Regarding that diabetes has a genetic foundation which with the addition of
excess weight and lack of physical exercise comes before type 2 diabetes:

"Simply not true, insofar as regarding the requirement of a genetic
foundation.  High-GI foods and/or high fat foods (in particular the bad
fats: rancid fats, overheated fats, saturated fats, and trans fats) will,
in abundance, almost inevitably lead to type-2 diabetes."

Evidence would be nice here if you please. Most recent literature does not
support this idea and ever increasing genetic research supports the genetic
foundation view.  Not all people who are overweight and don't exercise get
diabetes, about 1 in 4 do.  The difference is the genetic foundation. Also,
different genetic populations in different places in the world get diabetes
at very different rates.

"Not all sugars are equal, either.  Some have lower GI values than others,
meaning they are more slowly absorbed and therefore cause less of an
insulin spike.  Pure maple and honey are two examples (watch out,the maple
"flavored" syrup Aunt Jemima sells is nearly pure fructose, as is most of
the pancake syrups in grocery stores).  Not that I recommend lower-GI
sugars beyond reasonable small amounts, but the myth that all sugars are
equal is just that."

You confuse sources of natural mixtures containing sugars with the sugars
which make up part of them.  Fructose and glucose are the sugars found in
most food sources such as maple syrup from trees.  Flavored mixtures using
flavors and sugars in water from other sources were not the original
question.

Once in the gut all sugars are absorbed almost instantly,ie. a few minutes.
Sugars mixed with other substances can affect how quickly the absorption of
foods occurs but not sugars alone.  The gi is a measure of glucose alone
and not fructose, recalling that many food sources are made up 50/50 of
both.

Bollocks. You get thin Type 2s and obese non-diabetics. Check out the
research at essex.ac.uk for the myriad of genetic pathways to diabetes.

Nicky.

This is silly. Taking a biochemical pathway out of context and trying
to make a case that this occurs despite everyting else going on.

The rest of the world is getting fat on 50/50 glucose/fructose
mixtures, so HFCS is not the culprit, the culprit is TOO MANY
CALORIES. If you only take in the calories required for the day's
activities, it makes no odds if fructose is converted to fat. It will
all be burned up carrying out the day's activities, so what.
Sheeesh! talk about desperately looking for a silver bullet.

jack

"> In addition, sugars stored in rice and potatoes and pasta and bread
and

How about "sprouted" bread, which is supposedly never baked?"

I have never looked at it in any detail.  When sprouted the grains have
used some of the stored sugars for plant growth.  The partially sprouted
grains are then ground into a meal and added to other flours to make
bread.  I'm pretty sure it is baked.

It matters if you do many things that are slightly better.