The use of the glycemic index in predicting the blood glucose response to mixed meals.

There has been much interest in the use of the glycemic index (GI). A recent study reporting plasma glucose responses to mixed meals containing fat and protein concluded that the results were totally disparate from what would have been expected from published GI values of the foods fed. However, this conclusion was based upon an inappropriate assessment of the data using absolute rather than incremental blood glucose response areas. The present report demonstrates how data may be analyzed to make use of the GI values of individual foods to predict the GI of mixed meals (r = 0.987; p less than 0.02). It is concluded that the GI concept applies well to mixed meals containing fat and protein.