Busting Food Myths with Nicole Senior

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.

GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay

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

GI Update

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:

• A to Z tables with the GI (and GL) of over 1000 foods by food category such as ‘Breads’ and ‘Breakfast cereals’, ‘Fruit, Vegetables’.
• In each food category, foods with a low GI have been separated from those with higher or unknown GI values.
• Handy household measures like cups and tablespoons for the sample serving sizes.

Professor Jennie Brand-Miller’s Low GI Diet Shopper’s Guide 2011 (Hachette Australia) is available in leading bookshops in Australia and NZ.

New GI values from GI Labs in Toronto
Iidea organic agave syrups
These organic agave syrups are low GI sweeteners extracted from the agave plant which is large and spiky like a cactus, but in fact is Mexico’s famous succulent that also gives us aguamiel, pulque, and tequila.

You can use agave syrup instead of sugar to sweeten food, desserts or drinks including tea and coffee. Keep in mind however, that it’s about 1½ times sweeter than sugar so you don’t need to use as much. One level teaspoon provides around 5g carbs and 20 calories (84kJ) along with small amounts of calcium, potassium and magnesium like other less refined sweeteners such as raw sugar, Logicane™, honey and 100% maple syrup.

• Light Standard Agave Syrup (70–78% fructose) – GI 28
• Light Premium Agave Syrup (78–85% fructose) – GI 22

For more information go to http://www.iidea.com.mx/

CalNaturale Svelte (TM) protein drinks
These rich and creamy-tasting low GI protein drinks for sustained energy are made with fresh organic soy milk and organic rice syrup, sugar and inulin. They can be used as a meal replacement product, a pre- or post-workout pick-me-up or an anytime snack. Svelte (TM) drinks are dairy-free, gluten-free and certified kosher and come in 15.9 fl oz servings (470 ml or almost 2 cups). Each serving provides 16g protein, 35g available carbohydrate, 10g fat (naturally occurring in the soy milk) and 260 calories (1092 kJ). These drinks are also a good source of fiber (5g per serving).

• SvelteTM Chocolate Sustained Energy Protein Drink (with pure organic cocoa) – GI 21
• SvelteTM French Vanilla Sustained Energy Protein Drink (with pure organic vanilla) – GI 24

CalNaturale Svelte (TM) is part of California Natural Products, a leading natural foods company with a 30-year history of innovation and excellence. For more information: http://sveltebrand.com/products

GI Labs has moved



GI Labs is proud to announce that, due to increased demand, we have moved to a new, larger facility that is better equipped to meet your research needs. Our new facility is well-suited to the needs of our busy company, outfitted with numerous clinical testing areas, an upgraded analytical laboratory, well-ordered test kitchens, and office space for client meetings. Please contact us for a tour next time you are in Toronto!

• 20 Victoria St., 3rd floor Toronto, ON M5C 2N8 Tel: 416-861-0506
  
  
  

GI testing by an accredited laboratory
North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
20 Victoria Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M5C 298 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com

Australia
Fiona Atkinson



Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com

See The New Glucose Revolution on YouTube

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GI News—October 2010

• 'Cruise instead of spike and crash' with low GI foods says Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe
• ‘Wholegrain’ hype: is it time to redefine ‘true’ whole grain foods? Prof Jennie Brand-Miller opens the debate
• Focus on food not nutrients – Dr David Ludwig challenges ‘dietary guidelines’ orthodoxy
• The scoop on desserts with Emma Stirling
• Renaming HFCS as corn sugar. Dr Alan Barclay investigates
• 8 new GI values from the US
  

It’s Good Food Month here in Sydney, so it seems timely to think about enjoying good low GI food for real satisfaction and good health. To show you what we mean and give your tastebuds a treat, we are sharing a recipe from Bistro Moncur chef Damien Pignolet’s new book, Salades. In his introduction Damien gently reminds us that the role of salads in the French kitchen is quite different from the bowl of green leaves that ‘tends to pass for a salad in Australian and British cooking’. Try his ‘Rustic Salad of chickpeas, prosciutto & preserved artichoke and garlic and anchovy vinaigrette’ in this issue and I think you will agree c’ést delicieux. And low GI too!

Good eating, good health and good reading.

Editor: Philippa Sandall
Web management and design: Alan Barclay, PhD

Food for Thought

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.’

News Briefs

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:

• Islet transplantation
• Beta cell regeneration
• Preventative vaccine development
• Reduction of complications.

Type 1 diabetes is for life. It's an autoimmune disease and is one of the most common childhood diseases. Rates are increasing around the world and no one is quite sure why. About 10% of people with diabetes have type 1 in which the pancreas stops producing insulin and they have to take multiple injections daily or continuous insulin through a pump just to survive. Maintaining a balanced blood glucose level requires regulating food intake, insulin dose and exercise. For more information and to register to Walk to Cure Diabetes:
Australia
Canada
UK
USA

Get the Scoop on Nutrition with Emma Stirling

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:

• Base your desserts around low GI orchard fruits like apples, pears, peaches and plums. Try poached pears in cranberry juice with a dollop of low fat vanilla yogurt.
• Use low GI dairy foods like yogurt or fromage frais in parfaits, meringues or trifles.
• Make a crumble topping with traditional rolled oats or natural muesli.
• Add lime and lemon juice to desserts. Acids in food slow down stomach emptying and the rate at which carbohydrates can be digested, in turn lowering the GI.
• Try a creamy rice pudding made with a low GI rice like basmati or Doongara Clever Rice.
  

For sweet inspiration check out some of Johanna Burani’s recipes in GI News like Baked spiced pears with zabaglione sauce

The trick with fitting in desserts and keeping a healthy weight, is to base the majority of your meals around foods low in energy density and leaving room for that sweet finish.

Emma Stirling is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and health writer with over ten years experience writing for major publications. She is editor of The Scoop on Nutrition – a blog by expert dietitians. Check it out or subscribe for hot news bites and a healthy serve of what’s in flavour.

In the GI News Kitchen

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.

Zucchine carbonara-lite spaghetti
The traditional carbonara recipe contains a whole raw egg and bacon, among other scrumptious ingredients. This is my vegetarian version that also eliminates even a minimal fear of salmonella by using a pasteurized egg white product instead of a raw egg. My dinner guests, even those seated around my table in Friuli, don’t seem to mind at all. As with all of my recipes, you’re your own additions and subtractions as desired. In fact, I was thinking about trying this recipe next time with a chopped toasted pinoli topping. Serves 4 (about 2 cups each)

6 long, thin zucchine (about 1¼lb/500g)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 heaping tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (about 10 sprigs)
¼ cup egg substitute or 1 egg
3 heaping tablespoons grated cheese (pecorino or parmigiano)
1 tablespoon fat free milk
220g/8oz spaghetti, uncooked



Wash the zucchine, trim ends, and dice.
Cover the bottom of a large non-stick frying pan with vegetable spray. Heat the pan and then add the zucchine and garlic. Drizzle the olive oil over the mixture and stir through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan and cook over medium-high heat for 12 minutes, or until the zucchine are tender and golden. Stir frequently to allow for even cooking. Remove pan from heat and stir in the parsley. Set aside.
Combine the egg or egg substitute, cheese, milk and some pepper in a small mixing bowl. Mix well with a fork and set aside.
Cook the spaghetti according to package directions, making sure the pasta is al dente and not overcooked. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Quickly stir in the cheese mixture and then the zucchine. Serve immediately with grated cheese on the side.

Per serving
Energy: 1201kJ/ 286 cals; Protein 13g; Fat 8g (includes 1g saturated fat and less than 1mg cholesterol); Available carbs 43g; Fibre 4g

In his new book, Salades, chef Damien Pignolet opens our minds to the vast possibilities within the genre. So give your taste buds a treat. Delectable chapters cover composed, classic, main course, warm and winter salads, salads on the side, salads for special occasions and sweet salads like ‘Papaya, blood orange and strawberry’ to finish a meal. The entrée salad we have chosen could precede any simple main course or make a deliciously simple meal on its own when you just want something light. Serves 4–6

Rustic salad of chick peas, prosciutto & preserved artichoke with garlic and anchovy vinaigrette
450g (1lb) cooked dried or tinned chick peas
200g (7oz) baby spinach washed and spin dried
2 handfuls finely shredded radicchio
12 grilled preserved artichokes, drained and quartered
1 head fennel, top and bottom trimmed, finely shaved
4 thin slices prosciutto each cut into 3
½ clove garlic, any green shoot removed, finely chopped
3 anchovy fillets, drained and cut into small pieces
100ml (3 ½ fl oz) extra virgin olive oil’
20ml aged red wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
A pinch salt (optional)
2–3 tbsp shredded flat-leaf parsley



Place the chickpeas, spinach, radicchio, artichokes, fennel and prosciutto in a suitably sized bowl.
Lightly mix the garlic, anchovy, olive oil, vinegar and pepper in a small bowl and taste for saltiness adjusting as required (bearing in mind the saltiness of the anchovy and prosciutto). Add the parsley and pour over the salad, then toss and serve.

Cheese please Roberta Muir has just written a cheese compendium 500 Cheeses (Quintet Publishing 2010). The fact that there can even be a book called 500 Cheeses is testament to the incredible diversity of these beloved fermented milk products, produced virtually worldwide from the milk of almost every domesticated herbivore, including horses, camels, and reindeer. From simple cottage cheeses once produced in every home, through artisanal cheeses, to some of the world’s most loved mass-produced products, Roberta has it covered. A trained cheese judge and manager of the Sydney Seafood School, Roberta will be sharing some of her favourite cheese recipes with GI News readers over the coming months.

Cottage cheese makes the perfect topping
‘A simple way of preserving milk is to curdle it with lemon juice, vinegar or soured milk, and then to drain away the resulting curds,’ writes Roberta. ‘In cottages all over Europe, a cow was traditionally kept to provide milk and butter for the family; thus simple ‘cottage’ cheese made from excess milk was among the earliest cheeses. Traditionally made from skimmed milk, the cream having been used for butter, it became a healthy, high protein, low calorie food.’

As for toppings, Roberta recommends piling cottage cheese on toast, crackers, flatbread, lavosh or oatcakes with salad, seafood, chicken or meat as a quick, high-protein, low-calorie snack. Pictured here is cottage cheese piled on oatcakes and topped with slivers of cold-smoked salmon and garnished with a good grind of black pepper. This makes a lovely light meal, too.


Connage Crowdie cottage cheese was voted Best Cheese in Scotland at the 2008 British Cheese Awards.

500 Cheeses is available from good bookshops and online from Amazon (UK and USA) or from New Holland in Australia.

Busting Food Myths with Nicole Senior

Myth: There are bad foods that should not be eaten at all


Nicole Senior

Fact: There are no bad foods. It’s all about how often you eat them and whether you get enough of the good foods
The idea that ‘there are no such things as bad foods, only bad diets’ was once embraced by dietitians, nutritionists and the public alike, but more recently has lost its groove. I’d like to see the sentiment get its groove back. The language and rhetoric around food has taken on a good vs bad dichotomy that I don’t think is healthy. Viewing some foods as inherently bad does not reflect good science or good sense, and is highly subjective. It also ignores the richness and diversity of eating experiences that enrich our lives as well as the powerful emotional connections we have with food. Consider the Christmas feast, or the breaking of the Ramadan fast, or even a slice of birthday cake. Do we really want to live in a world without any cake? Is life really worth living without any chocolate? Could we really dispense with the convenience of fast food in our busy lives?

One guy who has really ‘walked the walk’ about all foods having a place is Kansas State University Professor Mark Haub. In the tradition of Morgan Spurlock in Supersize me, Haub went on a 30-day junk food diet of sweetened breakfast cereal, hot dogs, cake, muffins and cookies. He conceded to a serve of vegetables and some milk at dinner to cover his needs for protein and vitamins. His saving grace– and the stark difference between his and Spurlock’s experience – was he limited his energy intake to 1800 calories (7560kJ) a day. Spurlock deliberately overate. Haub’s dietary experiment ended on September 25. He actually lost weight. The message in this story is not to promote an all-junk-food-diet but to prove a point; it’s how much food you eat that matters for weight control. There is no need to banish these ‘fun’ foods, but simply enjoy them in appropriate amounts.

I think the fall from grace of ‘there’s no such things as bad foods, only bad diets’ started when the food industry started using it as a catch-cry to justify their production of less healthy ‘sometimes’ foods. In an obesity epidemic of multiple causes, there is a strong urge to lay the blame somewhere and fun foods are an easy target.

While I believe wholeheartedly that ‘sometimes foods’ have a place in a healthy diet, I do think our food supply is ‘top heavy’ in less-healthy foods at the top of the healthy eating pyramid. However, changing this situation is not helped by casting stones of food hatred from afar. Real change is achieved by engagement, understanding and collaboration. After all, the food industry is just giving us what we want. Unfortunately we like to eat fat, salt and sugar and we don’t want to pay the true cost of food. So we got cheap, less healthy food and both our health and the planet are paying a very high price. Our food supply is up to US as well as THEM.

The solution to a healthier food supply and healthier people is not demonising food – after all it’s just food. Foods are like friends, some are great friends to see often and others are friends we see on occasion. They all have their place and are all good to have. A bit of food diplomacy may be just the thing we need to work towards a new world food order where the great foods have a greater say, and the occasional foods take a back seat.

Nicole Senior MSc (Nut&Diet) BSc (Nut) is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist and author of Eat to Beat Cholesterol and Heart Food . Check out her website HERE.

GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay

Dr Alan Barclay

Sweet truths?
Amidst a rash of ‘natural’ ‘cane sugar’ and ‘beet sugar’ claims on foods labels across the US, producers of high fructose corn syrups (HFCS) – one of the top of the pops candidates for the cause of the obesity epidemic in the US (according to various nutrition nannies) has decided it’s time to take action and join the label lingo game. To make their product more competitive with other sugars sold in the US, they are applying to the Food and Drug Administration to rename HFCS as ‘corn sugar’. They argue that HCFS products are not actually that high in fructose (typically 55%) – they are just higher than regular corn syrup (which is primarily glucose). And they are in fact just a ‘corn sugar’.

How does HFCS compare with sucrose (ie regular cane or beet sugar)? Well sucrose is composed of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. So on the face of it there’s not a huge difference there and that’s why some scientists maintain that sucrose and HCFS are nutritionally equivalent. You can read an interesting summary here.

What about GI? We know that the average GI for cane sugar is moderate (GI 65). As far as we know, no HFCS manufacturer has put their product to the test – certainly no data have been published. In theory the slightly higher fructose content of HFCS 55 might lead to a slightly lower glycemic impact than that of sucrose (regular cane or beet sugar). However, this may be offset by the fact that the glucose and fructose in it is “free” rather than bound together as is the case with the disaccharide sucrose. Sucrose has to be cleaved by the digestive enzyme sucrase before the individual sugars (fructose and glucose) are absorbed. On balance, it is likely that cane sugar sucrose and HCFS 55 have similar GI values.

What about being ‘nutritionally equivalent? Well, unlike ‘corn sugar’, some cane sugar products like brown sugar and raw sugar do contain small amounts of micronutrients including potassium, calcium and magnesium. As does Logicane (GI 50), the world’s first low GI sugar which retains most of the nutrients from the sugar cane, like minerals and antioxidant polyphenols, because of the innovative manufacturing process whereby raw cane sugar is sprayed with a molasses extract, a natural by-product of sugar cane manufacture.

Does this mean you can have more. Not at all. When it comes to calories (and dental caries) the rules haven’t changed. If you want a little sweetness in your life, keep it moderate whether it’s cane sugar, beet sugar or corn sugar (or honey or agave syrup etc for that matter too). What’s moderate consumption? About a teaspoon of sugar in a cup of tea or coffee, a couple of teaspoons on a high fibre, low saturated fat breakfast cereal, or a tablespoon or so in a baked product like a fruity muffin. The total should be no more than about 6–10 teaspoons a day which includes all sources of refined sugar you consume – what’s already in the foods you eat as well as what you add yourself.

If you want to know more about Logicane (currently available in Australia and NZ), 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

GI Update

GI Q&A with Prof Jennie Brand-Miller



Gary now wears pants that are three sizes smaller and his wife is thrilled that he doesn’t snore anymore!
I am always delighted when people take the time to share their GI success stories with me. As I so often say when I reply to them: it really makes my day. Choosing low GI carbs, the ones that produce only small fluctuations in your blood glucose and insulin levels, can help you feel fuller for longer and increase your energy levels, making weight loss achievable and sustainable. This month in GI Update, I am sharing Gary’s story sent to me by my US colleague dietitian Johanna Burani RD. Here’s how Johanna tells it:

‘Gary is a 58-year old hard working property manager, responsible for running large pieces of real estate throughout the US, in cities like New York, Miami, Dallas and Boston, writes Johanna. ‘His racing-the-clock, arduous, commuter lifestyle hasn’t enabled him to find the time or energy to address his poorly controlled diabetes (A1C 8.4), his hypertension (BP 160/100) and, least of all, the extra weight he has been carrying around for too many years. In fact, he is convinced that his long workweek has been a consistent contributor to his stress and declining health.

At the gentle prodding of his concerned wife, Gary looked for a way to improve his health by changing his diet without changing his hectic lifestyle. Through his endocrinologist’s office, he made an appointment with me to help him plan out well- balanced meals that included some low GI carb choices. He quickly realized that by including some ‘trickler’ (low GI) carbs in all of his meals, he could feel as full as when he loaded up on high protein foods and avoided carbs. He made sure to include a low GI snack, like cocoa powdered almonds on his bus ride home after work to stave off hunger before dinner. And he surprised himself at how much he actually enjoyed fresh vegetables and fruits with his meals.

In just three months, Gary now says he feels ‘born again’. He says: “Before, I hated myself and just wanted to feel better. Now, I feel 20 years younger. This is the easiest diet I’ve ever been on in my life. I can take it with me wherever I need to go. And best of all, I’m never hungry.”

At his last doctor’s visit, Gary had lost 32lb, his basal insulin dose was decreased by more than 60%, his A1C dropped 2.4% to 6.0. He now wears pants that are three sizes smaller and his wife is thrilled that he doesn’t snore anymore. “Eating this way has given me my life back. I can’t believe how good I feel and how happy I am.”’

New GI values from GI Labs in Toronto
Beanitos®: crunchy low GI chips made from whole beans instead of potatoes, wheat, soy or corn
Bean Brand Foods® has developed a 100% Always Corn-Free™, crunchy, bean chip which is available nationwide throughout the US and Canada. Beanitos is a viable alternative to potato, corn, soy or wheat-based snack products and the lab-tested chips are certified gluten free. They also have a low GI and they won’t give you gas. A serving of 10 chips (1oz/30g) provides 4g protein and 10g available (or net) carbs. They are a very good source of fiber (5g per serving), so to quote the manufacturer (we think tongue in cheek): ‘don't eat a whole bag full of Beanitos the first time you switch.’ (There are 6 servings per packet.)

• Beanitos Black Bean Chips – GI 33
• Beanitos Pinto Bean & Flax (linseed) Chips – GI 44
• Beanitos Black Bean Chipotle BBQ Chips – GI 42
• Beanitos Pinto Bean & Flax Cheddar Chips – GI 43

For more information, check out the manufacturer’s website: www.beanitos.com

Ultra Lo-Gly juice beverages
Back in March 2010, we published the GI values of Lo-Gly juice beverages. The company has now developed a range of very low GI (and low calorie) juice beverages sweetened with blue agave nectar and stevia that provide from 25–35 calories per 1 cup (8fl.oz/240ml) serving (105–147kJ).

• Ultra-Lo Gly Acai-Blue Juice Beverage (21% juice): GI 23 (9g carbs per cup)
• Ultra-Lo Gly Mango Mojito (13% juice): GI 23 (7g carbs per cup)
• Ultra-Lo Gly Pomegranate (17% juice): GI 19 (8g carbs per cup)
• Ultra-Lo Gly Pomegranate Mojito (12% juice): GI 19 (8g carbs per cup)

Each flavour is certified kosher and the nutrition information panels are on the website at www.lo-gly.com. The Lo-Gly juice beverages are available in the US. For more information contact Lo-Gly marketing manager Don Necochea:don@Lo-Gly.com

GI testing by an accredited laboratory
North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
36 Lombard Street, Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2X3 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com

Australia
Fiona Atkinson



Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com

See The New Glucose Revolution on YouTube

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GI News—September 2010

• Wanted! Low GI fast food choices
• Why it’s time to raise the bar and lower the GI cut-offs for fast foods
• Low carb or low fat for weight loss? The choice is yours if you can stick to it
• Masterchef. The other ‘big M’ and healthy home-cooked meals
• How nutrition health halos trick us into treating
• Will you have a statin with that?

‘If starting tomorrow at noon, we all went into Taco Bell and Burger King and ordered only salads, their menus would change faster than you can say Lite Italian’ writes Prof Brian Wansink in Mindless Eating. ‘Within a year, people would be able to eat a Taco Salad Bell any time they wanted to make a run for the border. Within another year there would be another Broccoli King … No food company is in the business to make us fat. They’re in the business to sell us food. If we want fattening food to mindlessly eat, companies will fix it. But they will also fix us healthy food we can mindfully eat if they can profitably do so.’

Vote with your feet. It’s up to us, not governments and self-appointed nutrition nannies. If we all demand healthy low GI fast food options, you can be sure the food companies will supply them. Our job is to make it profitable for them to do so. That means we have to order them and not the tempting high calorie, high fat, high GI alternatives. So here’s to great tasting baked ‘fries’ or wedges made with lower GI potatoes, lean meat burgers on really grainy low GI buns and curries and stir fries served with lower GI rices.

Good eating, good health and good reading.

Editor: Philippa Sandall
Web management and design: Alan Barclay, PhD

Food for Thought

It’s time to raise the bar and lower the GI cut-offs for fast foods and convenience meals
The GI was introduced back in 1981 to rate the glycemic character of the carbohydrate in individual foods like bread, breakfast cereal, rice, pasta, apples etc. The purpose was to exchange one carbohydrate source with another for snacks and in your meals (e.g. replacing a high GI breakfast cereal like corn flakes with a low one like natural muesli). The decision behind the cut-offs for high GI (70 or higher) and low GI (55 or lower) foods at that time was based on the scatter of GI values among single foods that had been GI tested.

We are often asked about mixed meals including fast foods and convenience meals and the effect of extra protein and fat in the food on GI and blood glucose response. Eaten alone, protein and fat have little effect on blood glucose levels, but that’s not to say they don’t affect your blood glucose response when they are combined with a carb-rich food. Protein will stimulate additional insulin secretion, resulting in lower blood glucose levels. Protein and fat both tend to delay stomach emptying, thereby slowing the rate at which carbohydrate can be digested and absorbed. So a high fat meal will have a lower glycemic effect than a low fat meal even if they both contain the same amount and type of carbohydrate.

Because SUGiRS (Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service) is being asked to test an increasing number of fast foods and convenience meals, we think is that it’s high time to review the cut-offs for mixed meals. When it comes to defining a low GI meal such as a pizza (crust + toppings) or hamburger (bun + pattie + mayo + ketchup + salad + pickle), we should be looking at a figure of around 45 or less so that the GI value reflects the effect of the fat and protein in the meal.

We suggest the 45 or lower would be the appropriate new cut-off for a low GI fast food or convenience meal. Why 45? Well, we now know from numerous observational cohort studies around the world that the daily average GI of the diet of people in the lowest quintile (20% of the population) is about 40–50. Similarly, in a meta-analysis published in Diabetes Care of 15 experimental studies investigating the role of low GI diets in managing diabetes, the daily average GI was 45. Since this average GI has been proven to have significant health benefits in people with existing diabetes and in reducing the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, and importantly, people can and do achieve it in real life, we believe a GI of 45 or less is what we all need to be aiming for in mixed meals like burgers or pizzas or toasted sandwiches or filled subway-style rolls and in our overall diet.

Here are the new cut-offs we are suggesting for fast foods and convenience meals:

• Low GI 45 and under
• Medium GI 46–59
• High GI 60 and over

Based on some of the fast foods we have already tested, here’s how it looks:

News Briefs

Wanted! Low GI fast food choices
Carmel Smart's study in Diabetes Care reported that swapping high GI for low GI carbs in 4 healthy breakfast options brought additional benefits for children and teenagers with type 1 diabetes on multiple daily injections and helped reduce post-meal hyperglycemia. What happens, however, when young people with type 1 take their pick from typical food hall lunchtime takeaway offerings?

A study published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice that looked at the glycemic effects of popular takeaway meals reports that it’s not just the quantity of carbs that counts when adjusting insulin dosages, the GI and fat content matters too. In the University of Newcastle study, 9 young adults (average age 23) with type 1 diabetes (all on intensive insulin therapy) tucked into 4 typical lunchtime takeaway meals available in any food hall on 4 different occasions at least 3 days apart. The meals had the same amount of carbohydrate (about 60 grams) but different amounts of fat and protein and low, moderate and high GIs. The meals were:

• Spaghetti carbonara – low GI/high fat
• McDonald's Quarter Pounder with fries (fries reduced by 40% to stay within the 60 grams carb limit) – Moderate GI/high fat
• Thai chicken and cashew stir fry with jasmine rice – high GI/low fat
• Cheese, ham and tomato sandwich – low GI/low fat

At the 3-hour post-meal mark, all participants had had a significantly lower glycemic response to the low GI pasta meal compared with the Thai, sandwich and hamburger meals. In their conclusion, the authors write: ‘promotion of low GI, low fat fast food choices to young people with type 1 diabetes may reduce postprandial glucose excursions, reduce HbA1c and reduce cardiovascular risk.’ Talking to GI News, lead author Dr Julia Lowe also advises a glucose test after eating low GI/high fat meals, as they may carry an increased risk of the dreaded ‘hypo.’

Will you have a statin with that?
A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology argues the case for handing out free cholesterol-lowering statin drugs whenever you buy fast food to cancel out the health risks of high fat food and provide us with cardiovascular benefits. ‘It is difficult to know how seriously to take this study’ write the reviewers at NHS Choices.‘... junk food has many negative health consequences beyond just increasing cholesterol. Taking a statin pill while continuing with an unhealthy diet will not address all of these. Most importantly, statins are designed for longer-term use under medical supervision. They should not be dished out like ketchup.’

Gut reactions
An Italian study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences compared the gut bacteria from children in Italy following a Western diet (they don’t tell us what the children actually ate) to children from a village in Bukina Faso, Africa, who followed a traditional African farming diet that was richer in fibre. ‘This study did not follow up the health consequences of the different types of bacteria found in the children and did not directly assess whether there is a link between a particular type of bacteria and illness, allergies or obesity,’ report the reviewers at NHS Choices.‘This study indicates that different diets around the world may have resulted in a different distribution of bacteria found in the gut in different populations. The researchers emphasise that looking further at these distributions may help us to understand which illnesses are diet-related and the role that bacteria play in the promotion and prevention of disease. However, at this point it does not provide evidence linking one type of diet to any illness.’

Lower (45%) carb diet helps weight loss
Obese women with insulin resistance lost a little more weight after 12 weeks on a lower carb, higher fat diet than on a traditional low fat, high carb diet with the same number of calories according to a Jenny Craig-funded study presented at The Endocrine Society’s 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

The researchers randomised 45 insulin-resistant women to a low fat diet or a lower carb diet and provided them with prepared calorie-controlled meals as part of a behavioral weight loss program. The low fat diet consisted of 60% of calories from carbs, 20% from fat and 20% from protein. The lower carb diet held the protein calories at 20%, but cut the carbs back to 45% (a pretty typical amount for many Australians in fact) and upped the fat to 35% primarily from unsaturated fats such as nuts. The daily menus included a minimum of 2 fruits and 3 vegetable servings. Both groups lost weight at each monthly weigh-in, but by 12 weeks, the lower carb dieters lost about 3 pounds more than the low fat dieters (19.6 pounds/9.3kg versus 16.2 pounds/7.3kg). – Source ScienceDaily as the study is not yet published.

Low carb or low fat for weight loss? The choice is yours if you can stick to it
A new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine reports that after 2 years, low fat or low carb dieters taking part in a behavioral program to help them change their lifestyle can both achieve successful weight loss. Both groups in this study lost on average 7kg or 7% of their body weight. A low carb diet may modestly improve some, but not all, risk factors for heart disease, though the researchers report that it is unknown whether these improvements will influence the future development of heart disease.

The study included 307 obese men and women. The low carb diet group was instructed to eat no more than 20 grams of carbohydrate per day for 3 months and then increase that by 5 grams a day each week until they achieved their desired weight. The low fat diet group were told to decrease their calorie intake to 1200–1800 calories a day with no more than 30% of calories from fat. All took part in the education program that met weekly for the first 20 weeks, then every other week for 20 weeks, and then monthly for the rest of the 2-year study to help them increase their physical activity and change their lifestyle. Many participants did not last the course on this study.

Get the Scoop on Nutrition with Emma Stirling

The scoop on nutrition health halos and how they trick us into treats


Emma Stirling APD

In today’s health-aware world we are bombarded with nutrition messages. Words like ‘natural’, ‘diet’, ‘light’, and ‘low- or no-fat’ entice us with ‘ticks’, ‘star bursts’ and other bells and whistles every time we shop or stop for food. But can you accurately assess these supposedly healthier foods on face value? Or could their seemingly saintly glow really turn out to be just a health halo?



What is a nutrition health halo? Dubbed the Sherlock Holmes of food, Director of Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab, Dr Brian Wansink is credited with coining the phrase ‘health halo’. It’s an effect that occurs when we make the assumption that a particular food is healthy because of a positive association with the parent brand or positive nutrition and health claims. One example is Wansink’s case of Subway versus McDonald’s. Subway carries a health halo due to the perception that its menu contains better choices (all those salad rolls). McDonald’s on the other hand carries the burden of a health shadow after years as the fast food king (all those fries). However, on closer inspection it is clear that McDonald’s now offers many better-for-you options, such as salads. And Subway has its fair share of not-so-heavenly-for-your-health chocolate chip cookies, large sodas and sandwiches high in calories or kilojoules and saturated fat. We can be tricked by a health halo in a number of ways:

Tunnel vision Research into the area has revealed that it’s common for people to misinterpret or latch onto a single nutrient or health claim like ‘low fat’, which may mask the true picture or total nutrient profile of a food. For example, when you take time to look at the nutrition information panel, you may find your favourite low fat ice-cream is high in added refined sugar and consequently has a similar calorie or kilojoule count per serve to another brand without the ‘low fat’ claim.

Under estimates It’s also common for people to dramatically underestimate the calorie or kilojoule content, and eat more of a food, because it comes from a brand perceived to be healthier. A recent study by the University of Michigan revealed that organic claims influenced how ‘fattening” subjects perceived a food to be. Subjects were more likely to underestimate the calories or kilojoules when told a cookie was “organic” compared with a conventional cookie.

False permission Finally, many of us give ourselves the OK to eat a treat food as a reward for choosing a food with a health halo, resulting in a far greater overall calorie or kilojoule intake. A classic example is pairing a diet cola with a doughnut. It is clear that any calories or kilojoules saved by switching from regular to diet cola, does not miraculously cancel out the calorie-loaded treat. This effect can also apply to other aspects of lifestyle behaviour. In the University of Michigan study above, subjects were less critical when someone had an ‘organic’ dessert and skipped exercise.

Devil is in the details The best way to avoid being caught by a health halo is learn the steps to being an avid label reader and favour whole foods close to the natural source like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and wholegrains. Come on over to The Scoop on Nutrition and watch our latest video on the hottest new wholegrains in town that can help boost your nutrient intake and manage your blood glucose levels.

Emma Stirling is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and health writer with over ten years experience writing for major publications. She is editor of The Scoop on Nutrition – a blog by expert dietitians. Check it out or subscribe for hot news bites and a healthy serve of what’s in flavour.

In the GI News Kitchen

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.

Rice pudding with almond cherry sauce
Cherries and almonds are a match made in heaven. That’s not to say that the rice-milk-lemon mixture isn’t a divine combination as well. In winter, rice pudding (‘budino di riso’) is cooked with lots of milk to make it creamy and is served warm by itself or with stewed dried fruit. This is the summer version: just barely enough milk to cook the rice, leaving it dry enough to take the shape of a pudding mold, served at room temperature with a warmed seasonal fruit sauce. The Italians think of everything! Be generous with the sauce (double sauce ingredients if you wish). Makes 5 (depending on mold size used.)

2 cups fat free milk
1 cup Uncle Ben’s long grain rice
pinch salt
finely grated zest ½ lemon (approx. 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons sugar
450g (1lb) dark sweet cherries, washed, pitted, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon almond extract



Bring the milk to a boil slowly. Gently add in rice and salt, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. If needed, in the last few minutes, add ½ cup hot water, 2 tablespoons at a time. When the rice is cooked, remove it from the heat, add the lemon zest, almond extract and sugar and mix thoroughly. Divide the rice mixture evenly and fill 5 molds, pressing down to fill all the crevices. Set aside.
Make the sauce, by combining the cherries and honey in a small sauce pan and cooking over a low heat for 15 minutes. Stir frequently. When the sauce becomes creamy, remove from heat, add the almond extract, and set aside.
Place the rice molds upside down on individual dessert plates, and tap to release. Spoon the warm sauce generously on top and serve immediately.

Per serving
Energy: 1079kJ/ 257 cals; Protein 8g; Fat 1g (includes 0g saturated fat and 2mg cholesterol); Available carbs 54g; Fibre 2g

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.

Burgers with beetroot relish
Make these with seriously grainy rolls, pile on the veggies and serve up a low GI meal everyone will love. Serve them ‘ready made’ or just throw everything on to a large platter and let everyone make their own. Makes 8 burgers.

1–2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, scrubbed and grated
1 small zucchini, grated
2 teaspoons Moroccan spice mix
350g (12oz) lean beef mince
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
¼ cup dried breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
8 dense grainy rolls, toasted



Beetroot relish
225g (8oz) can sliced beetroot, drained
¼ cup low fat plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Fillings
90g (3oz) mixed salad leaves
1 large Lebanese cucumber, sliced
2–3 Roma tomatoes, sliced

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add the carrot, zucchini and spice mix and cook for 1 minute, stirring to combine. Place this mix in a large heatproof bowl and add the mince, tomato sauce, breadcrumbs and parsley and mix well to combine. Form into eight patties, about 6–7cm in diameter.
Wipe the frying pan with paper towel and reheat with 1 tablespoon of the oil. When the oil sizzles, cook half the patties for 4–5 minutes each side over low-medium heat, until cooked through. Drain on paper towel. Repeat with the remaining patties using more oil if necessary. While the patties are cooking, make the beetroot relish . . .
Puree the beetroot with the yoghurt in a small food processor or blender and then stir in the parsley.
Assemble the burgers with a toasted grainy roll, meat pattie, a dollop of relish and a mixture of the fillings.

Per serving
Energy: 1374kJ/327cals; Protein 20g; Fat 10g (includes 2g saturated fat and 23mg cholesterol); Available carbs 37g; Fibre 6g

Busting Food Myths with Nicole Senior

Myth: Food cooked at home is always healthier


Nicole Senior

Fact: Just because you cook it yourself, doesn’t mean it’s healthy.
It depends on what you cook, how you cook it and how much you eat. Food and cooking are back in fashion. This cultural shift is punctuated by the phenomena of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, the ratings behemoth of 'Masterchef', amazing sales of cookbooks and the endless buffet of celebrity chefs, cooking shows and food magazines. I hope this has had some positive impacts on the community at large. I’ve heard many stories of children being inspired to cook by watching 'Masterchef' on TV, and families becoming inspired to cook more at home for fun. The question is, are we eating any healthier?

One reason why the food and cooking trend may not have traction on our path to health is that many of us are just looking rather than doing it; the reason premium cookbooks have come to be known as ‘gastro-porn’! Meals eaten away from home continue to grow, and our love affair with fast food shows no sign of slowing down.

Unfortunately, most of the recipes we see on TV are not particularly healthy and would have the red light furiously flashing if we had a traffic light system of food labelling. Celebrity chefs are famous for their liberal use of fatty meat, butter, cream and salt. Most demonstrate what I call ‘special occasion’ or ‘sometimes’ food, yet this is rarely pointed out. Ingredients used on episodes of 'Masterchef' experience massive sales booms after the show goes to air so it appears some of us cook what they cook.



Even if we don’t actually cook the recipes, what about role modelling? Celebrity chefs have attained rock-star status but what a lost opportunity when vegetables hardly feature on the ‘restaurant-quality’ meals presented. What a pity many recipes contain an entire day’s worth of salt in a single dish. When the food prepared is more approachable, it draws on peasant origins designed for toiling in the fields with large portions and all the trimmings; hardly suitable for our sedentary lifestyles. If the cooking on TV and in celebrity chef cookbooks is any indication of what we’re eating at home, it is little wonder we’re in trouble with diet-related disease.

Many people speak ill of foods in packets like chocolate bars but feel good about whipping up a chocolate mud cake from scratch and eating a generous slice even though an objective measure of kilojoules and saturated fat would demonstrate that the home-made treat is worse. It is easy to criticise a fast food burger but somehow Jamie’s Steak, guinness and cheese pie with a puff pastry lid (made with all-butter pastry and pictured above) has a health halo. Just for fun I totted up the nutritional numbers. The Hungry Jack's (Burger King's) Ultimate Double Angus burger was attacked by health professionals yet Jamie’s recipe contains even more kilojoules and artery clogging saturated fat.





I’ve done a small study on the types of fats used in magazine recipes and it’s little wonder high cholesterol levels are so common. ‘But what about the love’, I hear you ask. While the love in home cooking cannot be measured, it still doesn’t counteract a diet of excess, although you may die happy with a face full of pie!

In times past, a good cook knew about balance, moderation, variety, fresh ingredients and providing nourishing meals on a budget. The same knowledge and skills are needed today, but we must add environmentally sustainable and extra healthy to the list. Much of what we see of cooking in the media has a different focus. If more home cooking is to help rather than hinder our wellbeing we have to see more about healthy eating in our info-tainment. Or switch off altogether and take lessons from grandma.

Nicole Senior MSc (Nut&Diet) BSc (Nut) is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist and author of Eat to Beat Cholesterol and Heart Food . Check out her website HERE.

GI Group: Check out the ‘Money Saving Meals Masterchef Makeover’ and see how Diane saved a lot of dollars and even more calories and saturated fat HERE.

GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay

Dr Alan Barclay

Lowering the GI of fast food and convenience meals
Food companies around the globe have made concerted efforts to reduce sodium/salt, saturated and trans fats in the food supply. In Australia, for example, the Heart Foundation’s Tick program estimates it has helped remove 235 tonnes of salt from the Australian food supply, and Australian margarine manufacturers almost completely removed trans fatty acids from table margarine over a decade ago. But what about the carbohydrates (the sugars and starches) in fast food and convenience meals?

There has been some effort to reduce the amount of added sugars in fast food and convenience meals. For example, diet and no-added sugar versions of soft drinks are readily available at fast food outlets and in convenience stores throughout the nation, potentially helping us to decrease our total kilojoule intake – although the evidence for this is by no means conclusive.

Some Australian food companies have, or are pledging to, reduce the amount of added sugars in their bread rolls – a move that you could reasonable argue is more hype than substance as it is unlikely to have a significant impact on the kilojoules in the bread rolls as sugars actually provide slightly less kilojoules than the starches that will replace them. Look at the numbers and see for yourself – 15.7 kJ/g (3.75 calories/g) in sugars against 17.5 kJ/g (4.2 calories/g) in starches. Bread rolls are not a major source of added sugars in Australia anyway, with an average 90 gram roll containing around 5 grams of sugar and the picture in the USA is essentially the same. Some fast food outlets are now offering wholemeal or wholegrain bread options. While these are more nutritious in many ways than regular white bread, containing more dietary fibre and a number of important vitamins and minerals, most still have a relatively high GI.

Indeed, the main sources of carbohydrate in fast food and convenience meals with very few exceptions (see our table in Food for Thought) have a high or medium GI. Unfortunately the most commonly consumed forms of bread, potato and rice have, on average, high GI values, and these form the basis of most fast food and convenience meals like the buns for burgers and hot dogs, potato chips/French fries, and rice. The notable exceptions to the rule are pasta – and some noodle-based dishes and some sushi. It wouldn’t be too hard to make the switch to low GI options in popular fast food and convenience meals as low GI breads, potatoes and rices are around and could be used instead of the current high GI varieties if the will was there.


Healthy low GI sushi from keepin it fresh..

A more concerted effort needs to be made by the fast and convenience food industry to ensure that when they do replace saturated fat, trans fat and/or added sugars in their products, they use healthier alternatives. In particular, when it comes to carbohydrates, they should ensure that they use healthy low GI alternatives, otherwise it is highly unlikely that the new improved formulations with all their accompanying nutrition and health claims, health marks and endorsements will provide any real health benefits.

For more information on why it is highly unlikely that the new improved formulations with all their accompanying nutrition and health claims, health marks and endorsements will provide any real health benefits if they don't use healthy low GI carbs too, please feel free to contact me: 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

GI Update

GI Q&A with Prof Jennie Brand-Miller



If additional fat and protein cause lower glycemic responses, shouldn’t you advocate higher protein or higher fat diets for people with diabetes?
Yes and no. It’s a matter of degree and quality, rather than quantity. This type of diet shouldn’t be taken to extremes because very low carb diets have little to recommend them – they are difficult to sustain and they don’t reduce the risk of chronic disease. If your preference is to eat more protein and fat and moderately reduce carbohydrate intake, then go ahead. The US-based Joslin Clinic for people with diabetes recommends a diet with 40% of energy from carbohydrates (that’s lower than is typical in the US), with a greater proportion of protein and good fats. The emphasis should be on quality – good fats, low GI carbs and nutritious protein sources such as fish, poultry, lean red meat, tofu and legumes. If your preference is for higher carbohydrate intake, then that’s OK too, but the quality of those carbs is of paramount importance.

GI testing by an accredited laboratory
North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
36 Lombard Street, Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2X3 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com

Australia
Fiona Atkinson



Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com

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