Bravo Mario!!! Over the past 3 years I have watched hundreds of videos by most of the RU-vid gurus, some good, some awful, but I must say that your output is vastly superior to all the others. Thank you so much for your clear advice and how heavenly not to have stupid music drowning the content. Bravo again and good luck with your channel.
That's very kind of you to say, James. You know, when you are pretty proficient at something (research and academic teaching) and then start something entirely new (science communication, making RU-vid videos, managing a blog), you realize very quickly how it feels to be a total beginner at something all over again. I have a long way to go, but particularly because I feel that every day, I very much appreciate encouraging comments such as yours. And I am not saying this out of false modesty; imposter syndrome is real ... Kind regards, Mario
I was a nurse for 38 years and I retired 2 years ago. The last few years I worked our hospital adopted a program for dosing insulin based on the glycemic index. It was a computer program where the carbohydrates of foods eaten were entered and it gave the insulin dose recommended.
Nutrition, real and updated nutrition might I add, should be a sine-qua-non condition in every hospital! Unfortunately, most often to reduce costs but also as a lack of thinking, most give meals which literally counteracts or slows down the recovery of their patients… I recently had my daughter and wife, on two different occasions, at two different hospitals in Germany. The food was SO gruelling bad, that I had to come with home-made food in tupperwares to nourrish their bodies (and souls)…! That’s a total non-sense. And when I pointed that out to them they simply shrugged it off, offended, and said : nobody else complains and we’ve given that kind of food to everybody else over the years anyway 🤷🏻♂️ The Germans do like their sausages on bread for the evening meals (Abendbrot) but at a hospital… really? 🤦🏻♂️😅
Thankyou so informative I've always been a carb woman realised early in my life white bread rice and pasta just didn't fill me (I'm petite didn't want to end up overweight)make sure I have good bread wholemeal pasta and rice plenty of vegetables and salad not overthe top with fruit adding protein and fats to each meal lm 66 no meds no aches or pains I really enjoy my food !!!
Glycemic index plays a role in the insumin model of metabolic health. But it is not the only criteria. Other factors like total calories, glycemic load and fructose effect on the liver also matter.
Another fantastic video, Mario! A curious one for me is pomegranate juice. It’s often touted as a diabetes aid, yet it seems to be quite high in fructose. What is your take on it as well as on other (whole/blended/juiced) fresh fruits naturally high in fructose?
Hi Sean, Hope you are well!? Generally, the data do not suggest that fruit juice without added sugar, consumed in moderation (small serving size and/or diluted with water), has adverse health consequences. See our paper (even though that's focused on children): pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29659683/ For someone who really wants to optimize their diet though, or someone who is at risk of metabolic disease (such as most of us), it may be adviseable to minimize fruit juice, including pomegranate juice. I much prefer whole fruit over fruit juice. So, to me, an occasional small serving of fruit juice is probably not a big problem, but I wouldn't consume it in large amounts regularly thinking that it's healthy. Liquid fructose may be particularly problematic in the long run. Admittedly, that's a bit of an opinion more than a statment backed by science, as we don't really have long-term RCTs directly comparing whole fruit vs. juice. Cheers Mario
Chapter 3 of this video here explains what the glycemic load is and how it's calculated: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v1zCVE3ifn0.html Cheers Mario
I have noticed that those who follow a "Low-Carb" diet have a tendency to denigrate carbohydrates because they "Spike" blood glucose. All the while ignoring the issues you present. I would also add date syrup to your list. Because it has high fiber it has a slower digestion rate and also has more minerals. Thanks for the presentation and I look forward to what else you have to say.
We sure live in interesting times because social media is helping us satisfy our desire for community, or a 'tribe', but quite often misinformation spreads through these tribes like wildfire. There is no question that the science is clear that many people and populations have eaten high-carb diets for milenia, and many have led long and healthy lives. Just because refined grains, added sugars, and ultra-processed foods rich in these are clearly poor choices for our long-term health does not mean that low-carb is the only option if we want to live a long and healthy life. Warm wishes, Mario
I did an experiment where I ate a meal entirely made up of grapes and watched what happened on my CGM. It didn't do much at first but hours later I got a spike up into over 200 levels, presumably from the fructose?!
I'd be most interested in knowing whether the glycemic index's health outcomes mentioned at the beginning of this video persist even when accounting for total caloric intake and expenditure.
I'm new to this concept and honestly I have no idea what I should be eating anymore. Fat isn't as bad as sugar I just heard and you said that if you eat the likes of potatoes and such with dairy and fat, it's not so bad. Yet, all my life I was told to stay away from fat, which would make my genetically inherited problem with cholesterol worse. I am vegetarian so I basically eat mostly vegetables and fruits although I do eat some dairy (milk and yoghurt mostly), some nuts and legumes as well as brown rice, bread, weetabix and other grains like pasta and couscous. I sometimes also indulge in sweets, which is my biggest weakness but I control it as best I can. I drink mostly water, a cup of coffee and a cup of green tea every day. I thought I was doing fine but apparently I need to rethink everything.... like every few years. I'm exhausted and completely lost. Anyway, I've subscribed. Maybe with more watching, I'll be less overwhelmed and sift through all the noise.
Sorry. Certainly don't want to confuse anyone further. It seems to me that you have a good foundation. Maybe two suggestions from the video that may help: include some protein with every high-carb meal (that is sometimes a problem with vegetarian or vegan diets that they are very rich in carbs, but low in protein, which can, in some people lead to regular blood sugar spikes). Also, sweets as a desert after a meal may not be all that bad for blood sugar, particularly of the meal contained a lot of fibrous veggies and protein. Cheers Mario
The glycemic index, as well, load are really estimates than a real measurement. Mario described it very well but there is a problem for mere mortals to grasp what that really means for one personally. That's a big problem with all nutritional data - those are mean (average) values. I think it could be a good think to describe in simple words (like You have a gift for that) how all the positions in the "NutritionFacts" labels are declared. In Your series about glycemia You could emphasize the difference between Carbohydrates, sugar , fiber and why it not sums up every time. I have dived recently into a rabbit hole about RDI (daily intake) and apparently the numbers are "bogus" - especially for proteins. What is Your opinion on that? Worth a vid?
Don't agree that the RDI are bogus, but it would certainly be interesting to discuss some of the limitations and issues at some point. Thanks for your feedback. Cheers Mario
Thank you Mario for this educational & informative video and the Glycemic Index chart. I have a question on the chart, I see Beer listed at the top ☹but I am wondering if it is even possible to measure the Glycemic Index for sweet red wine?
The issue with alcoholic beverages is that people would need to drink a lot of alcohol to reach 50g of available carbs. For that reason, investigators sometimes use a modified protocol for these types of foods where only 25g of available carbs are ingested of both the test food (beer, wine) and the standard food (white bread or pure glucose in water). Still, the very comprehensive publication I used didn't even include wine. Cheers Mario
Thanks Mario, excellent presentation on a huge topic in easy to understand language.Wonder your thoughts on ‘metabolic therapy’ on cancers with keto diet (reduce sugar)and intermittent fasting (reduce glutamine)?Any scientific evidence?
Thank you. I am sufficiently intrigued that I once led a clinical trial to test the impact of a keto diet in advanced lung cancer. We hypothesized that minimizing glucose and a major growth factor, insulin, would be able to make therapy more effective. Unfortunately, almost no patient wanted to be randomized to one of three different test diets at that stage of their life, and the study was never completed. Ultimately, I do think the rationale for a ketogenic or just low-carb diet in cancers is solid, but there is really insufficient high-quality data available at this point to know for sure if it would improve treatment success. Cheers Mario
One question sir, for me as a bodybuilder white rice in form of basmati in combination with lean beef or chicken obviously builds a large base of my diet during the mass phase as well as in the diet phase. In mass I add fats and more carbs. In diet, I try to reduce fats and keep carbs to a minimum. I have thought about switching basmati rice with buckwheat. But in my experience the results of muscle building is far superior with rice. For the diet times thats fine but in mass phases I do look to gain, even if adding some weight (form of body fat). Is this a result or an example of combination as you state in you video? Would a larger amount of vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, beans etc.) add to the "combination" effect in a diet phase?
My son was exploring keto so he got some 'sweetener' and then realised it contains maltodextrin which is horrendously high in carbs - watch out for those sugar substitutes.
I hope this makes sense. Should I be concerned about total sugar consumotion in a 24 hour period? For example, i eat a lot of sweet potatoe which has a lower GI than white potatoes, and they dont appear to spike my insulin beyond a concerning level when i have them in my meals. However, is having that much sugar in total a day, despite it being split up into multiple meals 4-5 hours apart still have an effect on my overall metabolic health? Would it be more optimal for blood sugar/insulin levels to cut back and add in more white potatoes, despite them having a higher GI?
Hi Oliver, I see no evidence that eating a lot of sweet potato has negative long-term consequences, as long as you eat them as part of a mixed whole foods diet that meets all of your micronutrient requirements. And as long as your blood sugar stays mostly in the 70-140 mg/dL range and rarely, if ever, spikes to >180 mg/dL. Best, Mario
So it is better to eat foods with low glycemic index AND low fructose!! One can not go by only glycemic index!! I believe in eating everything in moderation. Thank you for the video!!
Yes. I am not too concerned about whole fruit (a source of some fructose), as there is little evidence that fruit intake increases chronic disease risks. However, fructose in sweeteners such as agave syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, table sugar etc. should be minimized even though some of these sweeteners do have a low glycemic index. Cheers Mario
Even though most fruit have a moderate glycemic index, eating just fruit would have a very high glycemic load. For someone who is healthy, this may not be a problem, particularly because the very low fat intake and - usually - low energy intake would lead to better glucose tolerance over time. Cheers Mario
If it's just condensed milk without sugar, I'd say no. If it has ingredients such as modified starch, high-fructose corn syrup or sugar, vegetable oil, emulsifiers, artificial colors of flavors etc., then yes. Cheers Mario
Hello Dr Kratz, Thanks again for another well informed presentation! My question is where does the Type 2 suferer fit in with these figuers? also how does the Glycemic Load fit in among all? To give you an example; I am Type 2, when I am hugery my sugar level goes up! when I eat it goes down!! during the morning the BGL always high but as soon as the mid day arrives my BGL starts to drop down. I eat normal meal and my BGL goes doen to 7 0r 8 I follow with some dates 4-5 pieces and some nuts as well as fresh figues and stay at 8!!! What do you make of that!? If I want drop my BGL after a meal or hunger I take fresh figues or date!!!!!!Nothing make sense to me anymore! How do I know all this? because I ware the CGM! Also, another point worth mentioning and that is; I NO LONGER believe that 2 hours is the normal peak after a meal! I react within 2-5 minutes of consuming high carb food! All this thanks to the CGM! I think doctors should STOP advising people that they should wait two hours after a meal! This is an absolouate NONESENSE! Thanks again for your presentation!
'Healthier' is a big word. It's just that boiled (white) potatoes have a lower glycemic index (73) compared to baked potatoes (88), so yes, in that regard, boiled potatoes are a bit 'healthier'.
Exogenous carbs are going to cause inflammation either way. And, because plants have numerous defense chemicals like oxalates, tannins, and goitrogens, it's best to avoid plants as much as you can.
I realize that there are many anecdotes of people who have regained their health on a carnivore diet, and don’t want to discount that. However, your description of the nutritional effects and properties of plant foods strikes me as lopsided. And I am saying that even though I am very familiar with research into antinutrients. It’s the same logic that led us to discourage consumption of eggs because they contain cholesterol. In other words, if someone is clearly healthier and feeling better on a carnivore diet, good for them. But should that really be interpreted as solid evidence that the entire population should stop eating plants? If I have learned anything from the mistakes of my field in the past, then it is that we should not jump to strong conclusions based on weak evidence, and anecdotes are weak evidence.
Let me also address your statement that "exogenous carbs are going to cause inflammation either way". I happen to have conducted clinical research on both exogenous carbs and inflammation. In our clinical research studies, and others I know of, high-carb or high-sugar feeding leads to an increase in biomarkers of inflammation only when there is weight gain. Independent of weight gain, it's usually not the case. I am not saying this to defend sugar or refined carbs, as I am not advocating for these either, but the scientific evidence, when considered together, does not suggest that carbs are pro-inflammatory per se. As one example, check out this clinical trial from my lab in which people consumed several servings per day of sugar-sweetened beverages. Probably the worst way to consume carbs, as sugars in liquid form. Yet, no changes in CRP, a key biomarker of inflammation. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27357093/ A quick search on PubMed will reveal at least a dozen additional feeding trials in which no effect of changes in carb intake on biomarkers of inflammation was seen.
