Breakfast cereal	Insulin load Score (IL)	IL / serving
All-bran	32	50g 9
Porridge	40	160g 15
Muesli	46	50g 13
Special K	66	50g 17
Cornflakes	75	50g 22

Carbohydrates
White bread	100	36g (1 slice) 34
Whole meal bread	96	36g (1 slice) 34
Grain bread	56	25g (1 slice) 13
White pasta	40	230g 48
Brown pasta	40	230g 43
White rice	79	180g 70
Brown rice	62	180g 76
French fries	74	116g 93
Potatoes	121	180g 59

Proteins
Eggs	31	2 eggs 23
Cheese	45	40g 30
Beef	51	160g (8oz) 51
Lentils	58	120g 28
Fish	59	150g 27
Baked beans	120	200g 68

Fruit
Apples	59	140g 20
Oranges	60	120g 12
Bananas	81	100g 29
Grapes	82	100g 21

Snacks
Peanuts	20	50g 26
Popcorn	54	100g 115
Crisps	61	50g 30
Ice cream	89	100g 74
Yoghurt	115	200g 96
Mars bar	122	54g 122
Jelly beans	160	125g 231
Doughnuts	74	75g 86
Croissants	79	60g 78
Cake	82	65g slice 83
Crackers	87	7g each 11
Biscuits	92	8g each 14

What the IL has shown us is that proteins can also cause a release of insulin, despite containing no carbohydrate, and there can be a disproportionate release of insulin from bakery products that are rich in refined carbohydrates way higher than their GI or GL would predict. Some criticism of the IL is that it looked at the IL per 100g of food, much like the GI ranking system looks at 50g of a food. What I have tried to do is calculate the IL by portion size (the column to the right in the above table). It did not look and any vegetables but due to vegetables being low GL and GI, but you would also expect them to low IL.

You can see that refined carbohydrates, grains and confectionary snacks cause higher releases of insulin than whole grain products, fruits and proteins. This is a great argument for eating less refined carbs and a higher protein diet to control insulin and lose weight.

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