There are a number of ways to view the blood sugar-raising or insulin-provoking effect of foods.
One way is glycemic index (GI), simply a measure of how high blood sugar is raised by a standard quantity of a food compared to table sugar. Another is glycemic load (GL), a combination (multiplied) of glycemic index and carbohydrate content per serving.
Table sugar has a GI of 65, a GL of 65.
Obviously, table sugar is not good for you. The content of white table sugar in the American diet has exploded over the last 100 years, totaling over 150 lb per year for the average person. (Humans are not meant to consume any .)
What is the GI of Rice Krispies cereal, organic or not? GI = 82-- higher than table sugar . GL is 72, also higher than table sugar.
How about Corn Flakes? GI 81, GL 70--also both higher than sugar.
How about those rice cakes that many dieters will use to quell hunger? GI 78, GL 64.
How about Shredded Wheat cereal? GI 75, GL 62.
All of the above foods with GI's and GL's that match or exceed that of table sugar are made of wheat and cornstarch. Some, like Shredded Wheat cereal and rice cakes, don't even have any added sugar.
Stay clear of these foods if you have low HDL, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, or small LDL. Or, for that matter, if you are human.
Keep the eloquent words of New York University nutritionist, Marion Nestle, author of the book, Food Politics, in mind:
“Food companies—just like companies that sell cigarettes, pharmaceuticals, or any other commodity—routinely place the needs of stock holders over considerations of public health. Food companies will make and market any product that sells, regardless of its nutritional value or its effect on health. In this regard, food companies hardly differ from cigarette companies. They lobby Congress to eliminate regulations perceived as unfavorable; they press federal regulatory agencies not to enforce such regulations; and when they don’t like regulatory decisions, they file lawsuits. Like cigarette companies, food companies co-opt food and nutrition experts by supporting professional organizations and research, and they expand sales by marketing directly to children, members of minority groups, and people in develop countries—whether or not the products are likely to improve people’s diets.”