Water is unique
‘Most beverages can support hydration, but water is unique in its capacity to do this without adding sugars or many other compounds to the diet,’ write Prof. Barry Popkin and Melissa Daniels in a recent systematic review looking at the impact of water on energy intake and weight. They point out that in the average diet the proportion of water has diminished as people have shifted to other beverages containing one or many of the following – sugar, caffeine, natural and artificial flavourings, non-nutritive sweeteners and carbonation. For more on water, hydration, health and weight, check out the following articles by Prof Barry Popkin published in Nutrition Reviews:
Sugar-sweetened drinks and diabetes risk
Consuming soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages regularly is associated with a greater risk of metabolic syndrome and type-2 diabetes according to a meta-analysis of 11 published studies (300,000 participants) by Harvard School of Public Health researchers published in Diabetes Care.
‘Many previous studies have examined the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of diabetes, and most have found positive associations but our study, which is a pooled analysis of the available studies, provides an overall picture of the magnitude of risk and the consistency of the evidence,’ said lead author Vasanti Malik.
Sugar-sweetened beverages are made up of energy-containing sweeteners such as sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, or fruit juice concentrates, all of which, the authors noted, have essentially similar metabolic effects. The consumption of such beverages, which include soft drinks, fruit drinks, iced tea, and energy and vitamin water drinks, has risen globally.
The findings showed that drinking one to two sugary drinks per day increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 26% and the risk of metabolic syndrome by 20% compared with those who consumed less than one sugary drink per month.
While a number of factors are at work in the development of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, sugar-sweetened beverages represent one easily modifiable risk factor that if reduced will likely make an important impact, say the researchers. ‘People should limit how much sugar-sweetened beverages they drink and replace them with healthy alternatives, such as water, to reduce risk of diabetes as well as obesity, gout, tooth decay, and cardiovascular disease,’ said Malik.
The researchers added that although sugar-sweetened beverages increase the risk of metabolic syndrome and type-2 diabetes, in part due to their contribution towards weight gain, there may be other mechanisms involved. Such mechanisms may include the high levels of easily absorbed added sugars in drinks contributing to a high dietary glycemic load, which is known to induce glucose intolerance and insulin resistance.
It’s here. Finally. The low GI potato.
Four years ago we started the hunt for a low GI potato. We sat down with chef and potato expert Graham Liney, owner of restaurant/guest house Willow Vale Mill, near Goulburn and we have been working closely with him ever since along with Australian potato growers and the Dutch potato breeding company Agrico, to bring Carisma, Australia’s first low GI potato to your table. It’s versatile and full of flavour with a creamy taste, and ‘melt in the mouth’ texture. And it has a GI of 55 cooked the way we describe below.
Carisma is currently only grown in Australia (sorry rest of world) in the Riverland in South Australia, the Lockyer Valley in Queensland and in various regions in Western Australia. You can read all about it here. It’s exclusive to Coles supermarkets and is on sale throughout Australia, with the exception of Tasmania (for the moment).
Cooking with Carisma Here’s our quick and easy ‘no-peel’ cooking method that will allow you to enjoy Carisma potatoes the low GI way. Wash the potatoes and cut into 1 cm thick slices or chop into 1cm dice leaving the skin on and cook them your preferred way until firm but cooked through (al dente). When we tested their GI, we boiled them, placing them into hot (not boiling) water, then bringing the water to the boil and cooking them for about 4 minutes until al dente. But it’s fine to steam or microwave them if you prefer.
Because Carisma are a versatile, general purpose potato, you can use them to make potato bake, home-baked wedges, roast potatoes, jacket potatoes, mashed potatoes or in your favourite potato recipes. Just be aware that the GI value may not be quite as low. And of course keep an eye on portion size if you are watching your BGLs. As Alan Barclay said in GI News back in July, a serve providing 15g carbs is one medium potato (around 125g).
Here are Nicole Senior’s tips for serving spuds: ‘One of the things I love about the potato, apart from the gorgeous taste and texture, is how simple they are to prepare. I simply wash, cut and microwave on high until tender, and lightly dress with some extra virgin olive oil, dried rosemary and black pepper. Use whatever healthy oils, herbs and spices you like for an instant accompaniment to lean meat, chicken or fish and steamed greens. And a good tip: always cook more than you need because cooled and reheated potato contains a beneficial kind of dietary fibre called resistant starch that keeps your bowel healthy. That’s what I call potato magic.’
Low GI Diet author wins Australian Food Media Award
Dr Joanna McMillan Price
Dr Joanna McMillan Price, one of the regular contributors to GI News over the years, has won the Australian Food Media Award ‘Best Health or Specific Diet Book’ for her recently published Inner Health Outer Beauty. The biennial awards held in October are a flagship event of the Australian Association of Food Professionals. ‘I wrote this book,’ said Joanna talking to GI News, ‘to try and inspire busy women to find ways that work for them to supercharge their health and look their glowing best. ’
‘I really appreciate the importance and pleasure of good food in my life – a lesson I learned from my Mum. I want to share this message and encourage women to stop thinking about nutrition and to think about the food. We women are so controlled in so many areas of our lives (or at least we try to be) that we allow our obsession with nutrition and weight to skew our view of what a healthy meal is. To me, the lines between fat-rich, carb-rich and protein-rich are not immutable. I think that the most important factor on your plate is the middle line, ensuring you fill half your plate with veggies and/or fruit. The remaining half can be more flexible depending on what you are having, your likes and dislikes, where you are and what you’ll have (or have already eaten) for other meals during the day. For example, if you have just finished a pretty tough cardio workout, you’ll probably want a few extra carbs to restock your body’s stores. Or you may feel better on a higher protein diet with fewer grain foods. Or perhaps you had a largish steak when you were out for lunch and feel like a lighter vegetarian supper. All these options are fine.’
Inner Health Outer Beauty is available from leading bookstores in Australia or you can order a copy HERE.
The scoop on bubbly and beyond for silly season survival
Emma Stirling APD
Want the scoop on how can you let your hair down and sneak in a few more celebrations? Here are a few tried and true tips from party people who don’t want to pile on the pounds.
Bubbles of trouble The ‘spirit’ of Christmas can be a real trap so try to moderate your alcohol intake. Go for the increasing range of lower calorie bubbly, beer and now wine brands. Remember that low carb beers do not automatically equal lower kilojoule and light beers are often the better choice. Space your alcohol with diet soft drinks or sparkling water and include low-joule or no-joule mixers like soda water. And go easy on the pre-mixes and cocktails. Even mocktails and those labeled ‘skinny’, can be high in calories thanks to that cream and fruit juice.
American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI from her Italian kitchen. For more information, check out Johanna's website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is photosbysergio.com.
![[JOHANNA]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2008/sept08/joanna175.jpg)
Canoli cream dip
This is a healthful twist to the much-loved Sicilian dessert that surfaces on southern Italian holiday tables especially at this time of year. It will be part of my Christmas menu this year. For a truly exquisite treat for your palate look for the freshest ricotta and the best quality dark chocolate you can find. And definitely opt for the orange flower water if you can find it. This may be found in gourmet or specialty food shops. Makes 10 (approx. ¼ cup) servings.
15 oz (2 cups) part skim ricotta
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
¼ cup non-fat milk
1 teaspoon orange flower water or vanilla extract
2 oz (1/4 cup) toasted pistachio nuts, chopped
1 oz dark chocolate, chopped
Combine in a blender the first four ingredients (ricotta through vanilla) and process for 50–60 seconds until very smooth.
Fold in the nuts and chocolate.
Serve immediately as a dip with freshly sliced apples or pears or biscotti or refrigerate in a covered container.
Variations
Per serving
Energy: 575kJ/ 137 cals; Protein 6g; Fat 8g (includes 3g saturated fat and 18mg cholesterol); Available carbs 10g; Fibre 1g
Cut back on the food bills and enjoy fresh-tasting, easily prepared, seasonal, satisfying and delicious low or moderate GI meals that don’t compromise on quality and flavour one little bit with Money Saving Meals author Diane Temple. For more recipes check out the Money Saving Meals website.
Homemade hommus
Dips and crackers are an easy thing to serve when people drop in – or to take along to a neighbourhood party as your contribution. People seem very impressed when you say you made it yourself and double impressed when you tell them you cooked the chickpeas from scratch. Being somewhat lazy, I usually use canned chickpeas, but when I was making hommus with the children as part of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program at Bondi Public School we used dried chickpeas of course. I can’t believe how nice they were especially with a bay leaf and garlic thrown into the water whilst cooking. There are other benefits too – you can prepare more and freeze them for the next batch of dip for the next party.
1½ cups home-cooked chickpeas or 400g (14oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 clove garlic, chopped roughly
3 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons light flavoured olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
Freshly ground black pepper and salt (if you wish), to season
Crudités, to serve (or pita crisps as shown below)
Place 1½ cups cooked chickpeas or the drained can of chickpeas, lemon juice and garlic into the bowl of a food processor. Whiz until very finely chopped, (stop the processor occasionally and scrape down the sides), add oil and process again until creamy.
Spoon into a serving dish and mix in cumin and season with freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt if using.
To cook chickpeas, cover them with water and leave to soak overnight in a bowl. Drain and put in a medium saucepan with 1 clove garlic peeled and smashed garlic, 1 bay leaf and 3 peppercorns (count the peppercorns so you remember to take them all out!). Cover with water and bring to the boil, then simmer for 35 minutes or until they are tender (check the water levels and top-up if necessary). Drain and leave to cool.
Per serving (30g or 1 oz)
Energy:260kJ/62 cals; Protein 1g; Fat 5g (includes less than 1g saturated fat and zero cholesterol); Available carbs 3g; Fibre 1g
Throw another prawn on the barbie
We chose Miguel Maestre's recipe for ‘Garlic Prawns’ for our December issue as Australians love to celebrate summer and the festive season with regular trips to the fish market so we can happily ‘throw another prawn (shrimp) on the barbie’. Miguel is owner/chef of El Toro Loco, a lively tapas bar right on Sydney Harbour at Manly and has charmed viewers as host of Miguel’s Tropical Kitchen on LifestyleFood and in Channel 10’s Boys’ Weekend, where he hits the road with friends for adventure, good times and great food. He now brings the same energy and passion to his first book, Miguel’s Tapas (New Holland), with a mixture of his own recipes and signature Spanish tapas. He tells us the secret of success with Garlic Prawns is to use the freshest possible prawns, extra virgin olive oil and to keep it simple. Serves 1
2–3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (about 50ml)
4 large raw king prawns (shrimps), peeled and deveined (tails intact)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ bunch parsley, leaves finely chopped
lemon wedges and a slice of sourdough (or your favourite low GI) bread
Myth: High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is worse for your health than sucrose (table or cane sugar).
![[NICOLE]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2007/dec2007/nicole125.jpg)
Nicole Senior
Fact: HFCS is just another sugar with the same health effects as sucrose. We should be limiting all added sugars to achieve a healthy diet.
In the nutrition world there is always a ‘bad’ food of the moment and right now it is high-fructose corn syrup or HFCS. A preliminary WWW search reveals a litany of dire health consequences from scare-mongering sites including an increased risk of weight gain, diabetes and liver damage. Is there just cause to worry?
HFCS made from American corn is the most commonly used sugar in processed food and drinks in the USA, whereas in Australia it is sucrose or cane sugar (from sugar cane). We use Australian grown cane sugar in our sugar jars at home too, but in the USA beet sugar (from sugar-beets) is the more common household form of sucrose. Sucrose is a disaccharide, meaning it is composed of equal amounts of two monosaccharide (single sugars) stuck together: glucose and fructose. HFCS is made by adding enzymes to corn-starch to convert the starch into its composite monosaccharide sugars glucose and fructose. Honey is also composed of a combination of glucose and fructose monosaccharides. The term HFCS is a misnomer because it doesn’t actually contain high fructose levels. The name comes from the fact that pure corn syrup contains no fructose at all, but treatment with enzymes allows varying proportions of fructose to be obtained. The most common HFCS are 55% and 42% fructose (the remainder being glucose). Sucrose is digested to 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Incidentally, 100% pure fructose has been available for years as an alternative sweetener under various brand names.
What is the GI? Glucose has the highest GI of all the sugars and fructose has the lowest, and this is the reason sucrose (a blend of glucose and fructose) has a moderate GI. Although the GI of HFCS is not available, Professor Jennie Brand Miller from GI News says there is no reason to expect it to be any different to sucrose.
Why is it used? HFCS is widely used because US agricultural policy favours corn farmers and makes imported sugar more expensive. Food manufacturers like it because it is economical, it is liquid and easy to mix, and adds good texture and sweetness to a wide range of foods.
Is it harmful? Digestion of HFCS, cane sugar, beet sugar and honey all yield similar amounts of glucose and fructose during digestion. There is no reason to expect HFCS to have unique effects on health for this reason. Like all simple sugars, these are absorbed by the small intestine: glucose can be used for energy throughout the body whereas fructose is transported to the liver for conversion to metabolic energy. Many of the studies with adverse findings are from pure fructose feeding in animals, and cannot be separated from overfeeding with any sugar, or overfeeding in general. It seems over-eating and getting fat is bad for our metabolic health but it is not due to a specific effect of HFCS.
![[ALAN]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2009/april2009/alan125.jpg)
Dr Alan Barclay
Maintain weight loss with a low GI Diet and a little more protein
The Diogenes Study, which was set up to investigate whether people who have undergone recent major weight loss could maintain that lower weight, has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine . The researchers led by Professor Arne Astrup at the University of Copenhagen conclude that: ‘A modest increase in protein content and a modest reduction in the glycemic index led to an improvement in study completion and maintenance of weight loss.’
In this collaborative project from 8 countries in the European Union (Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Greece (Crete), Germany, Spain, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, 938 adults took part in an 8-week, low-calorie weight-loss diet to achieve a weight loss of 8% of their original starting weight (for most participants this was about 11 kg or 24 pounds.) Those successful in meeting this target were then given the opportunity to take part in the 6-month ‘preventing weight gain’ stage of the study.
The researchers then randomly assigned 773 adults to one of five diets for a 26-week intervention period. These were not calorie controlled diets – those taking part could eat as much food as they liked from their assigned diet group. Participants were on average 41 years old and were all parents. Their families, although not part of the trial, were assigned to the same diets. All five diets were designed to have a moderate fat content (25–30% of total energy). The diets were:
Professor Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions
Some people tell me that watermelon sends blood glucose levels soaring, but others say that’s wrong. What’s the real deal?
The real deal is that a normal serving of watermelon won’t have much effect on blood glucose levels. Those who’ve got it wrong are taking the high GI value of watermelon in isolation. It’s important to consider the amount of available carbohydrate in a typical serving as well as the GI value. Watermelons and other melons such as rockmelon (cantaloupe) are high GI foods, but are relatively ‘dilute’ sources of carbohydrate. In fact they only have about 5% available carbohydrate, which makes their glycemic load or GL per serving very low. A low GL means minimal impact on your BGLs. Both melons in moderate servings are an excellent snack and quite thirst quenching too. Here’s how the numbers add up:
![[FIONA]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2009/may2009/fiona125.jpg)
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Science and the low GI concept
The number of papers with ‘GI’ in their title published in peer-reviewed scientific journals has increased exponentially over the last 10 years. In an interview with FoodIngredientsfirst Jennie talked about how science is developing around the GI concept. We reprint an extract here.
Prof Jennie Brand-Miller
‘Science has always underpinned the low GI concept,’ said Prof Jennie Brand-Miller. ‘Indeed, it is what separates the GI concept from a ‘fad’. Research is showing that high GI foods and diets with a high glycemic load are much more likely to be linked to development of diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease than the amount of carbohydrate, starch or sugar content of the diet. There is also more focus on weight control, particularly the ability to prevent weight re-gain after weight loss – the holy grail.
And while the science of GI can be complex, the consumer application isn’t. It’s really simple – you swap a high GI food for a low GI food from within food categories – a low GI bread instead of a high GI one, a low GI breakfast cereal for a high GI one. The consumer learnt that there are good fats and bad fats and to swap one for the other. The same applies to carbohydrate.’
What are the new emerging GI areas? ‘It amazes me that the GI is being linked to so many things, including inflammatory diseases (e.g. arthritis), birth defects, Alzheimer’s disease, memory and different types of cancer. There’s even research that suggests that food ‘addiction’ is related to high blood glucose spikes. I’m currently involved in research applying low GI diets to pregnancy. We want to reduce the risk that the baby will have excess fat on its body at birth. The child obesity epidemic can be traced back to increasing birth weights over the past 25 years.’
Which countries and food markets hold the most potential for low GI? ‘I think the GI is relevant to every nation on the planet. All of us are more or less susceptible to obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Our health care budgets can’t sustain the current rate of expenditure. Prevention is the only way forward – diet and exercise are the two biggest parts of the solution.’
– Reproduced with kind permission of FoodIngredientsfirst.
New light on dietary recommendations for good heart health
A new study (known as the RISCK trial) published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has shed light on practical and achievable dietary recommendations for reducing the risk of heart disease.
Prof Susan Jebb
‘The RISCK trial is important’ says lead author Prof Susan Jebb, Head of Nutrition and Health Research at the MRC Human Nutrition Research Unit ‘because in one study, it has tested the impact of changing the amount and type of fat and carbohydrate in the diet of individual participants to test the effects on their health, using very detailed measurements. It suggests that you can achieve favourable blood lipid (fats) profiles, associated with reductions in cardiovascular disease risk, by reducing saturated fat and substituting this with monounsaturated fat and by substituting high GI carbohydrates with low GI carbohydrates.’
The trial included 548 overweight people at risk of cardiovascular disease. All followed the same ‘reference’ (weight maintenance) diet for a month and were then randomised to one of five diets for 6 months (24 weeks):
The scoop on stevia
Emma Stirling APD
The 'pure, white and deadly' myths surrounding sugar have helped create a huge market for alternative sweeteners. Some, such as aspartame (Equal/Nutrasweet) and saccharin, have themselves been subject to a huge number of urban myths and internet scare-mongering about their supposed poor safety record. But these non-nutritive sweeteners are in fact among the world’s most tested and evaluated food ingredients and there is an extremely lengthy government process in place for approval, monitoring, review and regulation before they are allowed to be included in the food supply.
This process includes scientific risk assessment reports, independent scientific review plus public consultation and can take several years. The latest tabletop sweetener and food ingredient to go through this process and be added to the alternative sweetener ranks is stevia, the common name for the extract stevioside made from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana, a natural, sweet-tasting plant native to South America. It has recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).
You can now find stevia in hundreds of food products including teas, soft drinks, juices, yogurt, soymilk, baked goods, cereals, salad dressings and confectionery. Interestingly stevia is not yet approved as a food ingredient by Canadian regulators. And before you jump to the conclusion that Canadians are more wary than the rest of us, it just means that they are on a different timeline and yet to assess an application for stevia. You can read more background on stevia in Canada here.
What I would like to suggest is that rather than focus on the safety of non-nutritive sweeteners like stevia, you really need to devote your energy to deciding if they will work for you. For your diabetes management? For your weight loss? For your style of cooking, eating and family meals? For your budget?
Stevia for example will have virtually no effect on your blood glucose levels and can help you cut back on your calories if you use it to replace equivalent amounts of sugar, honey, etc... And one recent study reported in Appetite found that people do not compensate with extra calories or kilojoules after consuming food and drinks sweetened with stevia and participants reported similar levels of satiety (appetite satisfaction) to consuming a high calorie sucrose preload. You can read further studies on stevia at the Global Stevia Institute.
The major drawback of stevia and other non-nutritive sweeteners is that they aren’t as versatile as sugar and honey and other nutritive sweeteners. This is because:
American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI from her Italian kitchen. For more information, check out Johanna's website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is photosbysergio.com.
Orecchiette and broccoli alla Franca
I’ve known Franca almost as long as I have known my husband (39 years). They were high school friends and anytime we visit my husband’s hometown, Reggio Emilia (about 30 minutes west of Bologna), we always wind up at Franca’s house for dinner. Her culinary prowess is as acclaimed as her affable personality, wit and contagious laugh. Recently I asked her for one of her recipes that I could share with GI News readers; she wrote this up for me in less than 5 minutes! Franca says: Instead of the garlic, one can substitute 2–3 anchovies in oil, smashing them with a fork and adding them to the cheese. Serves 4
500g (1¼ lb) head of fresh broccoli
240g (8oz) orecchiette
30g (1oz) freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
1–2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp (45ml) extra virgin olive oil
Bring 5 litres (quarts) of water to a boil. In the meantime, wash the broccoli and divide it up into small florets, trim the stems and cut into small slices. When the water starts to boil, add the pasta and, after about 3–4 minutes, add the broccoli. Cook over moderate heat until the pasta is al dente, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. When the pasta and broccoli are cooked, drain, keeping aside ½ cup of cooking water. While the pasta and broccoli are cooking…
Combine half the cheese, the garlic, 2–3 tablespoons of cooking water and 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small bowl; mix to form a dense paste.
Place the pasta and broccoli quickly in a preheated serving bowl, add the remaining olive oil (2 tablespoons) and the cheese paste plus a little reserved cooking water if the pasta is too dry. Serve immediately with the remaining cheese sprinkled on top.
Per serving
Energy: 1617kJ/385 cals; Protein 16g; Fat 14g (includes 3g saturated fat and 7mg cholesterol); Available carbs 44g; Fibre 9g
Cut back on the food bills and enjoy fresh-tasting, easily prepared, seasonal, satisfying and delicious low or moderate GI meals that don’t compromise on quality and flavour one little bit with Money Saving Meals author Diane Temple. For more recipes check out the Money Saving Meals website.
Chicken pilaf
‘Veg’ it up as much as you like adding a diced carrot or orange-fleshed sweet potato or butternut pumpkin (winter squash) and a sliced stick of celery with the onion and other greens (I love asparagus, broccolini, zucchini or broccoli) with the beans. The greener the better. I serve it with toppings such as chopped coriander, toasted cashews or a dollop of yogurt. Makes 6 serves (and there’s only 1 pot to wash)
1 tbsp peanut or canola oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
500g (1lb) skinless chicken thigh fillets, fat trimmed, chopped into small chunks
1 tbsp mild curry powder
1½ cups (300g) basmati rice
3 cups (750ml) salt reduced chicken stock
200g (7oz) green beans, trimmed, sliced into 2.5cm (1in) lengths
90g (3oz) spinach leaves
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion over low–medium heat for 4–5 minutes or until the onion is starting to colour. Add the ginger, chicken chunks and curry powder and stir for about 3 minutes, until the chicken is golden all over.
Add the rice stirring to make sure the grains are well coated then tip in the stock and bring to the boil. Stir, cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Place the beans (and any other veggies you are using) on top of the rice, cover, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the spinach, remove from the heat and stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir the vegetables through the rice and serve with your chosen toppings.
Per serving
Energy: 1480kJ/355 cals; Protein 21g; Fat 11g (includes 3g saturated fat and 75mg cholesterol); Available carbs 42g; Fibre 2g
Myth: Saturated fats aren’t that bad.
Nicole Senior
Fact: A large body of evidence says a diet high in saturated fat increases blood cholesterol and heart disease risk.
However, an old idea has recently found new legs: the idea that saturated fats aren’t that bad. The latest rumblings were published in Lipids based on a session at the 2009 Annual Convention of the American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS). The AOCS is an industry organisation ‘for those interested in the science and technology of fats, oils, surfactants and related materials’.
One article reviewed the biochemical roles of saturated fatty acids. Yes, saturated fatty acids have a role in the diet. No-one is saying remove saturated fats completely from the diet – it is impossible because all dietary fats are composed of a mixture of fatty acids anyway. Incidentally, the body can synthesise its own saturated fatty acids, but we must consume essential omega-6 and omega-3 ALA polyunsaturates from our diet to do so.
Another article was in defence of dairy. Prospective cohort studies fail to show increased heart disease, diabetes and death rates from consuming dairy foods. In fact people who consume the most dairy tend to live longer lives and have an 8% lower risk of heart disease. This makes sense as dairy contains a bundle of important nutrients. These studies are problematic because of their imperfect measurement of dairy intake, for example there are inconsistencies between whether the dairy foods were reduced fat or not. This review does not constitute a green light for eating saturated fat. Dietary guidelines suggest we take the good and leave the bad by choosing reduced fat milk and yoghurt, and limiting butter.
Another article suggests that because human breast milk contains 50% saturated fatty acids there may be benefits we don’t yet understand. This is placed best into context by one of the authors Professor J. Bruce German from the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, ‘The relationship between dietary intake of fats and health is intricate, and variations in factors such as human genetics, life stage and lifestyles can lead to different responses to saturated fat intake’. So perhaps what’s best for infants is not best for adults.
So what is muddying the water on the saturated fat issue? In part, it’s because many studies have only examined saturated fat intake and failed to consider that unsaturated fat intake is protective and that too much of the wrong type of carbohydrate can be detrimental. There are several studies that have now investigated the role of GI and the risk of cardiovascular disease, and the majority have found a positive association between the GI of the diet and increased risk. The Harvard Nurses Health study, for example, showed that women consuming high GI carbs had twice the risk of having a heart attack over a 10 year period.
The bottom line? Replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats or low GI carbs in a balanced diet.
Nicole Senior MSc (Nut&Diet) BSc (Nut) is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist. For more information on heart-friendly eating and fabulous recipes low in saturated fat and high on flavour check out Nicole’s books Eat to beat Cholesterol and Heart Food HERE.
Dr Alan Barclay
How scientists measure a food’s GI value
GI testing has a very strict protocol in order to detect true differences in the glycemic potential of the carbohydrates in different foods. Here’s how we test the GI of a food following the protocol set out by the International Standards Organization:
Step 1. Ten volunteers consume a fifty-gram carbohydrate portion of the reference food on three separate days. Pure glucose dissolved in water is the usual reference food, and its GI is set at 100. The test is carried out in the morning after an overnight fast. The solution is consumed within ten to twelve minutes, and blood glucose levels are measured eight times over the next two hours. The findings from those three days of testing are averaged to find each person’s usual response to the reference food.
Step 2. Next, we measure the individuals glycemic response to a fifty-gram carbohydrate portion of the test food (e.g., approximately one cup of cooked rice) once, using exactly the same two-hour testing protocol.
Step 3. Then we calculate each person’s response to the test food as a percentage of his or her average response to the reference food. We do this by plotting his or her blood glucose response to the test food on a graph and comparing this with the response to the reference food; the response can be summarized as the area under the curve—the exact value of which is calculated using a computer program.
Step 4. Finally, we average the responses of all ten volunteers to the test food; this is the GI value which we publish. If the average test food response area (i.e., the area under the curve) is only 40 percent of the reference food, then the GI of the test food is 40. Not everyone will give exactly the same number, of course, but the law of averages applies. If we tested them over and over again, people would all tend to congregate around the same number.
Because each person is his or her own control, testing foods in volunteers with diabetes or prediabetes gives approximately the same GI values as testing people who don’t have diabetes.
In practice, the average result in the group of ten healthy people is the published GI value of the food. At least 240 blood glucose assays (the technical term for the test measuring the blood glucose) will have been made to generate that number. In some labs, up to 640 assays are
made. So there is nothing crude about GI testing.
For example, the GI value of bread (70) means that the overall fluctuation in blood glucose after eating a serve of white bread will be about 70 percent of the effect of an equivalent amount of carbohydrate from pure glucose (GI value of 100).
If you want to know more about GI testing or find an accredited laboratory to test your food product, drop me an email: alan@gisymbol.com
For more information about the GI Symbol Program
Dr Alan W Barclay, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Glycemic Index Foundation (Ltd)
Phone: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Mob: +61 (0)416 111 046
Fax: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Email: alan@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com
Professor Jennie Brand-Miller’s Low GI Diet Shopper’s Guide 2011 out now
Australia’s #1 low GI shopper’s guide will help you make the switch to a low GI diet by putting the low GI choices into your shopping trolley and on the table. The 2011 edition is even easier to use and includes:
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Redefining wholegrains
According to market research organization Mintel, 2010 is set to be the biggest year ever for wholegrain product launches with 651 wholegrain products launched in the US. We asked Prof Jennie Brand-Miller if it was time to take a closer look at the definition of ‘wholegrains’ for product labelling.
Prof Jennie Brand-Miller
‘Consume more wholegrains is enshrined in dietary guidelines around the globe and has become something of a mantra by doctors, dietitians and nutritionists. But does the science stack up to scrutiny? When you see ‘wholegrains’ (or ‘whole grains’ ) on front of pack, do you assume it’s the real McCoy? Has it got everything that the original whole grain had - all the micronutrients and characteristics that make whole grains into health foods? Well, I think we are being hoodwinked. Wholegrain products might have started with the germ, the endosperm and the bran of the grain, but in many cases, the finished product has been cooked, flaked, toasted, puffed and popped beyond recognition. It’s a long, long way from the grain that came in nature’s packaging.
It’s true that many scientific studies have found that consuming more wholegrains (brown bread, brown rice, brown pasta etc) is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease. For example, the Nurses’ Health Study reported that women who ate the most (an average of 2.5 servings a day) wholegrains – generally wholegrain breakfast cereals, brown rice and wholewheat bread – were 30% less likely to develop heart disease than women eating merely a single serving of these foods a week.
Unfortunately, studies like this don’t prove that wholegrains are responsible for the good health outcomes. It’s highly likely that people who choose to eat wholegrain foods are unique human beings and health conscious in all sorts of ways. They don’t smoke, they try to be physically active, they eat less red meat and more fruit and vegetables. Of course, good studies will statistically “adjust” for these confounders, as they are called. But I have a niggling feeling that not all the confounders may have been accounted for. Perhaps the person who chooses brown rice over white rice looks after their health in ways that are not yet recorded by researchers eg they eat more slowly, they breathe deeply and they get less stressed.
There are clinical trials in which wholegrains were consumed as one component of a healthy eating pattern (less saturated fat and salt, more fruit, vegies and fibre) but we can’t conclude that the presence of wholegrains were essential for the good outcome. I mention this because there are very few clinical trials that have directly compared a “brown” diet with a “white” diet that was otherwise identical. In the largest clinical trial of its sort to date, UK researchers, found that when they provided 316 overweight men and women with a range of wholegrain foods and asked them to substitute them “like for like” for refined grain foods in their typical diet over a 16 week period, there was not even a hint of difference in heart risk (cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin sensitivity and a range of common inflammatory markers) between those who substituted wholegrain foods into their diet, and those who didn’t (the control group). Rather than substitute wholegrains for refined grains, the people actually ate the wholegrains as well as the refined grains, and the authors postulated that this may be the way that the average person interprets dietary guidelines that simply advise people to eat more wholegrains (and not cut back on refined grains). This study should have sounded a note of caution about health claims for wholegrain-rich foods and cardiovascular health ... but it hasn’t.
Most recently, an editorial in a scientific journal extolled the virtues of a wholegrains and the dangers of refined grains. Yet the editorial was actually prompted by a new study that found that replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates with high-glycemic index (GI) values was associated with increased future risk of myocardial infarction in a cohort of Danish men and women. In contrast, replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates with low GI values appeared to be protective.
The editorialist, however, equated high GI carbohydrates with refined carbohydrates and sugar. Unfortunately, this is unscientific, wishful thinking. The reality is that for most cereal products today, both the “white” version and the “brown” version have a high GI. Nor is it correct to imply that low GI carbohydrates are less processed and refined. Nearly all kinds of white pasta have a low GI, as do some varieties of white rice, canned legumes, fruit juices, dairy products (sweetened or otherwise), and many confectionery items containing refined sugars. Thus many low GI foods are “processed” products. Nonetheless, low GI and low glycemic load diets have been associated with good health outcomes in scores of observational studies and clinical trials. What’s more, the “health bias” that accompanies diet rich in wholegrain foods is absent because the GI is still a term that means little to many.
For all these reasons, I’d like to suggest that we re-define wholegrains as “foods that not only contain the germ, the endosperm and the bran, but also the GI characteristics of the original grain”. At least then, we might see some real benefits of eating wholegrains.’
Back to the future with dietary guidelines
The dietary guidelines for Americans should focus on whole foods and eating patterns rather than individual nutrients, argue Dr Dariush Mozaffarian and Dr David Ludwig in the Journal of the American Medical Association pointing out that this is not a radical approach at all, but a return to more traditional, time-tested ways of eating.
Dr David Ludwig
‘The greater the focus on nutrients, the less healthful foods have become,’ they write. ‘The prevailing nutrient-focused approach … contributes to confusion, distracts from more effective strategies, and promotes marketing and consumption of processed products that nominally meet selected nutrient cut points but undermine overall dietary quality.’ Little of the information found on food label “nutrition facts” panels provides useful guidance for selecting healthier foods to prevent chronic disease they say.
‘In contrast … specific foods and dietary patterns substantially affect chronic disease risk, as shown by controlled trials of risk factors and prospective cohorts of disease end points. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts are consistently associated with lower risk of disease. Fish consumption reduces risk of cardiac mortality, belying categorization with other protein sources. Conversely, processed meats, packaged and fast foods, and sugar sweetened beverages increase chronic disease risk …
Healthy eating patterns share many characteristics, emphasizing whole or minimally processed foods and vegetable oils, with few highly processed foods or sugary beverages. Such diets are also naturally lower in salt, trans fat, saturated fat, refined carbohydrates, and added sugars; are higher in unsaturated fats, fiber, antioxidants, minerals, and phytochemicals; and are more satiating. Thus, a focus on foods increases the likelihood of consuming more healthy nutrients and fewer calories and decreasing chronic disease risk, whereas the opposite has arguably occurred through decades of nutrient-focused guidelines.’
Make your healthy eating pattern low GI and ‘cruise instead of spike and crash’ says Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe
The new GI Symbol is now appearing in its very first TV commercial thanks very much to Ian Thorpe who generously donated his time and efforts to help the GI Foundation get the word out about a healthy low GI diet. The commercial provides a brief explanation of the GI, along with a showcase of high and low GI foods. View it HERE.
For our readers who live in the US or UK where the GI Symbol has yet to appear on foods, check out our tips on choosing foods that will lower the GI of your diet HERE.
Walk to Cure Diabetes on 17th October
Walk to Cure Diabetes is JDRF’s biggest and most popular event. It unites tens of thousands of people in raising money for research and gives family and friends the chance to get involved. Please join in and make a difference on October 17th all around Australia.
It’s a good year to step out because 2010 marks the 40th year of JDRF’s existence (it was founded in the US in 1970), the first few as a small but passionate collection of parents under the banner of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, who remarkably pushed the scientific community to focus on a disease that had been ignored for more than half a century. Today, JDRF is a global leader in diabetes research, the go-to organization for the diabetes research community, and the best source of hope for better treatments and a cure for people with type 1 diabetes and its complications.
JDRF’s mission has been constant since it was founded: to find a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications by supporting research. Until a cure is found, JDRF is also committed to working tirelessly to develop new and better treatments to improve the lives of people who have type 1 diabetes and keep them as healthy as possible. Internationally, JDRF has been involved in funding every major type 1 diabetes breakthrough of the last four decades including:
The scoop on desserts
Emma Stirling APD
As well as nourishing the body, good food plays a pivotal role in our enjoyment and celebration of life. Last month Hershey’s chocolate company launched a partnership with the American Dietitian’s Association – Moderation Nation. It’s designed to give American’s access to a free, first consult with a dietitian. But it has opened plenty of debate, including the interpretation of what the word ‘moderation’ means with healthy eating.
Indulgence is the word more often found partnering desserts, not moderation. So where do sweet treats fit in a low GI diet if you want to keep a healthy weight and manage blood glucose levels?
First of all, you are more likely to stick to your dietary goals or eating plan if you include an occasional treat rather than deprive yourself. In fact, finishing your meal with something sweet can help signal the brain’s satiety/satisfaction appetite centre and stop you hunting around the kitchen for a little something extra.
Secondly, moderation is easy if you share an indulgent dessert, use a smaller bowl or make just enough so there’s no temptation for seconds or thirds.
Most importantly desserts can be delicious way to lower the GI of your diet and up your intake of fruit and low-fat dairy foods all in one go. So, here’s the scoop on what to do:
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