
Show HN: Glycemic load calculator - assafmo
https://assafmo.github.io/gl-calc/
======
jl2718
These 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.

~~~
woodandsteel
Question: is what you are saying widely accepted by the experts who study
human digestion, metabolism, and appetite, or is it a minority view?

On a more anecdotal level, I don't find that eating apples makes me hungry
shortly afterwards.

~~~
robbiep
I studied medicine at the university that created and trademarked he glycaemic
Index (GI). Prof Brand-Miller gave us lectures in physiology and nutrition.
Even as she was giving them there was an understanding in the cohort that GI
was flawed. for example, a high fructose meal is extremely low GI but that
says nothing about either it’s nutritional value or how it will affect your
bosy’s insulin response, which when you get down to it is the key focus of
this flawed measure.

The defence proffered by faculty (who had a vested interest in promoting it)
was weak in our eyes and has only grown weaker over time

~~~
mygo
what do you recommend people use as a metric to predict insulin response
instead?

~~~
robbiep
I don’t recommend anything but I’m not heavily focused on nutrition or any of
these metrics in my general life... my personal belief is that a too heavy
focus on metrics and numbers is detrimental to just the general enjoyment of
life. None of us are getting out alive. There are some clear trends that are
standing out from the literature, such as - don’t go full carb, make sure your
body goes into Ketosis occsionally - and the rest is really wait and see. Hard
nutrition science is a dark art still

~~~
mygo
I’ve learned a few things from Dr. Kris Clark who pioneered the field of
sports nutrition, as well as took nutrition courses as an undergrad. And I
would have to disagree about nutrition being a dark art, or tracking leading
to misery.

I was underweight my whole life. Girls can get away with it but as a male,
it’s really not that great. My social life was depressing. I was not happy
being underweight. I’d work out but that didn’t do much for the body weight.
Obviously I wasn’t eating enough. But the thing is, I thought I was. I’d eat
“a lot” and feel full when in reality my concept of how much was “a lot” was
drastically incorrect. And I definitely wasn’t getting enough protein. Which
is essential. It wasn’t until I started actually tracking my macros and
sticking to specific measurable goals that I went from 108 to 170 over a few
years (and 138 to 170 in one year). Talk about stretch marks. Since then I’ve
skimmed down a little to 155 at 15% body fat.

I am genuinely happier now. My quality of life is better. I look better, feel
better, and people treat me better. I feel “normal” finally. And tracking what
I ate was the keystone habit that made all the difference. Much like making
your bed in the morning can influence the whole day.

It’s really not a dark art. The body is a physical system just like anything
else in this world. There is no magic, just physiology. There are a number of
factors, which can all be hard to account for, but if you focus on the major
factors then the smaller ones will likely be met in the process. For example
there are very specific and reliable formulas for the amount of protein,
carbs, fats, water, and fiber you should have for your specific weight, goals,
and activity level. Exercise and proper diet. Stick to an exercise program
that utilizes progressive overload (doesn’t matter which one just follow it
faithfully), and reach your macro goals with whole foods and you’re golden.

And as far as working out, blood sugar plays a big role there. So what you
have in your body before going to the gym (and how many minutes it’s been in
your body for it to be digested depending on what it is) makes a big
difference to how productive your gym session can be.

With the apps and accurate food databases nowadays it takes a few seconds to
track what I’ve eaten and being in that mentality keeps my diet where it needs
to be. over time you can stop tracking once you get used to really knowing
first-hand how much you need and eating that much (and this is for weight gain
and weight loss). But initially it’s a mental problem. One solution that leads
to a happer life, _is_ tracking what is consumed. It takes a few seconds, and
gives you peace of mind knowing that you’re on track.. instead of winging it
and being stressed out and not seeing progress.

------
entropie
> 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.

> Glycemic load (GL) > Glycemic Load takes into account a foods GI value and a
> standardized 100g portion size and is calculated as GL = GI x available CHO
> in a 100g serving / 100\. Therefore the GL takes into account the amount of
> carbohydrate consumed and is a more accurate measure of the impact of a food
> on blood sugars. As a general rule foods that have a low GL usually have a
> low GI and those with a medium to high GL value almost always have a very
> high GI value.

[http://www.diogenes-eu.org/GI-Database/Default.htm](http://www.diogenes-
eu.org/GI-Database/Default.htm)

~~~
tommaho
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. Is that line of thought flawed?

~~~
jmulho
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...](https://nutritionfacts.org/video/beans-and-the-second-meal-effect/)
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](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!

~~~
nradov
I've actually tried that peanut butter bagel experiment myself and didn't
notice any significant difference. Of course experiments with a population of
1 and no control group are meaningless.

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mrfusion
I 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.

~~~
DanielBMarkham
There is. I heard somebody is doing an insulinogenic index.

Sorry, I don't have a link. I've been meaning to look into it but haven't had
the time.

~~~
mrfusion
Here’s a start. And it’s intersting reading.
[https://optimisingnutrition.com/tag/insulinogenic-
foods/](https://optimisingnutrition.com/tag/insulinogenic-foods/)

------
ruc0la
I 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.

~~~
ucaetano
No. And even if you take in account those factors, the resulting number is
irrelevant on an individual basis due to huge variation between individuals.

------
mstudio
Very interesting! I can't speak to the accuracy of the data, but the overall
app is quick, simple and easy to use. One minor UI suggestion: in the live
search results, perhaps color code the GI, as you do on the results page. e.g.
for "Apple", "GI:38" would be in Green to denote "low" instead of Teal.

~~~
assafmo
Thanks for the feedback! I think I'll do this. :-)

------
dzhiurgis
Reminds my little toy project:
[https://aminosplore.metacursion.com/](https://aminosplore.metacursion.com/)

It displays 7 main protein content and lets to compare if you wanna build
whole picture.

It's super alpha and barely works (Chrome desktop only, loads entire ~40mb
SQLite-webassembly database...)

~~~
assafmo
Cool!

------
goldenkey
A 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..

~~~
lolc
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.

------
contingencies
Searched for _walnuts_. Got half a dozen pure walnut records (not walnut cake,
etc.), GI was always 24 but GL ranged from 1-4. Source says GL is better
indicator than GI. Data is all over the place and publication on which it is
based is nearly ten years old. Unsure how to interpret. Inclined to ignore.

PS. If anyone has a serious nutrition background and wants to develop
algorithms for dietary value prediction based on customized meals and
disparate data sources, we are hiring.

------
jdc
Not sure where to find CHO digestion half-life figures

------
magic_beans
Glycemic 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.

~~~
mrfusion
Are you saying I could take a tablespoon of oil after a donut and it will
change the glycemic load?

I have been taking a cup of Metamucil after I have a dessert with that same
theory in mind. Maybe it’s been helping.

------
mygo
you only designed and implemented for the happy path. when a user submits
something that isn’t in your database absolutely nothing happens. a submit
button would be a start, as well as some sort of “no results found”. Feedback
is important to the user.

~~~
assafmo
Thanks for your feedback! I'll address this.

~~~
dayjah
Also some form of typeahead prompt would be useful for a similar reason — for
example: if one enters “bread”, being able to select the type of bread from a
known list is helpful.

~~~
assafmo
It's pretty hard because of the source data. I'll see what I can do about
dividing search results into food categories.

Thanks for your feedback.

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cranjice
So I tried entering the term "pasta" and nothing happened. At first I thought
it was broken, but then I entered pizza and there were results. An action
button and some status detail (# of results found, etc.) might help the UI.

~~~
assafmo
Weird, pasta is in the database. What happened to you is probably the slowness
of the search. The database is loaded entirely to the client and searches are
done in memory.

Right now it's pretty jumpy even on high-end hardware. I need to fix this.

------
harigov
Are you sure this data is correct? It shows that boiled brown rice has a
glycemic load higher than white rice.

~~~
assafmo
The data was taken from [http://www.diogenes-eu.org/GI-
Database/Default.htm](http://www.diogenes-eu.org/GI-Database/Default.htm)
([https://github.com/assafmo/gl-
calc/tree/master/src_data](https://github.com/assafmo/gl-
calc/tree/master/src_data))

~~~
assafmo
Moved to [https://github.com/assafmo/gl-
calc/tree/master/data](https://github.com/assafmo/gl-calc/tree/master/data)

