You're right.  It's just one of the many tools I use.  I tend to combine
all the wisdom I read about everywhere.  G.I. does help me make
decisions though.  For example, barley is extremely low, so if I am
making soup, I'll throw in a handful of that rather than a handful of
rice, which is quite a bit higher.  I don't follow Atkins strictly
though, so take my advice with a grain of salt also.  It all depends on
what diet you want to follow and how you want to live the rest of your
life.  For me, this works pretty well.

I also agree with you about maltitol.  I try to avoid the sugar alcohols
myself.  They taste too much like real sugar to help in my efforts to
stay un-addicted to sweets, but not enough like sugar to be satisfying.
 I agree with most here that fake food is something to be avoided *for
the most part*, although I do indulge in it occasionally.

Speaking of rice, I read an interesting article once, but then lost it
so I can't show you to it, that mentioned the extreme variability in the
G.I. of the different varieties of rice.  Basmati seemed to have the
lowest G.I. and brown rice in general was also lower than white rice.
For my purposes that means that if I am going to serve rice to the
family and think that I might eat some of it, I should use brown basmati.

Rebecca

Thanks for explaining.

And none of what you wrote answered the question. "Induction" does
have a meaning re: Atkins. Feeling a bit defensive is understandable.