Food insulin index: physiologic basis for predicting insulin demand evoked by composite meals.

Background: Diets that provoke less insulin secretion may be helpful in the prevention and management of diabetes. A physiologic basis for ranking foods according to insulin "demand" could therefore assist further research.

Objective: We assessed the utility of a food insulin index (FII) that was based on testing isoenergetic portions of single foods (1000 kJ) in predicting the insulin demand evoked by composite meals.

Cocoa powder increases postprandial insulinemia in lean young adults.

We hypothesized that chocolate products elicit higher insulin responses than matched products with alternate flavoring. To test this, we used a within-subject, repeated-measures comparison of six pairs of foods, one flavored with chocolate (cocoa powder) and the other not. Healthy subjects (n = 10, 4 men, 6 women) tested each pair of foods.