protein ? Below is a link to an insulin index for various foods, most of the information comes as no surprise, but check out some of the insulin responses to protein foods, a bit of an eye opener eh.

Ok, you may not be seeing too much in the way of a blood glucose spike, but what about the serum insulin levels, could this be causing a weight stall ?

Maybe a reduction in protein, could kick start that weight reduction, and reduce the load on the pancreas.

Link to insulin index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_index

Eddie

Yes, thank you, this looks very interesting and makes a lot of sense. For the moment I'm happy with carb counting, but I will gradually start using the lists , especially when I get stuck with weight loss again.

Thanks Jan. I would love any thoughts you guys have on the blog and how I could make it more useful. I would really like to share the information more widely in the medium term, so any ideas there would be greatly appreciated.

Eddie, I did see the Wikipedia page. The problem with it is that there's no real rhyme or reason to the list and rankings and only a short list of foods that had been tested. Looking at the more recent data in more detail it appears that insulin load is related to net carbs plus about half the protein. Using this approach you can look at all foods and prioritise based on their insulin load (rather than just carbs).

Marty, I think your blog looks great as it is. Purely personal, I'd like to see more foods on the "more food insulin index data". A bit like an updated "Carbs "n"Cals" app. As for promotion, as the list grows or you add new info, we can share the info here if that's OK with you ?

Thanks mo1905. I've tried to keep the lists concise so they aren't too daunting. I might tidy up the spreadsheet into a format that people can download and play with ans search themselves. Can you give a link to the carbs and cals app that I can check out.

And should I post the blog posts on the site directly or would it be more appropriate for someone list yourself (a moderator) to subscribe to the blog and repost anything that looks useful?

Hi Marty - I don't think your blog has been going too long, but keep at it - and the message will get out there! Link to other blogs on any articles that you write can be handy (you may already be doing this).

Never be 'afraid' to join in the conversation on blogs and forums as people will get used to your name  

We hope to see you comment on the Forum here too. We all have slightly different views and it's good to share. You never know who is reading out in 'interweb' land ...

We actually featured you on the low carb diabetic blog a little while ago here:- http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/diet-wars-which-one-is-optimal.html.

You are putting over a good message, which is what we do our best to do here. It is true there may well be some who would disagree but information is key ... and writing about it does that.

The more the merrier to spread the news that living the LCHF lifestyle can and does bring to diabetics and non diabetics alike.

Take Care

All the best Jan

PS I think Mo has also just given his views

This is Carbs and Cals site ( they also have a mobile app ):
http://www.carbsandcals.com

As for updates, you're welcome to post here directly.

Thanks Jan.

And Mo, I checked out the carbsandcals link. I have something similar in the works that lists net carbvs, insulin load, % carb insulin (for type 1s using a dual wave bolus), fat, protein and fibre.

Thanks for letting me share. I will try to select the most appropriate ones to share here! Thanks for the welcome.

Hi Marty a warm welcome to the forum 

Jan's link to the blog appears to be broken I'm re-posting it hope this one works

http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/diet-wars-which-one-is-optimal.html