1 March 2007

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am currently reading a couple of GI books and have noted a difference in the serving sizes recommended for the same food. For example, the "Low GI Diet Revolution" states that 2 slices of bread constitute 1 serving of carb-rich food and 1.75 ounces of raw lean meat, poultry, fish or seafood make up 1 serving of protein. On the other hand, the "New Glucose Revolution Life Plan" shows 1 slice of bread equating to 1 serving of carbohydrate and 2.5 - 3 ounces of cooked red meat, poultry or fish being 1 serving of protein. Are these serving sizes targeted to different groups of people, e.g. those who want to lose weight versus those who want to adopt a healthy diet?

Finally, how were the serving sizes for the recipes listed in the books derived? Were they based on carbohydrates, proteins, or both? I am trying to follow the recommended number of daily servings in the "Low GI Diet Revolution". Can I go by the serving sizes listed in the recipes as providing equal amounts of carbohydrates and proteins, or do I need to break the recipe down to its ingredients and work out the serving sizes from there, i.e. if a recipe is for 4 servings, does that mean it provides 4 servings of carbohydrates and 4 servings of protein?

Anonymous said...

The books were written at different times and different authors constructed the serving guidelines for different needs.

If you are trying to lose weight and following one of the plans in The Low GI Diet then you are best to follow the serve size guidelines given in that book. Kaye would also like to clarify that 1 serve of protein or 1 serve of carbohydrate doesn’t identify the correct serve size for you. “1 serve” in this case is like the working unit and you will need x number of serves per meal or per day, depending on your total calorie requirement.

The serving sizes of the recipes, ie., the number of serves per recipe, aren’t based on the protein or carbohydrate content. In fact the nutritional composition of the recipe is calculated after the recipe is developed, tested and then served to see how many “reasonable looking” serves it makes. The nutritional information is then calculated based on the recipe being divided up into x many serves.

You can use the nutrition information (protein, fat and carbohydrate) per serve to work out how to substitute a serve of the recipe into your diet.

From the serving size guide in the chapter 'About the Action Plan' you can see that the working unit of protein, or 1 protein serve, is 10-15g protein, the working unit of fat or 1 fat serve is 10g fat and the working unit of carb or 1 carbohydrate serve is 20-30g carb.

So, for example, Eggplant and Zucchini Pilaf with Lamb provides 30g protein, 10g fat and 70g carbohydrate, which equates to 2.5 protein serves, 1 fat serve and 2.5 carb serves.