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Insulin index database

The number a glycemic chart leaves out.

Insulin response for 1693 foods, relative to white bread = 100, shown next to the glycemic index rather than instead of it. 30 are published measurements; the rest are estimates and say so, and 2 we could not place at all and leave blank.

Protein moves insulin. It barely moves glucose.

That single fact is why two numbers exist here instead of one. A ribeye has no glycemic index worth measuring and a real insulin response; a bowl of cornflakes has both. Charts that carry only glucose make the first one look like nothing is happening.

Browse by insulin response

Minimal

< 20

Barely moves insulin · 400 foods

Low

20 – 45

A gentle response · 421 foods

Moderate

45 – 75

A real response · 641 foods

High

75 – 110

A strong response · 207 foods

Very high

≥ 110

The strongest responses · 22 foods

Flat on glucose, not flat on insulin

These foods contain no carbohydrate, so blood glucose has nothing to respond to — and they still ask for insulin. If you have only ever seen a glycemic chart, this is the column it does not have.

Whey protein powderII 90estAnchoviesII 59estCanned salmonII 59estCanned tunaII 59estCatfishII 59estClamsII 59estCodII 59estCrabII 59estCrayfishII 59estEarly White Scallop Pattypan SquashII 59estHaddockII 59estHalibutII 59est

Browse by food group

Each tile shows how its foods are spread across the insulin bands, gentlest colour first — so a food group tells you something before you open it.

Vegetables553
Mostly gentle
Root vegetables265
Mixed range
Grains251
Runs high
Leafy greens209
Mostly gentle
Legumes122
Mixed range
Animal foods100
Mixed range
Fruits52
Mixed range
Seeds39
All at the gentle end
Dairy37
Mixed range
Baked goods16
Runs high
Nuts13
All at the gentle end
Herbs12
All at the gentle end
Beverages8
Mixed range
Sweets7
Runs high
Berries5
All at the gentle end
Fats and oils4
All at the gentle end

Read your own plate

The scanner turns these indices into the load actually on your plate.

Open the scanner →

Same foods, other lenses: the oxalate database.

Frequently asked

What is the insulin index?›
A measure of how much insulin a food actually releases, relative to white bread = 100. It was measured on 1000 kJ isoenergetic portions — equal-energy portions rather than equal-carbohydrate ones — which is why foods with no carbohydrate at all still have one.
How is it different from the glycemic index?›
The glycemic index tracks blood glucose; the insulin index tracks the insulin released. They agree on bread and disagree completely on steak. Protein raises insulin while barely moving glucose, so we keep the two numbers separate and never calculate one from the other.
Are these numbers measured?›
30 of 1693 are. The published insulin index (Holt 1997) covers roughly 38 foods, so the rest of this database is estimated from foods of the same type. Every entry is labelled pub or est, and every food page names its source. We would rather show you a labelled estimate than a number you cannot tell apart from a measurement.
What happens to a food you cannot place?›
It stays blank. 2 foods here are neither published nor close enough to anything published for us to estimate from, so their pages say so and they appear in no band. A plausible number is worse than an empty space, because an empty space at least looks like one.
Does a bigger portion mean a higher index?›
No. An index is a property of the food, like a percentage. What grows with your portion is the load — insulin load scales with energy, glycemic load with available carbohydrate — and the scanner works that out from the actual plate.
Is this medical advice?›
No. These are reference values for whole foods, most of them estimated. Your own response depends on the rest of the meal, how it was prepared, and you. Nothing here sets a target and nothing here is a limit.

Insulin index values are reference figures for whole foods. Most are estimates and every one is labelled. Not medical advice, not a prediction of your own response, and independent of the keto score and the carb alarm.

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