The Insulin Index

If I'm understanding correctly, whey and chocolate act sort of like Byetta does. Yes? David's Response How do you figure that, Steve? I really can't think of any way that Byetta is like whey and chocolate. Byetta reduces your blood glucose level and has the very nice side effect of causing weight loss. But for whey and chocolate I can't think of anyone who would say that!

I am SO very happy to read about all research concerned with the insulin needed for proteins and fat. I DEFINITELY need more help with this because my blood sugars go up after eating protein and fat. Furthermore, the blood sugars respond differently. When and how much will my blood sugar rises not only changes with each different protein/fat eaten, but also just plain differently from day to day. I cannot find a pattern. I use an insulin pump. All the talk about carbs and the total lack of talk about proteins and fats drives me crazy. SO THANK YOU DAVID FOR ALL INFO CONCERNING WHAT PROTEINS AND FATS DO TO OUR BLOOD SUGAR VALUES. I hope the research community is listening.

I was very happy to read about research concerning the appropriate insulin for protein and fat. I really need more help with this. My bg values increase, but without a clear pattern, after eating different sources of protein and fat. Using my insulin pump, I have been experimenting with different protein/fat sources for over a year. THANK YOU DAVID FOR ALL INFO ABOUT HOW PROTEIN AND FAT INFLUENCE BG VALUES! I HOPE THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY IS LISTENING!

Hi David. I simply compared the rate charts for glucose and insulin in the whey study at http://www.healthcentral.com/common/frame.html?url=http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/80/5/1246 and Byetta's prescribing information at http://pi.lilly.com/us/byetta-pi.pdf Take a look and tell me what you think. David's Response: Sorry, Steve, but I don't see any comparison! Whey boosts blood glucose. Byetta lowers it.

Yes, unlike Byetta whey causes glucose to rise. However, it only takes a little whey to exert a significant insulin response. As a guy with impaired glucose tolerance (no meds, diet and exercise only) I decided to try an experiment. 3/4c of steel milled oats cooked in 1c water resulted in the following 5 day average BGs... 94 fasting, 156 at 1hr, 142 at 1.5hr, 99 at 2hr. Same recipe with 27g whey protein stirred-in after cooking, BGs averaged over 5 days... 94 fasting, 122 at 1hr, 116 at 1.5hr, 112 at 2hr. Like Byetta, whey doesn't increase insulin sensitivity, it causes more of insulin to be released to cover the glucose. One difference is that whey must be dosed with each meal. Byetta does not. I assume the increase in insulin is a potential hazard to beta cells either way. p.s. 27g of the whey I'm taking has 20g protein, 2g carbs total of which 2g is sugars, 2g fat of which 1g is saturated. David's Response: Interesting experiment, Steve! There is another rather big difference between Byetta and whey. With Byetta almost everyone loses weight, often a lot of it.

Hi again David. If I understand correctly, Byetta is only prescibed in conjunction with an insulin sensitizer, secretagogue, or both. Therefore weight loss cannot be attributed to Byetta alone. Even though it's not prescribed in this manner, I suspect Byetta alone would works like whey does, increasing insulin output. Without an insulin sensitizer, Byetta alone might also cause beta cell exhaustion. This begs the question - Would persons taking an insulin sensitizer and whey with each meal achieve Byetta-like glucose control? As far as the other aspects of whey go, it doesn't suppress inappropriately elevated glucagon secretion, and it's not likely to slow gastric emptying like Byetta does. If I was taking metformin, I'd try the experiment myself. :) David's Response: Steve, Byetta has only been TESTED in clinical trials with metformin and/or a sulfonylurea. But it is prescribed in with neither and with other drugs. Usually, people are taking metformin with little success and then ADD Byetta and that clearly is the cause of the weight loss. Whey has absolutely nothing to do with this!

I'm a forty-something type 2, EXTREMELY sensitive to carbs. I find that dairy actually lowers my blood sugar. I guess it all boils down to checking your glucose regularly and seeing what does and doesn't work.

I am confused. In #5 Steve presents data inicating that BG is lower with whey added to oats than oats alone. That is, whey is lowering BG. David responds that whey raises BG. Please clarify, someone. Thanks