GI News—November 2014

• What you need to know about stevia; 
• Dr Alan Barclay on the fibre paradox; 
• Prof Jennie Brand-Miller: why we don't talk about simple and complex carbs any more; 
• Fat cats, hungry birds and jet-lagged mice; 
• Put fun into fitness with walking says Emma Sandall; 
• Nicole Senior checks out sweet strawberries and Anneka Manning and Johanna Burani show us how to make the most of them.

GI News 
Editor: Philippa Sandall
Management and design: Alan Barclay, PhD
Contact: info@gisymbol.com
Technical problems or faults: smb.ginewstech@sydney.edu.au
GI testing: sugirs.manager@sydney.edu.au

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Food for Thought

Paradoxically... 
When it comes to paradoxes, nutrition science produces its fair share. The French paradox has been followed by the Spanish paradox, the Australian paradox, the alpine paradox and more.

The French paradox was based on observational studies that found that despite enjoying their cheese, butter, cream, foie gras and confit de canard, French people had low rates of coronary heart disease (CHD), in seeming contradiction to epidemiological research from the 1950s that had shown that that eating lots of saturated fat increases your risk of CHD. What were the French doing the rest of us weren’t?



Writing in The Lancet in 1992, Professor Serge Rénaud (“father of the catchphrase”) suggested that a glass of red wine might be the mitigating factor. “In most countries, high intake of saturated fat is positively related to high mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the situation in France is paradoxical in that there is high intake of saturated fat but low mortality from CHD. This paradox may be attributable in part to high wine consumption. Epidemiological studies indicate that consumption of alcohol at the level of intake in France (20–30 g per day) can reduce risk of CHD by at least 40%.” One has to say “the rest is history”. The outcome was an increase in red wine sales and numerous best-sellers sharing the secrets behind the French paradox with us.

What a success story, but sadly, too good to be true. It’s just a story. We now know it is wrong to assume that saturated fat is all that matters to predict CHD risk, it is just one of many dietary, lifestyle and genetic factors involved. And it is wrong to suggest drinking a few glasses of red wine will make it better. If anything, the whole story proves once more the concept that the balance of diet in general is more important than any single component in preventing disease and ensuring good health and it’s not a good idea to take the findings from observational studies of one group of people and willy-nilly apply them to another. So let’s not go there again, which brings us to some current single-nutrient solutions.

Based on the best available evidence, certain factors in carb-containing foods have been identified as “good” (e.g., fibre) and “bad” (e.g., added sugar). Much of the evidence for fibre and bowel cancer and added sugar and type 2 diabetes, however, is only observational: data analysis has come up with associations. Such findings don’t prove cause and effect, for that you need well designed clinical trials which take time, money and ethics approval, which tends to put them in the “too-hard-not-feasible” basket. So, back to observational and animal studies.

In our own backyard here in Australia, our health authorities adopted the international advice to increase fibre to protect us from bowel cancer and to decrease added sugars so we don’t get fat or get type 2 diabetes. Obedient as ever in public health matters, Australians have taken this advice on board: our consumption of added sugars is down and our consumption of fibre is up. But we haven’t been rewarded with the expected health outcomes: we have some of the highest colorectal cancer rates in the world and our rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes continue to rise. Now that’s a paradox, isn’t it?

Not really. The focus on the magic bullet, simple “single nutrient” message is the wrong message; as Dr David Katz says it is repeating the “dietary follies of history”. “We can never get to good diets (or good health) one nutrient (or food) at a time.”

In his review, The French Paradox: Lessons for Other Countries,  Jean Ferrières writes: “The French paradox does not teach other countries any lessons since each country has probably its own appropriate preventive solutions. In primary prevention, adherence to lifestyle guidelines is associated with a very low risk of CHD. The French paradox concept should foster research on protective CHD risk factors while conveying, in primary prevention, messages promoting healthy behaviour such as regular physical exercise, optimal diet, and life without smoking.”

What's new?

Sweet as! Four stories on sugars and sweetness feature in this issue of GI News. 
Run Rodent, Run! 
In September 2014, a study linking artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose and saccharin) to the risk of diabetes hit the headlines. If you saw the headlines, you may have been tempted to bin your favourite alternative sweetener. What got lost in reporting was the fact that most of this research was in mice. They were overfed pure saccharin – the sweetener identified by the researchers as the most potent, and the focus of the majority of the research in the rodents. The result: it altered their glucose tolerance and gut bacteria (microbiome). The small observational study in humans tacked on the end of the report looked at all sweeteners, but it was in a very small number of people for this kind of research, and it only proves associations – not causality. Dr Alan Barclay has put some context around this.

• Saccharin has been around for over 100 years and the diabesity epidemic has only developed over the last few decades. 
• The use of saccharin is decreasing. It is no longer a particularly popular alternative sweetener—aspartame (which was included in the study), stevia and cyclamate are much more widely used in Australia. 
• The rats were fed around 17 times more saccharin than a typical (Australian) adult consumes according to the results of Australia’s most recent sweetener survey. 

“Perhaps the simple conclusion” says Alan “should have been that it’s not a great idea to feed your pet mouse vast quantities of pure saccharin. The take-home? Ultimately, the dose makes the poison. Even too much water can kill you.”

Next time you see sensationalist headlines proclaiming “X” sweetener causes obesity / diabetes / heart disease, etc... ask: Was the research conducted in people; and would you consume the amount of sweetener the participants were fed on a regular basis over a long period of time? If you answer no, chances are the research finding does not mean much to you. If you choose to use an alternative sweetener to help cut calories or manage your blood glucose levels, do so in moderation (as in all things), and opt for using a variety of nonnutritive sweeteners to reduce the likelihood of excessive consumption of any single one.

Fat cats. 
We have a soft spot for things that taste sweet. Cats don’t. The mammalian sweet receptor is composed of two protein subunits, known as T1R2 and T1R3. Each is coded for by a separate gene. In place of a functional sweet taste receptor gene, researchers from the Monell Chemical Senses Center discovered that domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) have a defect in the gene encoding the T1R2 protein that makes them unable to detect sweet tastes. They also detected the same gene defect in tiger and cheetah, suggesting that it is common to species throughout the cat family.

“This type of gene is known as a pseudogene and is somewhat like a molecular fossil,” comments Xia Li, PhD, a molecular geneticist at Monell. “It presumably once coded a functional protein, but no longer does so.” Li explains, “Genes contain signals that indicate the start and stop points for information about the amino acid sequence of a given protein. We found a deletion of 247 base pairs in the gene that codes for T1R2 in the cat. As a consequence of this deletion, the stop point is shifted. The T1R2 protein is not made and thus is unavailable to join with T1R3 to form a working sweet taste receptor.” This molecular change was very likely an important event in the evolution of the cat’s carnivorous behaviour according to the researchers.



But around 57.6 percent of the domestic cat population in the US is overweight or obese according to research carried out by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP). Since it can’t be an excess of added sugars they are consuming, perhaps it’s a case of way too many calories and a super-sedentary lifestyle?

Hungry Birds. 
Our sweet tooth has a long history we reported in GI News in January 2013.The earliest visual evidence is in rock art dating back thousands of years that depicts honeycombs, swarms of bees, and honey collecting. But there is also much older evidence in the evolution of the mutually beneficial relationship between the honeyguide bird and the hunter-gatherer in Africa. Yale anthropologist Brian Wood and his co-researchers describe this in Evolution and Human Behaviour.


Photo courtesy Brian Wood

“When searching their woodlands for nests of honey bees, Hadza hunter-gatherers (an ethnic group that has traditionally subsisted from hunting and gathering who live in northern Tanzania near Lake Eyasi) are often helped by the Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator), a bird that flies ahead of them, leading them to nests of the honey bee, Apis mellifera .... During a typical guiding sequence, a honey-hunter follows the bird as it swoops, widely fanning its feathers, from one perch to another, and the two engage in an ongoing exchange of whistles and chatter. The honeyguide eventually perches near the nest of an A. mellifera colony, which is usually inside a tree. The honey-hunter then conducts a final search for the exact tree and nest location. After finding the nest, the honey-hunter lights a torch, climbs up to the nest entrance, blows in smoke to subdue the bees, chops open the tree with an axe, and reaches in for the honeycomb. While this happens, the honeyguide usually perches quietly nearby. The special nature of the Hadza-honeyguide relationship is attested to by the fact that honeyguides often perch comfortably within arrow-shot distance of Hadza, even though men hunt other bird species of similar size.”

What is the origin of this behaviour? ... We propose that in a first, commensal phase, honeyguides preyed upon the bee nests and discarded honeycomb that hominins made available through their honey hunting. In a second, mutualistic phase, honeyguides evolved the habit of actively leading hominins to bee nests. Finally, in a third phase of manipulative mutualism, hominins began to actively change the payoffs received by honeyguides – either by actively “rewarding” them or by reducing their immediate payoff. The Hadza we observed did not actively reward honeyguides, but such may occur in other contexts ... Based on within-species mtDNA variation scientists conservatively estimate that I. indicator is at least 3 million years old. We think it is reasonable to assume that an initial commensal association between hominins (Ardipithecus ramidus or an Australopithicine) and honeyguides arose in the Pliocene.”

Jet-Lagged Mice?
Who can resist a story about jet-lagged mice?  We can't, and neither could Ted Kyle of ConscienHealth. Those headlines about jet-lagged mice and jet-lag causing obesity all come from a new publication in Cell that's really about the effect of a disrupted sleep cycle on gut microbes. You can read all about it HERE. 

Understanding stevia.
Coca-Cola is about to launch the lower-kilojoule Coca-Cola Life in Australia. Like Pepsi Next, it’s a blend of stevia and sugar that provides the sweetness. So what is stevia? This edited extract from The Ultimate Guide to Sugars and Sweeteners  reproduced courtesy The Experiment Publishing (New York) explains. 




Stevia’s leaves contain steviol glycosides – some of the sweetest plant compounds that have been successfully commercialized as high-intensity sweeteners. Stevioside and rebaudioside A are the two you will find in foods and beverages and in tabletop and pourable products. They have zero calories and no impact on blood glucose levels, because the body does not metabolize them and they are excreted.

The favorite marketing word to describe steviol glycosides is “natural” because they come from a plant and are not entirely created in a laboratory beaker. Manufacturers tend to describe the extraction process as similar to making tea: steeping the leaves in water, then purifying the sweet extract. In fact, the journey through the laboratory to get to the sweetener in the packet or box is a little more complicated. Here’s how it was described in the JEFCA Compendium of Food Additive Specifications: 'The leaves are extracted with hot water and the aqueous extract is passed through an adsorption resin to trap and concentrate the component steviol glycosides. The resin is washed with a solvent alcohol to release the glycosides and the product is recrystallized from methanol or aqueous ethanol. Ion exchange resins may be used in the purification process. The final product may be spray-dried.'

Stevia consumer products come in sachets, tablets, liquids, and spoon-for-spoon granules. As with other high-intensity sweeteners, the ingredients list for stevia will include bulking and anticaking agents so you can pour it into a cup of coffee or measure it into your cooking and baking. In fact, when you buy stevia, you are often buying a lot of erythritol; in some brands over 99 percent of the product is erythritol. For this reason, some products are low calorie, not zero calorie, so it is important to check the ingredients list.

So, is it better for you? “It does have benefits over sugars,” says dietitian Dr Alan Barclay. “It is a good option for people who want to cut back on calories (kilojoules) and for those who need to avoid blood glucose spikes. But adding stevia to soft drinks to replace all or some of the sugars does not provide a licence to anyone to drink large quantities of these beverages. It’s no panacea. It is a better option, but water is the best choice if you want a cool drink. And claims that stevia is a key ingredient in the fight against obesity are overblown.”

Nicole's Taste of Health

Berry, berry good. 
I’ve got strawberries growing in pots and they’re coming on beautifully, however I did lose a few to Mr Two who took a while to understand you have to wait until they’re red to pick them; he didn’t seem to mind eating them green but they don’t ripen after picking.



He loves strawberries, and most kids do. They’re beautiful to look at too. They are the only fruit with the seeds on the outside, with each fruit carrying an average of two hundred. Visiting a berry farm to pick your own is a great family outing. Eating a fresh strawberry at its best is a delight. Go in the morning while the fruit is still cool. I’m growing them with black plastic over the top of the soil – I just opened up old plastic shopping bag – to keep the fruit clean and the soil moist, like they do on commercial strawberry farms.

Strawberry ‘runners’ are planted by hand in winter and produce fruit in spring, although greenhouse strawberries are available all year round. Strawberries are fragile and picked and packed by hand making them a fairly labour-intensive commercial crop.

Choose plump, red, shiny berries without white bits to ensure maximum freshness, sweetness and flavour. Avoid packs with squashed berries and juice in the bottom that indicates old or overripe fruit. Strawberries are best stored in the fridge, spread out in a single layer to avoid damage, but taste their best at room temperature so take them out for a while before eating. Wash gently in cool water (do not soak) before hulling and eating and allow to air-dry or pat gently with paper towel.

Strawberries are fabulous eaten as a snack but they also lend themselves to different serving ideas: strawberries and ice cream or cream is a classic simple dessert, and the antipodean specialty pavlova begs for strawberries on top.

• Strawberry shortcake is the stuff of fairy tales, and strawberries add beautiful colour to a fruit salad. 
• A strawberry smoothie just screams “healthy”, as a chocolate coated strawberry says “a treat with benefits”. 
• For something different, marinate halved strawberries in balsamic vinegar and a little icing sugar and serve with finely shredded fresh basil. It sounds odd but do try it on toast with a dollop of ricotta, as a filling for crepes or jaffles, in a parfait, or in an ice cream sundae. 

They are best eaten on the day you buy them but if your strawberries last long enough to go mushy, cook them up with a sprinkle of sugar to make your own sauce (when pureed and strained this is called a coulis) you can then chill and serve over natural yoghurt, ice cream, wholegrain breakfast cereal or wholegrain English muffins with ricotta. Strawberries can also be frozen for up to a year (and commercially frozen berries are good value for enjoying them out of season). They can be frozen whole in a single layer with stem to preserve their shape, or after cooking.

Strawberries are rich in vitamin C, with one cup providing 180% of the recommended daily intake. They are also high in the B-vitamin folate needed for a healthy heart and healthy pregnancy. Like other berries, strawberries are low natural sugars, low in kilojoules, low GI and packed with beneficial flavonoid antioxidants. They are also a source of fibre for digestive health and potassium for better blood pressure.

Just the other day Mr Two mistook a red heart shape in a book for a strawberry, which I thought was very appropriate considering how much we both love strawberries. The only down side is waiting for them to ripen on the vine, but all good things come to those who wait.

Buon appetito!


Nicole Senior is an Accredited Nutritionist, author and consultant who strives to make healthy food taste terrific. You can follow her on Twitter or Facebook or checkout her website

In the GI News Kitchen

Family Baking.
Anneka Manning, founder of Sydney’s BakeClub, shares her delicious ‘better-for-you’ recipes for snacks, desserts and treats the whole family will love. Through both her writing and cooking school, Anneka teaches home cooks to bake in practical and approachable yet inspiring ways that assure success in the kitchen.

 
 
Strawberry, maple and pistachio parfait. 
A delicious combination of nuts, seeds and oats layered with sweet fresh strawberries and thick Greek-style yoghurt, it is hard to go past this parfait at breakfast time.

• Preparation time: 15 minutes 
• Baking time: 12–15 minutes 
• Serves: 8 

800g natural Greek-style yoghurt
625g (2½ punnets) ripe strawberries, hulled and quartered

Maple and pistachio granola
½ cup traditional rolled oats (oatmeal)
½ cup unsalted pistachio kernels, coarsely chopped
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup pure maple syrup or pure floral honey
1 teaspoon natural vanilla essence or extract



To make the Maple and pistachio granola, preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F (150°C/300°F fan-forced). Line a large oven tray with non-stick baking paper.
Combine the oats, pistachios, coconut, sunflower seeds, pepitas and cinnamon in a medium bowl and toss to combine. Combine the maple syrup and vanilla, pour over the oat mixture and toss to combine evenly.
Spread on the lined tray and bake in preheated oven for 12–15 minutes, tossing twice during baking, until golden. Set aside to cool to room temperature (see Baker’s Tip).
To assemble the parfait, layer the yoghurt, granola and strawberries in glasses or dishes, finishing with a little sprinkling of granola. Serve immediately.

Baker’s tip 
Keep a jar of this granola in an airtight jar or container in the pantry, so you can whip up the parfait anytime you please. The granola will keep at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Per serve 
1430 kJ/ 340 calories; 14 g protein; 21 g fat (includes 7 g saturated fat; saturated:unsaturated fat ratio 0.33); 21 g available carbs (includes 14 g sugars and 7 g starch); 6 g fibre; sodium:potassium ratio 0.13

What’s for dinner? A taste of Diane Temple's Money Saving Meals. 
Red beef and pumpkin curry. 
Diane Temple says: “I usually make this with light coconut milk, but by using light and creamy coconut flavoured evaporated milk you boost the protein and cut the saturated fat right back.” Serves 4.

1 tbsp peanut oil 350g (12oz) rump steak, thinly sliced
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 tbsp red curry paste (or to taste)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
375ml (14oz) can light coconut milk or light and creamy coconut flavoured evaporated milk
500g (1lb2 oz) pumpkin, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks
120g (4oz) green beans, trimmed, sliced in half
1 tbsp fish sauce 1 tbsp table sugar
1½ cups low GI brown rice or brown basmati rice (cooked)
chopped peanuts or chopped coriander or both (optional)



Heat the wok or large frying pan over high heat, add the oil and when hot (not before), stir-fry the beef in two batches for 1–2 minutes until brown. Set the beef aside in a heatproof bowl.
Stir-fry the onion for 2 minutes then add the curry paste and garlic and stir to combine. Pour in the coconut milk, stirring until the curry paste has dissolved and bring just to the boil. Add the pumpkin chunks, cover (with a lid or foil), reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10–12 minutes until the pumpkin is just tender (but not mushy) ... Meanwhile, cook the rice following the packet directions.
Add the green beans and the cooked beef to the wok, and simmer for 2 minutes until everything is piping hot and the beans are tender-crisp. Add the fish sauce and sugar, a teaspoon of each at a time, to achieve a flavour balance you like.
Spoon the rice onto four serving plates and top with the curried beef and a scattering of chopped peanuts or coriander for extra crunch and colour if you wish.

Per serving (with rice and made with light and creamy evaporated coconut milk)
Energy: 1826 kJ/ 436 cals; Protein 33 g; Fat 12 g (includes 4 g saturated fat; saturated:unsaturated fat ratio 0.33); Carbs 46 g; Fibre 4


Recipe courtesy Money Saving Meals published by Hachette Australia. Available from bookshops and online. Print and eBook editions now available.

Johanna's Italian Kitchen
American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares her favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI. For more information, check out Johanna's website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is photosbysergio.com.

 

Strawberries amandine.
Simply slice and chop and it is ready to serve. As with all fruit, serve these strawberries only in the peak of their growing season. Note this recipe uses a 15ml tablespoon.) Servings: 4 (1 cup each)

450g/1lb medium-sized fresh strawberries (about 24)
2 tbsp (30ml) Amaretto di Saronno liqueur
30g/1oz almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped (about 24)



Place the whole strawberries in a bowl with cold water and swish them around to remove surface dirt. Drain, run under faucet water, drain again and pat dry with paper towels.
Remove stems and leaves and create a small wedge at the top of each strawberry using a knife or small melon baller. (I use a demitasse spoon.)
Quarter the strawberries horizontally and place them in a mixing bowl. Add the amaretto, mix well.
Spoon an equal amount of the strawberries into 4 individual dessert cups, top with the toasted almonds and serve immediately. Per serving

Per serve
Energy 490kJ/117cals; Protein 2g; Fat 4g (includes 0g saturated fat); Available carbohydrate 10g (includes sugars 6g; starch 7g); Fibre 3g; sodium:potassium ratio 0.003

Putting the Fun Back into Fitness with Emma Sandall

Walking. 
Spring is here in Sydney. It seems to bestow on us all a bright energy, just like the flowers coming into bloom. My friends and I decided that this is the year of exploring more of the city we live in: getting to know all its nooks and crannies; its beautiful coastlines and public spaces. And we’re doing this by organising regular Sunday morning walks together.


The Bondi to Bronte walk and the delights of Sculpture by the Sea

Walking – at a moderate-to-fast pace – is a type of Long Slow Distance training, that is great for your heart health. Simply put, it elevates your heart rate and keeps it there for a sustained period of time. This “time under exertion” gradually builds strength in the muscle itself, and in so doing improves your cardiovascular fitness.

Running and jogging can get the heart rate up quicker and make your body work harder, but you can do a lot of good just by going for a nice long walk (try an hour or two). You are less likely to injure yourself, or exacerbate any existing niggles. And you will have more time and focus to absorb beautiful and interesting sights as you go.

This is a great activity to enjoy with friends and family. Rather than sitting down face to face and revisiting the same conversations, or repeating patterns of behaviour – some of which are not so positive in nature – walking breaks it up by getting you out and about. I find it inspires new ideas and topics and brings greater awareness of the shared experience. And because being active naturally releases good exercise endorphins, you’ll most likely find your conversations brighter, and more “light-hearted” as well.

When you are out and about, you will cross paths with fellow walkers, a friendly community of folk by and large. Most like to exchange a word or two about the track, what they have seen, where they have been, what’s in flower, or a vista that’s just around the bend. In Sydney we are tremendously lucky with the variety of walks we have available for all seasons. City and suburban walks: parks, beaches, coastlines, bush and mountains a hop, skip and a jump from your front door. There are now terrific apps and publications to tell you about all the different walks in your area, providing information about their length, difficulty, and how to get there.

It’s a good idea to be a little prepared for walking – although it is really not a paraphernalia-dense activity. Taking along a bottle of water, a hat, sun cream and sunglasses is a good idea. I cannot walk without my camera as every bend seems to frame a new perfect shot! And make sure your shoes are right for the terrain. Blisters are no fun at all.
 

Emma Sandall is an ex-ballerina turned fitness and health guru. She teaches and coaches dance, fitness and Pilates and writes and produces video for all things movement related. Emma runs Body Playground, a space to activate and inspire body and soul.

Perspectives with Dr Alan Barclay

Australia's Dietary Fibre Paradox. 
Bowel cancer, or colorectal cancer (CRC) to use its more scientific name, is one of the most common cancers in Australian men and women with 62 out of every 100,000 people diagnosed each year. It is also a leading cause of cancer in the USA (44 diagnosed per 100,000 people) and UK (47 per 100,000 people) and many other countries that enjoy the so-called Western diet.

Systematic reviews of observational studies around the world tell us that a high intake of dietary fibre, in particular cereal fibre and whole grains, is associated with a reduction in the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Hence the common dietary guideline: enjoy daily “Grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties”.

“Australians have taken the advice to eat more fibre very seriously and consume fibre at high levels, largely as cereal fibres. This has not led to the anticipated fall in CRC rates, which remain high” say CSIRO’s Drs David Topping and Michael Conlon in the Medical Journal of Australia. They have coined the phrase the Australian Fibre Paradox to describe this unexpected outcome. Indeed, in 1983, the average Australian adult (25–64 years of age) consumed just under 22 grams of dietary fibre each day and in 2011–12, they consumed just over 23 grams each day – not a huge increase, but an increase nevertheless. And from a Western perspective, Australians are relatively high fibre consumers, with our UK and US cousins consuming on average around 14 grams and 16 grams, respectively. Despite this, Australians have higher rates of bowel cancer than people living in both the UK and US. A fibre paradox indeed.

Topping and Conlon go on to say: “Emerging evidence now shows that many of the actions of fibre are mediated through short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), principally acetate, propionate and butyrate, produced by the fermentation of its constituents by beneficial large-bowel bacteria ... Resistant starch [a kind of dietary fibre] is fermented extensively in the large bowel, producing SCFAs, which promote a normal colonocyte phenotype – possibly lowering CRC ... Levels of resistant starch in most Australian processed consumer foods are low, suggesting a general deficiency of fermentable substrate – and thus a collectively hungry microbiome. We suggest that filling this gap by increasing the availability of new fermentable fibre-rich foods to feed the colonic microbiota and raise large-bowel SCFA levels has considerable potential to improve the health of the population.”.

Or in other words decrease the risk of colorectal cancer in Australia.


Carisma potato salad with lemon-yogurt dressing

One way of increasing the resistant starch content of foods is eating foods cold after cooking them – potato, pasta and rice salads are classic examples, but even reheated starchy foods are thought to provide some additional benefits if you don’t like to eat them cold. Other good sources of resistant starches include legumes, rolled oats, barley and bananas (not over ripe). Regular GI News readers will recognise that many of the foods higher in resistant starch have a lower GI and that heating then cooling common starchy foods is one way of lowering the GI (e.g., potatoes).

What the emerging evidence is suggesting is that all dietary fibres are not the same and that simply eating more fibre in total may not provide all of the expected health benefits.

Unfortunately, it’s more complicated than that.
  
Alan Barclay (BSc; Grad Dip; PhD, APD, AN) is a consultant dietitian and Chief Scientific Officer at the Glycemic Index Foundation. He worked for Diabetes Australia (NSW) from 1998-2014 and is a member of the editorial boards of Diabetes Australia’s consumer magazine, Conquest, and health professional magazine, Diabetes Management Journal. He is coauthor of The Low GI Diet: Diabetes Handbook, The Low GI Diet: Managing Type 2 Diabetes, and The Ultimate Guide to Sugars and Sweeteners. Contact: alan.barclay@gisymbol.com or 0416 111 046

News from the Glycemic Index Foundation

New Total Wellbeing Diet plus low GI carbs online program. 
The Glycemic Index Foundation has joined forces with CSIRO in an enhanced version of the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet. We are seeking up to 5000 Australians between the ages of 18 and 74 to take part in a three-month trial of the online program, which will enable us to better understand the needs of today's digital dieters. “This new and improved Total Wellbeing Diet takes the glycemic index seriously, building on research undertaken by CSIRO and Glycemic Index Foundation (GIF). It gives you a proven diet for long-term, sustainable weight control and well-being,” says Professor Jennie Brand-Miller.


Fennel-crusted pork fillet with parsnip and baked apple from The Total Wellbeing Diet (Book 1). Photo courtesy Penguin Books

• What do you have to do? Participants will be asked to provide information on their diet choices and weight loss via an online program diary. 
• What do you get when you sign up? Participants can access more than 500 high protein recipes with low GI carbohydrate foods online and customise meals swapping this for that to suit their tastes and dietary preferences. There are also exercise programs to maximise the weight loss and wellness benefits. 
• What does it cost? This sign-up fee is A$99.00. However, this will be fully refunded to participants who complete the 12-week program and weigh in each week. 
• Who is behind it? CSIRO has licensed the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet to SP Health in collaboration with the Glycemic Index Foundation. To find out more about the trial or register, visit: www.totalwellbeingdiet.com

Q&A with Prof. Jennie Brand-Miller

Prof Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions. 


Why don’t you use the terms simple and complex carbohydrates anymore?
Research on the glycemic index over the past 30+ years has shown us that using terms like “simple” or “complex” tells us nothing about how the carbohydrates in the foods and beverages we consume affect our blood glucose levels. And for people with diabetes who must manage their BGLs, that’s what matters.

For many years, the nature of carbohydrates was described by their chemical structure. They were either simple or complex and it was all about size. Sugars were simple and starches were complex. Why? Well sugars were small molecules and starches were big ones. From this, it was assumed that big starch carbohydrates would be slowly digested and absorbed and would therefore cause only a small and gradual rise in blood glucose levels. So they were called “complex” and this implied healthy. Smaller sugar carbohydrates were assumed to be digested and absorbed quickly, producing a rapid increase in blood glucose simply because they were small. So we called them “simple” and gave the impression that they were not so good for us.



Then along came David Jenkins and Tom Wolever’s ground-breaking research on the glycemic index. It challenged these assumptions with real science. It showed us what actually happens in our bodies with real foods in real people and blood tests (something that had never been done before). It showed us that the rise in blood glucose after meals cannot be predicted on the basis of molecule size or chemical structure. In other words, the old distinctions between starchy foods (complex carbohydrates) and sugary foods (simple carbohydrates) had no useful application when it came to blood glucose levels – and all of the health issues that relate to them. The GI is the only way you can rank the glycemic potency of the carbohydrates in different foods exactly as they are eaten.

Professor Jennie Brand-Miller (AM, PhD, FAIFST, FNSA, MAICD) is an internationally recognised authority on carbohydrates and the glycemic index with over 250 scientific publications. She holds a Personal Chair in Human Nutrition in the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders and Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney. She is the coauthor of many books for the consumer on the glycemic index and health.

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GI News—October 2014

• Food addiction? Unlikely. Eating addiction is more likely;
• Dr Alan Barclay on the sodium/potassium balance; 
• Prof Jennie Brand-Miller on total carbs, net carbs and available carbs; 
• What you need to know about inulin; 
• Emma Sandall talks to Rhys Johnson about skating for fun and fitness; 
• Nicole Senior checks out broccoli and Anneka Manning and Johanna Burani make the most of this wonderful veg; 
• Ottolenghi's roasted chicken with Jerusalem artichoke and lemon.  

GI News 
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Food for Thought

What’s for dinner? The omnivore’s daily dilemma. 
“Omnivores, such as rats and humans, faced with an enormous number of potential foods, must choose wisely. They are always in danger of eating something harmful or eating too much of a good thing.” (Paul Rozin, 1976)

In his Omnivore’s Dilemma Michael Pollan reminds us of the pros and cons of being a generalist. On the plus side, it has allowed us to inhabit every continent on earth (even Antarctica) and enjoy the pleasures of variety. On the minus, a surfeit of choice (for the fortunate among us) brings stress and the need to divide food into The Good Things to Eat and The Bad.

These days, lacking what Pollan calls “a steadying culture of food”, many of us turn to experts for advice on what’s good to eat and what’s not. There’s an army of them (some more well-intentioned than others) out there ready and willing. In alphabetical order and offering varying levels of expertise and accuracy our advisers may include the following: academics • advertisers • bloggers and twitterers • chefs and cooks • commodity groups • diet companies • dietary guidelines committees • dietitians • doctors • family and friends • film makers • food companies (big and small) • foodies • government departments • gurus • health organisations • marketers • media (all of it) • nutritionists and naturopaths • researchers and PhD candidates • sales assistants (health/organic food stores) • sports and fitness coaches and trainers • trade organisations. We even had a taxi driver advise us to take up a gluten-free diet the other day. “Don’t bother to see a doctor,” he said, “just do it”.

No wonder people are confused and stressed about what’s for dinner. Perhaps it’s Back-to-the-Future time. “The human omnivore has, in addition to his senses and memory, the incalculable advantage of a culture, which stores the experience and accumulated wisdom of countless human tasters before us,” writes Pollan. “Our culture codifies the rules of wise eating in an elaborate structure of taboos, rituals, recipes, manners and culinary traditions that keep us from having to re-enact the omnivore’s dilemma at every meal.”

“Good taste, good manners, and conviviality (not eating alone), food principles suggested by other cultures, are all more closely linked to health outcomes than are restrictive rules,” writes Prof Joanne Slavin in The Nutrition Elite. This year’s ground-breaking, draft dietary guidelines from Brazil enshrine this principle. “We need to protect and preserve the Brazilian tradition of enjoyment of meals as a central part of family, social and workplace life. The planning of meals, exchange of recipes with friends, and involvement of the whole family in preparing food to enjoy together, are all part of a healthy life” says Patricia Jaime, Ministry of Health coordinator of Food and Nutrition.

Over thousands of years, successful (and very different) dietary patterns that we now know are associated with a low risk of chronic disease have evolved in different parts of the world. For example, the traditional Mediterranean and Japanese diets are both associated with a long and healthy life, but the former is relatively high in fat whereas the latter, like most Asian diets, is very high in carbohydrate and low in fat. This suggests that our modern tendency to focus on a particular nutrient may not be a useful way to describe a “good diet” – a low fat diet is not necessarily ideal for everyone, and neither is a high carbohydrate diet.

When choosing what’s for dinner, cultural patterns need to be taken into account. And using our “swap it” guide, your recipes can be low GI, too. Get started with Yotam Ottolengi and Sami Tamimi’s Roasted chicken with Jerusalem artichoke and lemon from Jerusalem (Random House) in our new section – What’s for dinner? – featured in the GI News Kitchen.

What's new?

Diet research, stuck in the stone age. 
A current diet study making headlines purportedly asked, and answered this question: Which is better for weight loss and improving cardiac risk, a low-fat or a low-carb diet? writes Dr David Katz in the Huffington Post. The following edited summary is reproduced with his permission.



But the study didn't even really ask this question says Katz. Allegedly, the researchers compared a low-fat to a low-carb diet. But in fact, they compared a diet that allowed up to 30 percent of calories from fat to a diet that allowed up to 40 grams of daily carbohydrate.

The baseline diets were, reportedly, roughly 2,000 calories per day on average among the nearly 140 obese (i.e., BMI > 30) study participants. (This is a bit suspect, since calorie intake would be predicted to be higher in obese adults.) That means the allegedly low-fat diet assignment allowed up to 600 calories per day from fat, while the low-carb assignment allowed only about one-quarter that much carbohydrate, 160 calories. The baseline fat intake of the participants in the low-fat assignment was just over 35 percent of calories, so this was, essentially, a diet intervention that didn't intervene much with their diets.

In contrast, baseline carbohydrate intake was 240 grams per day, so while fat intake was "trimmed" 5 percent, carbohydrate intake in that assignment was slashed 75 percent. This might have been billed "a study to compare a really big change from baseline diet to a really small change from baseline diet”.

That would be bad and biased enough if the researchers had made any attempt to compare comparably good, or comparably bad versions of the two diets; but they did not. The "low-fat" diet was, for starters, not much lower in fat than the typical American diet, which as we all know -- is basically crap.

Shockingly, the fiber intake was virtually identical, at about 15 to 16 grams per day, in both groups throughout the study. You cannot possibly eat any variant on the theme of "good" low-fat, mostly plant-based eating and fix the fiber intake at that pitiful level. The only way to do that is to combine modestly low fat with preferentially crummy foods made mostly from refined starches and added sugars. The study did not provide this level of detail about the diets, but it's clear that the low fat diet was (A) not low fat; and (B) rather crummy. So another title option was: "a comparison of the best low-carb diet to the worst low-fat diet we could come up with."

And finally, the low-carb diet, since it was actually low-carb, obviously was much more restrictive than the low-fat diet, which wasn't actually low-fat. That had the predictable result: those on the low-carb assignment took in many fewer calories (this information in summarized in Table 2 in the article). Over the first several months of the study, when everyone was probably on their best behavior, the low-carb group took in about 200 fewer calories per day. All the way out at the 12-month mark, when folks were falling off the wagon, the low-carb assignees were still taking in nearly 100 fewer calories per day. And so, the results were a foregone conclusion. Over the span of a year, obese people who ate less, lost more weight. And those who lost more weight had more improvement in their cardiac risk measures -- which were mostly a mess in the first place due to obesity. Ta-da!

[The study] is both prehistoric and propaganda. It was a comparison of a quite restricted, lower-calorie, low-fiber diet; to a less restricted, higher calorie, equally low-fiber diet. The first worked better for weight loss. Ignored in the mix? Was the diet sustainable when the intervention ended? Could families join in? Would the diet reliably improve health and prevent disease across a lifespan?

And here he comments on identical twin brothers Van Tulleken who did their own diet comparison for a month. Chris cut fat. Xand cut carbs. Both brothers agreed that Chris “won.” For the span of a month, cutting fat produced better overall results in these identical twin doctors. But that’s not the point. You can read more HERE.

Food addiction? Unlikely. Eating addiction is more likely.
People can become addicted to eating for its own sake but not to consuming specific foods such as those high in sugar or fat, research published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews suggests. An international team of scientists has found no strong evidence for people being addicted to the chemical substances in certain foods. The brain does not respond to nutrients in the same way as it does to addictive drugs such as heroin or cocaine, the researchers say. Instead, people can develop a psychological compulsion to eat, driven by the positive feelings that the brain associates with eating. This is a behavioural disorder and could be categorised alongside conditions such as gambling addiction, say scientists at the University of Edinburgh. They add that the focus on tackling the problem of obesity should be moved from food itself towards the individual's relationship with eating.

“…there is very little evidence to indicate that humans can develop a “Glucose / Sucrose / Fructose Use Disorder” as a diagnosis within the DSM-5 category Substance Use Disorders. We do, however, view both rodent and human data as consistent with the existence of addictive eating behavior,” they conclude. Dr John Menzies, Research Fellow in the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Integrative Physiology, said: “People try to find rational explanations for being over-weight and it is easy to blame food. Certain individuals do have an addictive-like relationship with particular foods and they can over-eat despite knowing the risks to their health. More avenues for treatment may open up if we think about this condition as a behavioural addiction rather than a substance-based addiction.”

Professor Suzanne Dickson, of the University of Gothenburg and co-ordinator of the NeuroFAST project, added: “There has been a major debate over whether sugar is addictive. There is currently very little evidence to support the idea that any ingredient, food item, additive or combination of ingredients has addictive properties.”

Chromium and blood glucose – does it make a difference? 
Chromium is an essential nutrient (trace element) that’s vital for good health. It may only play a bit part alongside the dietary biggies (iron, calcium or zinc), but that bit part is a key player in how our bodies metabolise carbohydrate, fat and protein. It has been extensively researched over the years regarding its role in glucose metabolism. The most recent study which analyses nearly three decades of data on the effect of chromium supplementation on blood glucose concludes that chromium supplements are not effective at lowering fasting blood glucose in anybody – neither healthy individuals, nor people with diabetes.

Where do we get it? Eating a varied, balanced diet will give us all we need. It is widely available in the food supply and we only need a tiny or trace amount (ranging from about 25–45micrograms per day). The best source is brewer's yeast, but many people don’t go there because it can make you feel bloated and even cause nausea. More popular choices include: bran-based breakfast cereals, wholegrain breads and cereals, egg yolk, cheese, yeast extract like Vegemite, fruits such as apples, oranges and pineapple, vegetables such as broccoli, mushrooms, potatoes with their skin on, tomatoes, liver, kidney and lean meat, peanuts, oysters and some spices like pepper and chilli.



Understanding inulin.
This is an edited extract from the Ultimate Guide to Sugars and Sweeteners reproduced courtesy The Experiment Publishing (New York).

Inulin is an ingredient you will see increasingly often on food labels, as it is being used in conjunction with high-intensity sweeteners to enhance flavor and replace sugar and other nutritive sweeteners in sugar-free, sugar-reduced, or “diet” products such as chocolate, baked goods, breakfast cereals, cereal bars, yogurt, and beverages. We have also spotted it in organic stevia sweeteners, where it provides both bulk and a prebiotic bonus; although we can’t digest it, the healthy bacteria (like Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli) in our large intestine just lap it up.

It’s not a sugar or sweetener per se; it’s a fructan, a type of soluble dietary fiber found in agave, artichokes, asparagus, bananas, carrots, chicory root, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, jicama, leeks, onions, wheat, and yacon. The food industry’s main sources of inulin are chicory root and Jerusalem artichoke.

In simple terms, a fructan is a chain of fructose molecules joined together. Short-chain fructans are known as fructooligosaccharides (also called oligofructose) and are about 30 percent as sweet as granulated sugar (sucrose); longer-chain fructans are known as inulins and are only about 10 percent as sweet as granulated sugar.

Although it shares some of sugar’s physical characteristics, such as providing bulk, it is not sufficiently sweet to replace brown or white sugar in recipes on a cup-for-cup basis. If you are tempted to use it in your baking, try it out first in a recipe that has been developed and tested with it (and that shows you a photograph of the end product), rather than substituting it for sugar in one of your favorites. It is not suitable for people who are following a low-FODMAP diet.

Nicole's Taste of Health

Hearts and flowers. 
“I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli” proclaimed the 41st President of the United States George H.W. Bush. Let me restore the glowing reputation of this glorious green and suggest some delicious ways to enjoy it.



Broccoli is part of the brassica family of vegetables (also known as cruciferous vegetables) that includes cabbage and Brussels sprouts. It has been around since Roman times and still popular in Italy; the name comes from the Italian word broccoli meaning the flowering crest of a cabbage. We eat the large flowering head of the plant. Broccolini is a newer incarnation with long slender stems and smaller heads, and also known as sprouting broccoli – they are nutritionally the same. They all contain cancer-fighting phytochemicals including sulforaphane. Broccoli is also a good source of the B vitamin folate for a healthy heart, vitamin C for immunity and fibre for digestive health. And as with other vegetables, it is low in calories/kilojoules.

To retain its nutritional goodness and “fight-o-chemical” power, cook broccoli as lightly as possible – do not boil. As with all vegetables, broccoli can be lightly steamed or microwaved and dressed with a little extra virgin olive oil and perhaps lemon juice, pepper, chili, or herbs of your choice. For an Asian direction, try soy, honey and sesame seeds. Take care not to overcook and leave some crispness and the rich green colour. To ensure the stems cook through before the florets go mushy, cut a cross into the base of the stem with a small sharp knife to quicken cooking. For added delight, sprinkle over slivered almonds (or any nut really) that have been gently toasted. Broccoli is a natural choice for a stir-fry because the short cooking time retains colour and texture – the mouth feel is a fantastic contrast to the chewiness of meat, the slipperiness of noodles or crunch of cashews, for example. And broccoli adds good textural variety in curries too, such as Thai style tofu and vegetable curry.

“Little green trees” as children often call broccoli florets, are perfect paired with pasta of any kind, and go just as beautifully with freshness of lemon and parsley, the creaminess of cheese or intensity of roasted tomato. Broccoli is also delicious in a frittata, either on its own or partnered with the omega-3 goodness and protein power of salmon, fresh or canned. Broccoli soup can also be super-easy: just blend cooked broccoli with stock and a little parmesan (or stinky blue cheese) for added flavour. You could say it was the hot equivalent of a green smoothie! And yes, you can even add kale if you must. Broccoli is also lovely in cold salads but again, only cook briefly so it retains texture, colour and flavor. Try it with lentils, chickpeas or butter beans as well as baby spinach and blanched green beans. 

In the name of “taste it, don’t waste it”, eat the broccoli stems as well as the florets. Create tender stem pieces by slicing off the outer skin and cooking as usual. Another trick is to grate the stems and add it to pasta sauce, curries, meatloaf or slaw. A simply delicious idea is to combine grated broccoli stem with canned fish, crushed garlic, lemon juice, parsley and extra virgin olive oil and toss through spaghetti cooked al dente (“to the tooth”, meaning a bit chewy). And another tip to reduce waste is only to cook enough for the meal as all cruciferous vegetables develop stronger unpleasant bitter flavours when reheated.

Sure it’s nice to receive flowers, but I’d rather eat mine.

Buon appetito!


Nicole Senior is an Accredited Nutritionist, author and consultant who strives to make healthy food taste terrific. You can follow her on Twitter or Facebook or checkout her website

In the GI News Kitchen

Family Baking.
Anneka Manning, founder of Sydney’s BakeClub, shares her delicious ‘better-for-you’ recipes for snacks, desserts and treats the whole family will love. Through both her writing and cooking school, Anneka teaches home cooks to bake in practical and approachable yet inspiring ways that assure success in the kitchen.

 
 
Broccoli, feta and mint frittata. 
Simple, tasty and packed with goodness this frittata makes a perfect lunch or light dinner accompanied by a leafy salad. It is best served either warm or at room temperature

• Serves 6 
• Preparation time: 25 minutes (+5 minutes standing time) 
• Baking time: 18-20 minutes 

1½ tbsp olive oil
1 leek, pale section only, washed and thinly sliced
300g (10oz) small broccoli florets (see Baker’s Tips)
1 garlic clove, finely grated ¼ tsp chilli flakes
10 eggs
½ cup finely shredded Parmesan
2 tbsp finely chopped mint
½ teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
50g (2oz) Persian or soft feta, crumbled



Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C/350°F fan-forced).
Put 1 tablespoon of the oil, broccoli and leek in a 20–22 cm (base measurement) oven-proof frying pan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until softened slightly and starting to brown. Add the garlic and chilli and cook, uncovered, for 1 minute or until aromatic. Transfer the broccoli mixture to a bowl and wipe out the pan with paper towel.
Use a fork to whisk together the eggs, parmesan, mint and lemon rind until evenly combined. Season well with pepper.
Add the remaining ½ tablespoon oil to the frying pan and heat over medium heat. Spread the broccoli mixture evenly over the base, pour the egg mixture evenly over the top, shaking the pan slightly to allow the egg to settle around the broccoli, and then sprinkle with the feta. Transfer the frying pan to the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 18–20 minutes or until the egg is just set in the center.
Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly before cutting into wedges and serving warm or at room temperature.

Baker’s Tips 

• You will need 2 medium heads broccoli (about 250g/8oz each) to get 300g/10oz broccoli florets. 
• This frittata will keep covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. 

Per serve (one piece)
985 kJ/ 235 calories; 17.5 g protein; 17.5 g fat (includes 6 g saturated fat; saturated:unsaturated fat ratio 0.52); 1.3 g available carbs (includes 1 g sugars and 0.3 g starch); 3 g fibre; sodium:potassium ratio 0.96

What’s for dinner? A taste of Jerusalem. 
In Jerusalem Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi describe some typical elements that are found in this city of countless cultures and sub-cultures with its correspondingly immense tapestry of cuisines. “Everybody, absolutely everybody, uses chopped cucumber and tomatoes to create an Arab salad or an Israeli salad depending on point of view. Stuffed vegetables with rice or rice and meat appear on almost every dinner table, as does an array of pickled vegetables. Extensive use of olive oil, lemon juice and olives is also commonplace. Baked pastries stuffed with cheese in all sorts of guises are found in most cultures ... Jerusalemites tend to eat seasonally and cook with what grows in the area. The list is endless ... dozens of vegetables ... fruit ... herbs, nuts, dairy products, grains and pulses, lamb and chicken ... Jerusalem artichokes are well loved in the city but have actually got nothing to do with it; not officially anyway. The name is a distortion of the Italian name of this sunflower tuber, which has an artichoke like flavour. From girasole articiocco to Jerusalem artichoke.” 

Roasted chicken with Jerusalem artichoke and lemon. 
The combination of saffron and whole lemon slices does not only make for a beautiful-looking dish, it goes exceptionally well with the nutty earthiness of the artichokes. This is easy to prepare. You just need to plan ahead and leave it to marinate properly. Serves 6

450g (about 1lb) Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and cut into six lengthways (1.5cm/½ in thick wedges)
3 tbsp lemon juice
8 chicken thighs, on the bone with the skin on, or a medium whole chicken, divided into four
12 banana shallots, peeled and halved lengthways
12 large garlic cloves, sliced
1 medium lemon, cut in half lengthways and then into very thin slices
1 tsp saffron threads
3 tbsp olive oil
2/3 cup (160ml) cold water
1½ tbsp pink peppercorns, slightly crushed
10g (1/3oz) fresh thyme leaves
40g (1½oz) tarragon leaves, chopped
2 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper

 

Put the Jerusalem artichokes in a medium saucepan, cover with plenty of water and add half the lemon juice. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10–20 minutes, until tender but not soft. Drain and leave to cool.
Place the Jerusalem artichokes and all the remaining ingredients, excluding the remaining lemon juice and half of the tarragon, in a large mixing bowl and use your hands to mix everything together well. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight, or for at least 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 240°C/220°C (400°F) Fan/Gas Mark 9.
Arrange the chicken pieces, skin-side up, in the centre of a roasting tin and spread the remaining ingredients around the chicken. Roast for 30 minutes. Cover the tin with foil and cook for a further 15 minutes. At this point, the chicken should be completely cooked.
Remove from the oven and add the reserved tarragon and lemon juice. Stir well, taste and add more salt if needed. Serve at once.

Per serve (one chicken thigh)
3375 kJ/ 805 calories; 61 g protein; 59.5 g fat (includes 18 g saturated fat; saturated:unsaturated fat ratio 0.43); 10 g available carbs (includes 3.5 g sugars and 6.5 g starch); 5 g fibre; sodium:potassium ratio 0.7

Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem (Random House) is available from good bookshops and online. “I have to say this cookbook is like having a bible of nutrient-dense, low GI recipes. It makes eating the healthy, low GI way deliciously easy.” – Prof Jennie Brand-Miller. Recipe reproduced with permission. 

Johanna's Italian Kitchen
American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares her favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI. For more information, check out Johanna's website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is photosbysergio.com.

 
Uovo con broccoli (Egg with broccoli). 
Italians are, for the most part, indiscriminate vegetable lovers. And most Italians know how to s-t-r-e-t-c-h their food dollars, oops, I mean EURO. This recipe is a perfect example of a nutritious, low-cost Italian dish. Adjusting the ingredient quantities, it could be your breakfast, lunch or dinner entrée. Use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Servings: 1 breakfast entrée.

Cooking spray
1 tsp olive oil
 1 small clove garlic, minced (optional)
½ anchovy (optional)
3oz (90g) fresh broccoli, washed, dried and cut into small pieces
1oz (30g) green onions, washed, dried and thinly sliced
1 free range organic egg
1 tsp parmigiano reggiano grated cheese



Coat a small non-stick frying pan with the cooking spray.
Add the oil, the garlic and anchovy, if using. Saute for 1 minute. Add the broccoli; cook on medium-high for 2 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Add the green onions; cook 2 more minutes and continue to stir frequently. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan; cook for an additional 2 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Uncover the pan. Crack the egg over the broccoli mixture. Cover and continue to cook on low heat for 5-6 minutes.
Remove the cover and slip the pan contents onto a warmed plate. Sprinkle on the cheese and serve immediately.

Per serve 
715kJ/171 calories; 11g protein; 11g fat (includes 2g saturated fat; saturated:unsaturated fat ratio 0.22); 7g available carbs; 3g fibre

Putting the Fun Back into Fitness with Emma Sandall

Skateboarding. 
It is not unusual for boys to come to dance and ballet technique later in life, often in their mid- to-late teens. This year I have been teaching a range of wonderful young men from many different backgrounds. What is refreshing is their determination and discipline, as well as mature understanding of themselves gained from other experiences. Rhys Johnson is such a person. And he came to dancing after beginning as a skater. 

In my neck of the woods, I have noticed skateboarding is growing in popularity. Not just with young men, but older men and younger boys and girls. Indeed, at the skate park at Bondi Beach I’ve seen kids as young as seven shooting about and climbing around the skate bowl like little pros with audiences cheering them on. Here, Rhys talks about skating and why it gives so many people so much pleasure.



“I started skateboarding when I was eight with my brother at the local skate park in Hobart, then became more serious about it when I began high school. The sensation is a complete euphoric feeling. The ability to escape through this physical activity is like no other. It’s you, your board and your imagination. The overwhelming feeling of achievement when landing a trick is indescribable. You can push yourself extremely hard or you can just relax and have a roll. There is no pressure – it’s all you and the board.

Skating can be the best of fun at times, especially when you’re nailing tricks and having a good day. But it can lose a lot of its fun when you’re not getting your tricks or landing things cleanly or having a bad day. If you’re not having fun go home rest came back the next day and it will usually feel great again. The more you skate the better you’re going to get.

There is not so much a technique to skateboarding, more a style, a way of landing a trick or riding your skateboard that makes you look good. When you skate you want to look smooth and clean. When doing a trick you always want to land on the bolts of the skateboard which ensures consistency and it looks clean and will help prevent injury. Having a good foundation in vert and street skating will greatly help you when approaching any trick.

• Vert skating is where you skate ramps and bowls, transitioning from a horizontal plane to a vertical plane. The tricks usually involved are grabs and or airs and stalls and grinds, usually performed on the coping of the ramp. Skate parks are usually designed to fit this style of skating. 
• Street skating involves manoeuvres that are performed on street like obstacles, obstacles that initially have a different purpose other than skating e.g., handrails, stairs, picnic tables.

Skateboarding can be very, very dangerous and can get you seriously injured, but that’s if you’re not being smart with yourself. Injuries usually occur if you aren't completely focused and ready for the trick you’re attempting, which leads to the result of tearing muscles, ligaments, grazes and broken bones. Once you build yourself up to it, through practice and body preparation, then you have the safest way of injury prevention.”

I then asked Rhys for tips about costs, getting started and  skateparks.
“There are all types of skateboards. Short boards are great for just cruising around, nothing serious. More of a “go to the corner store get milk come home” type of board. For a whole set up (board, trucks, wheels, bearings) would cost approx $150. Street skateboards are for the core skater who wants to perform tricks. The cost for a set up is generally higher (approx $250–$350). You can get entire set ups for around $100 but these are cheaply made boards and will usually not last longer than a few weeks, paying that little bit extra is worth it as long as you take care of the board, plus you get a greater performance control from the set up. Long boards are used for long distance travel or riding really fast down streets, this has been becoming more popular recently, and for a whole set up is approx $400–$500.

The Australian skate community is continuing to expand as there are more companies willing to sponsor and support it. There is the SBA, which offers free workshops at selected skateparks. The ages range from 8-year-olds all the way to 35–40 year olds at the parks.

Anywhere you go in the world you are bound to find skaters, whether on the street or in a skatepark. The world is our playground – if you can create it you can skate it. We are universally a very supportive culture constantly celebrating skateboarding achievements.
  
Emma Sandall is an ex-ballerina turned fitness and health guru. She teaches and coaches dance, fitness and Pilates and writes and produces video for all things movement related. Emma runs Body Playground, a space to activate and inspire body and soul. Email: emma@bodyplayground.com.au

Update with Dr Alan Barclay

Reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke by balancing sodium and potassium.
Dietary guidelines from around the world recommend that people eat less, or limit, added salt and salty foods. They are talking about sodium chloride, the most common salt added to foods, which has been consumed by humans for many thousands of years. As well as enhancing flavour, salt has other important roles in food including acting as a preservative and affecting a food's texture.



It’s the sodium in salt that’s thought to be a health problem when consumed in excessive amounts. Salt is approximately 40% sodium and 60% chloride. The World Health Organisation (WHO) currently recommends that adults consume less than 2 grams (2000mg) of sodium, which is equivalent to less than 5.1 grams of added salt, each day. Population surveys from around the world indicate that most people eat more salt than is required for good health. The most recent Australian Health Survey, for example, indicates that the average Australian adult consumes over 2.4 grams (2430mg) of sodium each day, equivalent to over 6.2grams of salt. This sodium is what occurs naturally in food and is added during food processing and does not include what is added during food preparation at home or at the table, so for most of us it’s likely to be an underestimation.

Hence the general advice to people to eat less salt. The main reason why we need to eat less salt is that habitual consumption of large amounts raises many people's (but not everyone's) blood pressure, and in turn may increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. High salt intakes are also associated with an increased risk of developing stomach cancer. While advice to reduce the amount of sodium in the diet makes good sense, it is important to remember that we do not need to completely avoid all sodium. Indeed, like most nutrients too little sodium may not be good for our health. Indeed, a recent large study of adults living in 17 countries found that both lower (less than 3g) and higher (more than 6g) sodium intakes were associated with an increased risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke, and that intakes in the middle were associated with the least risk. We probably shouldn’t be surprised, this phenomena – characterised by a U or J – shaped curve – is quite common in nutrition: too little of a particular nutrient really can be just as detrimental to health as too much.



Another emerging piece of the proverbial puzzle is that the ratio of sodium to potassium in the diet also matters. Relatively higher intakes of potassium are associated with lower blood pressure, and lower risk of major cardiovascular events. Excellent sources of potassium include fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, seafood, and yoghurt – foods that most of us should be eating more of. The WHO recommends that the sodium : potassium ratio be no more than 1 : 1, or in other words, you should aim to consume no more sodium than potassium.

In most parts of the developed world, sodium is added to food during food processing, and consequently processed foods are usually the primary source of sodium in foods – not salt added to foods during food preparation at home or at the table. It is therefore important that we encourage food manufacturers and processors to add less salt to foods to help us to reduce our sodium intake. The GI Symbol Program has category-based Nutrient Criteria that include limits for sodium to encourage manufacturers to reduce the amount of sodium that they add to foods.

To help readers of GI News reduce their sodium intakes and increase their potassium intakes, we will include sodium : potassium ratios in the recipes we publish.


GI Symbol Program
Dr Alan W Barclay PhD,
Chief Scientific Officer,
Glycemic Index Foundation (Ltd):
alan.barclay@gisymbol.com
www.gisymbol.com

GI testing
Fiona Atkinson,
Research Manager,
Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service:
sugirs.manager@sydney.edu.au
 
GI database
www.glycemicindex.com

Q&A and New Product News

Prof Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions. 

I’m confused about carb counts. What’s the difference between total carbs, net carbs and available carbs and does it really matter? 
This very sensible question is complicated for several reasons. Let’s start with the labelling regulations of the country you live in. In the United States, for example, the total carbohydrate (in grams) listed on the nutrition facts panel includes fibre, so do the carb counts in diabetes exchange lists. In just about every other part of the world, the total carbohydrate listed in the nutrition information panel excludes fibre (and the same goes for diabetes exchange lists). Why? Unlike starches and sugars, fibre is not broken down during digestion. And that’s where terms like “available” or “net” carbs come in. In the US, net carbs = total carbs minus fibre = available carbs. Many low-carb weight–loss plans, including the New Atkins Diet, also use “net carbs” in their diet plans.

Then there’s how carbs are counted in a food and how accurate that process is. Under most national “food laws,” two “carb counting” methods are allowed.

• The amount of carbohydrate listed on the food label can be determined by “difference” – the amount of protein, fat, fibre, ash and water is measured, and whatever is left over is called available carbohydrate. 
• Alternatively, carbs are measured by “direct analysis” where each of the different sugars and starches in a food are measured and the totals are given. 

Not surprisingly, carb counts based on difference will be intrinsically less reliable than those from direct analysis. But direct analysis is time consuming and rather costly, so the carb counts you see on food labels in the supermarket are typically calculated by the difference method. However, although measuring seems to be the way to go for accuracy, there’s a fair bit of natural variation in most foods we eat: they are grown in different seasons, climatic conditions and subject to different doses of fertiliser, they are not produced under strict controls in a laboratory. So the carb count in a food can typically vary from variety to variety, crop to crop, batch to batch … So, back to the food labels.

While it is difficult to give a reliable estimate for carb quantities in packaged foods, variations of up to 20% are not unusual. That means for most of us, there’s little justification for counting carbs to the nearest gram – the values on most food and drink labels simply aren’t that accurate. However, some people (like those with diabetes) clearly need a practical system for estimating the amount of carbohydrate in foods so they can match their insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents to what they eat. What’s the most practical tool they can use to help them do this reasonably accurately without fuss and a calculator? Research has proven that carbohydrate exchanges (an average of 15 grams of carbohydrate per typical household serve of food, with an allowance for variation of 12–18 grams per per serve) or portions (10 grams of carbs per serve) provide equally satisfactory estimates of the amount of carbohydrate in food to enable most people with diabetes manage blood glucose levels satisfactorily.

Of course, the amount of carbohydrate in a food is only one part of the equation when it comes to good health – the GI is equally important for all of us.

Total Wellbeing Diet plus low GI carbs online program.
Participants are being sought to take part in a 12-week trial of the new online Total Wellbeing Diet. Professor Manny Noakes, Research Director for CSIRO’s Nutrition and Health Flagship and co-author of the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, said “The trial will help us to assess how we can inspire healthy eating and provide more support to those that need to lose weight – which is a major goal of the Total Wellbeing Diet project,” Professor Noakes said.

• Participants who weigh in each week during the 12-week program will pay nothing; with the introductory price of A$99 being fully refunded. 
• To find out more about the trial or register, visit: www.totalwellbeingdiet.com

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GI News—September 2014

• Sugars, sweeteners and tooth decay;
• Dr Alan Barclay on alternative sweeteners for weight loss and BGLs; 
• Prof Jennie Brand-Miller on low-carb diets; 
• Emma Sandall talks to Wes Doyle about personal training benefits; 
• Nicole Senior checks out honey and Anneka Manning bakes a batch of honey and nut muesli (granola) bars for lunch boxes; 
• Ottolenghi's roasted sweet potatoes and fresh figs.  

GI News 
Editor: Philippa Sandall
Management and design: Alan Barclay, PhD
Contact: info@gisymbol.com
Technical problems or faults: smb.ginewstech@sydney.edu.au
GI testing: sugirs.manager@sydney.edu.au

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