How cooking helped to make us human.
‘You are what you eat.’ Can these pithy words explain the evolution of the human species? Yes, says Richard Wrangham of Harvard University, who argues in his book, Catching Fire, that the invention of cooking – even more than agriculture, the eating of meat, or the advent of tools – is what led to the rise of humanity. In it, he makes the case that the ability to harness fire and cook food allowed the brain to grow and the digestive tract to shrink, giving rise to our ancestor Homo erectus some 1.8 million years ago. ‘It’s hard to imagine the leap to Homo erectus without cooking’s nutritional benefits,’ says Richard Wrangham. ‘Cooking is the signature feature of the human diet, and indeed, of human life – but we have no idea why. ‘It’s the development that underpins many other changes that have made humans so distinct from other species.’
Drawing on a wide body of research, he makes the case that cooking makes eating faster and easier, and wrings more caloric benefit from food. Moreover, he writes, cooking is vitally important to supporting the outsize human brain, which consumes a quarter of the body’s energy. By freeing humans from having to spend half the day chewing tough raw food — as most of our primate relatives do – cooking allowed early humans to devote themselves to more productive activities, ultimately allowing the development of tools, agriculture, and social networks. Cooked food is also softer, meaning the body uses less energy digesting what it takes in.
Since physical remnants of fire tend to degrade rapidly, archaeological evidence of fire and cooking dates back only about 800,000 years. Wrangham looked to biological evidence, which shows that around 1.8 million years ago, Homo erectus arose with larger brains and bodies and smaller guts, jaws, and teeth – changes consistent with the switch to a more tender and energetically rich diet of cooked food. ‘Cooking is what makes the human diet ‘human,’ and the most logical explanation for the advances in brain and body size over our ape ancestors,’ Wrangham says. ‘It’s hard to imagine the leap to Homo erectus without cooking’s nutritional benefits.’
While others have posited that meat-eating enabled the rise of Homo erectus some 1.8 million years ago, Wrangham says those theories don’t mesh with that species’ smaller jaws and teeth. Instead, he claims meat enabled the shift from australopithecines to Homo habilis – a species about the size of a chimp, but with a bigger brain – more than half a million years earlier.
Wrangham says the adoption of cooking had profound impacts on human families and relationships, making hearth and home central to humanity and driving humans into paired mating and perhaps even traditional male-female household roles.
He writes that the advent of cooking permitted a new distribution of labor between men and women: Men entered into relationships to have someone to cook for them, freeing them up for socializing and other pursuits and bolstering their social standing. Women benefited from men’s protection, safeguarding their food from thieves. Homo sapiens remains the only species in which theft of food is uncommon even when it would be easy.
‘To this day, cooking continues in every known human society,’ Wrangham says. ‘We are biologically adapted to cook food. It’s part of who we are and affects us in every way you can imagine: biologically, anatomically, socially.’
Source: This article by Steve Bradt first appeared in Harvard Science and is reprinted in GI News with the kind permission of Professor Wrangham and Harvard Gazette.
1 February 2013
We Are What We Ate
GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay
Dr Alan Barclay
Not all refined carbs are high GI.
Despite frequently being used interchangeably in the media and scientific reports ‘refined carbohydrate’ and ‘high GI’ are not the same thing. In fact using them as if they were may have adverse effects on some people’s health as some refined carb foods (like pasta) have a low GI and some ‘whole’ and unprocessed foods like most potatoes have a high one. Simply recommending we eat ‘less-refined foods’ is not enough to help people prevent and manage weight gain or type 2 diabetes.
While refining and/or processing may modify the overall GI of a food, it doesn’t necessarily mean the final product will have a higher GI – it all depends on the GI values of the sugars and starches in the actual foods and how the foods have been refined and/or processed. The following examples illustrate how.
Sugary foods The GI of sugars ranges from 15 for fructose to 105 for maltose – a seven-fold difference! Most fruit-based products (dried and canned fruit and fruit juices) and dairy foods have a low GI, because the predominant carbohydrate in these products (e.g., fructose and lactose/GI = 46) are low GI. On the other hand, most ‘foods/beverages’ like confectionery and soft drinks made primarily
from table sugar (or sucrose/GI = 65) will have a medium GI – not a high GI as is
often assumed. Of course, unlike fruit and dairy foods, soft drinks and confectionery are occasional TREATS (not everyday foods) even if the balance of sugars were changed to lower their GI, they would still remain treat foods.
Starchy foods Unlike sugary foods, the type of starch contained in a food is not as strong a predictor of its GI for a variety of reasons. There are two main types of starch – amylose and amylopectin, with amylose having a lower GI than amylopectin. So a food with more amylose may have a lower GI than one higher in amylopectin, but this is not always the case. This is partly because the starches in unrefined grains like hulled barley, brown rice or wheat berries are encapsulated by the germ and bran, which when left intact can make the starch - regardless of type - very hard to digest. Of course, this is why we process them to provide us with more digestible forms (e.g. pearl barley, white rice and bulgur) or into flour. We have found that the milling method (e.g., stone grinding versus modern steel roller milling) generally has a more significant effect on the ultimate GI of grain foods. Traditionally stone ground flours retain much more of the germ and bran and have more coarsely ground endosperm (where the starch is found), so the starch is still much harder to digest than modern roller-milled grains. You can see an example of 'traditional' stone milling to make tortillas in this 10-minute movie Maiz made in around 1960 by Roger Sandall in Mexico.
Photo by Sheridan Rogers: www.sheridanrogers.com.au
Breads do not always have a high GI although the main ingredient (flour) is usually a highly refined starch. This is because other aspects of the bread making process affect the GI. Gluten matrices form in flour after it is mixed with water and kneaded into a dough – gluten encapsulates the starch molecules making them harder to digest. In addition, the organic acids that form when the dough rises can lower the pH of the final product – organic acids slow digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, further lowering their GI. This is why authentic sourdough breads made the traditional way (in which lactic acid and propionic acid are produced by the natural fermentation of the starches and sugars by the bacterial starter culture) have a much lower GI (54–58 ) than most sandwich breads (average 71) on supermarket shelves. Both use refined flour, but the method of processing has a significant effect on their GI.
What do we recommend? Reduce your intake of carb-rich foods with ‘added refined sugars’ and ‘added refined starches’, particularly those with a high GI and join us in pushing for a dietary guideline for breads and cereals that looks something like this: ‘Eat plenty of cereals, breads and pastas — preferably wholegrain with a lower glycemic index’.
The GI Symbol, making healthy low GI choices easy choices
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.barclay@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com
GI Update with Prof Jennie Brand-Miller
Prof Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions. 
I read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald suggesting iodine deficiency could be why Australian children lag behind at school. Can you tell me more about iodine and how much we need and where we can get it naturally.
Iodine is a naturally occurring mineral that is needed by the thyroid gland in order to synthesize thyroxine, an important hormone that regulates metabolism. In babies and young children, thyroid hormones play a key role in physical and mental development. A deficiency of iodine can lead to learning difficulties and affect physical development and hearing. The recommended dietary intake a day for iodine is 150 micrograms for most adults, but this increases to 220 micrograms during pregnancy and 270 micrograms while breast-feeding, as your baby will take the iodine it needs from you.
Iodine deficiency Because Australian and New Zealand soils are low in iodine, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the New Zealand Ministry of Health recommend that all women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or considering pregnancy, take an iodine supplement. However, it’s best to speak with your doctor before taking a supplement, especially if you have a pre-existing thyroid condition.
Though iodine deficiency is not typically a problem in the United States, as most table salt is enriched with iodine, the American Thyroid Association recommends that all women who are pregnant, breast-feeding, or considering pregnancy take an iodine supplement of 150 micrograms each day. Kelp and seaweed supplements are not recommended as they contain varying amounts of iodine and can even cause toxicity (too much iodine). Again, speak with your doctor first.
Best natural sources of iodine The best source of iodine in our diet is seafood. We also get iodine from other foods including milk and vegetables, but the amount varies depending on how these foods are grown and processed. In Australia and New Zealand, all salt used for making bread (apart from organic breads) must now be iodised, so bread has become a source of iodine. While we don’t recommend that you add salt to your food, if you use it in cooking (for example, when boiling rice or pasta), it’s best to buy iodized salt and use sparingly, particularly if you don’t regularly consume other iodine-rich foods. Another tip I learned lately was that iodized salt has a use-by date because it loses the iodine gradually to the air (vaporisation). If you use the large SAXA containers as I do, but only a little, it might be years before it’s empty. So check the use-by date … you may need to bin it if you have had it in the cupboard for a long while!
Four tips for increasing your iodine intake
1. Include a few meals of fish or seafood each week (there are two fish recipes in this issue of GI News for starters to try).
2. A glass of milk or container of yogurt with cereal or as a snack will provide iodine as well as calcium and other nutrients.
3. If you use salt in cooking or on your meals, choose iodized salt rather than other types.
4. Sushi is a good way to get iodine, but for food safety reasons needs to be homemade (without raw fish) and eaten fresh. Nori (sushi wrappers) can also be chopped into salads and stir-fries for vegetarians or non-fish eaters, but avoid kelp, which can contain very large amounts of iodine.
This is an edited extract from my latest book (with Dr Kate Marsh and Prof Robert Moses), The Bump to Baby Low GI Eating Plan for Conception, Pregnancy and Beyond (Hachette Australia) which is available from good bookshops and online. You can also visit us HERE.
We are delighted to let GI News readers know that a US edition is well on the way (we have just checked the page proofs). The publisher is Matthew Lore of The Experiment. Matthew has published many of our books in the past and we are absolutely delighted to be working with him on this. We will keep you posted re the publication date.
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
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1 January 2013
GI News—January 2013
- Check out Jamie’s low GI 15-minute meal;
- How honey helped to make us human;
- The scoop on quinoa plus recipes to enjoy;
- GI provisions in new health claims legislation for ANZ;
- How low should a low GI diet go?
- Why going meatless one day a week is a good idea.
Good eating, good health and good reading.
Editor: Philippa Sandall
Web management and design: Alan Barclay, PhD
Contact email (for questions or permission to reproduce stories from this newsletter): info@gisymbol.com for technical problems or faults please contact smb.ginewstech@sydney.edu.au
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Food for Thought
Add years to your life and life to your years with Dr David Katz’s Super Six.
‘Feet, forks, fingers, sleep, stress and love are the best medicine we
have for preventing cancer and other chronic diseases, and all are good
for health anyway,’ says Dr David Katz.
Dr David Katz
‘Regular physical activity (feet) is associated with weight control, reduced inflammation, enhanced immune function and reduced cancer risk specifically. Optimal diet (forks) exerts far-ranging effects on every aspect of physiology, and similarly stands to reduce the risk of all chronic disease. Combine eating well and being active with a commitment to never hold a cigarette (fingers), and the risk of all chronic disease declines by roughly 80 per cent.
Those are my top three, but the list of health promotion priorities very reasonably extends to three more. The quality and quantity of sleep has profound effects on psychology, immunology and neurology. A linkage to cancer risk is suggested by a rudimentary connection of these dots. Much the same is true of stress, which can contribute to hormonal imbalances and inflammation that propagate cancer – or can be managed to prevent such effects.
And, finally, there is love. We are, from our earliest origins, social creatures much influenced by our relationships with others. While love may seem a “warm and fuzzy” topic, it is in fact the cold, hard scrutiny of clinical trials demonstrating that those with loving relationships are far less vulnerable to chronic disease and death than those without.
Combine all six salutary practices, and the evidence is clear that benefits reverberate all the way to our chromosomes, altering the behavior of genes in a way apt to reduce chronic disease risk in general, and cancer risk specifically.
I hasten to append to this paean for the power of lifestyle a proviso: there is never a guarantee. Think of it this way: lifestyle practices are the ship and sails, but there are still the wind and waves. The former we can control to increase the probability of a safe crossing; the latter, we cannot – and thus even a well-captained ship may founder. But the Super Six can assuredly put probability on your side. You'll need a little help with love, but the other factors are up to you. Don’t wait for that brush with mortality – I commend the Super Six to you right now.’
About Dr David Katz Known internationally for expertise in nutrition, weight management, and chronic disease prevention, Katz is the founding director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center. He is the editor-in-chief of the journal Childhood Obesity, President-Elect of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, founder and President of the non-profit Turn the Tide Foundation, and a blogger/medical review board member for The Huffington Post.
www.davidkatzmd.com
http://twitter.com/DrDavidKatz
What’s New?
Prof Jennie Brand-Miller on how low should a low GI diet go?
‘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.,’ says Prof Jennie Brand-Miller. ‘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 rating high GI (70 or higher) and low GI (55 or less) foods, was based on the scatter of GI values among the single foods that had been GI tested.
Increasingly we are asked about the GI of mixed 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.
We believe there’s a real need to define the difference between a low GI diet and/or meal and a low GI food. Because a low GI food is defined as 55 or less, people have made the reasonable assumption that a whole diet that averages less than 55 is low enough. In fact the average Australian and American diets already has a GI of 56 to 58 because we all eat low GI fruits and dairy products and of course sugar has a medium GI (65). To reduce the risk of chronic disease, we believe that a low GI eating pattern/diet must have much lower number.
We would propose that a GI of 45 or less is a reasonable definition of a low GI diet or meal. This is because what we now know from numerous observational cohort studies around the world is 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 we 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 heart disease and diabetes, 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.’
Why we can't afford to be so dependent on so few crops.
Graziano da Silva
From the peaks of the Andes to the Asian steppes, from the Arctic coasts to the African savannah, roughly 30,000 edible crops have been identified throughout the world. At December 2012’s international Crops for the 21st Century seminar José Graziano da Silva reminded us that while some 7000 species of plants according to FAO estimates have been cultivated or consumed as food throughout human history, many of these species are disappearing today. ‘If we lose these unique and irreplaceable resources, it will be more difficult for us to adapt to climate change and ensure a healthy and diversified nutrition for all,’ he said.
‘Globalisation has created an abundance of food in some parts of the world, but has failed to end the chronic shortages that exist elsewhere. It has also created a homogeneity of products, accompanied by a loss of different culinary traditions and agricultural biodiversity.’
According to FAO, the caloric intake of most people on the planet is based today on only four crops: rice, maize, wheat and potatoes. ‘Our dependence on a few crops has negative consequences for ecosystems, food diversity and our health. The food monotony increases the risk of micronutrient deficiency,’ he said. ‘We are slowly forgetting how to identify, cultivate, cook and conserve hundreds of local varieties that have adapted over time to the climactic conditions and the characteristics of every kind of land. We are losing a precious fountain of knowledge that has been accumulated over generations to find in local nature a response to our needs.’
To address these challenges, the FAO has called for the sustainable intensification of agricultural production via a food production model it calls Save and Grow, that also preserves and enhances natural resources.
In calling for increased research on under-utilised crops, Graziano da Silva stresses that such species ‘play a crucial role in the fight against hunger and are a key resource for agriculture and rural development’.
He also underlined the importance of sustainable diets. ‘While almost 870 million people go hungry, an even greater number are overweight or obese. And even as inadequate access to food causes suffering in poor countries, every year consumers in industrialised countries waste 220 million tons of food, an amount equivalent to sub-Saharan Africa’s total annual food production,’ he said.
Get the Scoop
The scoop on quinoa.
The United Nations has declared that 2013 is International Year of Quinoa. It was extensively cultivated by pre-Columbian cultures from around 3000 BC, and along with corn and potatoes was a staple in Andean meals and referred to as the ‘mother grain’. During 2013, food security, agriculture, and nutrition experts want to work together to make sure that traditional growers in South America can keep up with the demand, and that the crop can continue to feed millions as the world’s rising population and growing food shortages make eradicating hunger a formidable challenge.
Photo credit: Lauran and Henriette Damen, Kindred Organics
What’s so super about quinoa? One of the things that make quinoa a ‘super food’ is its resilience. In a world where climate change and natural disasters are threatening many traditional types of agriculture, heartiness is a much-desired quality in a crop. It’s a cool climate crop and the world’s main producers are Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador but it is also being grown in the US. Here in Australia, Lauran and Henriette Damen of Kindred Organics in Tasmania are in their fifth year of growing, harvesting, cleaning and polishing organic quinoa on a commercial scale. ‘It’s an amazing crop,’ they told us, ‘but rather challenging to grow.’
Nutritionally, it is an excellent source of low GI carbs (GI 53) and protein (around 8 grams per cup of cooked quinoa) and is rich in B vitamins and minerals including iron, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc. It is also gluten free.
It's also versatile. In the kitchen, you can use it in dishes that call for other grains or grain products including rice, couscous, bulgur or barley. It cooks in about 10–15 minutes and has a light, chewy texture and slightly nutty flavour. The beige/tan variety tends to have more flavour than the red – but a combination of the two makes a colourful dish. Here is a taste of the quinoa recipes we have published:
- Chicken and pumpkin soup with quinoa
- Sumac-spiced lamb backstrap with quinoa and roasted grapes
- Quinoa, mackerel and spinach kedgeree
- Avocado, sesame and sumac quinoa in baby gem leaves
- Jamie Oliver’s Blackened chicken with San Fran quinoa salad in Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals and
- Yotam Ottolenghi’s Avocado, quinoa and broad bean salad in Plenty.
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.
![[JOHANNA]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2008/sept08/joanna175.jpg)
Spaghetti al gorgonzola.
This quick and easy pasta dish made with these simple ingredients absolutely belies its special occasion taste. Try it tonight with a crispy garden salad. Makes four 1-cup servings. Enjoy.
For the sauce
1/3 cup (80ml) evaporated skim milk (Italians use cream)
2 tbsp unsalted butter (Australian cooks use 1½ tbsp)
4–6oz (110–170 g) gorgonzola, crumbled
8oz (230 g) spaghetti
For the topping
2 tbsp walnut pieces, toasted
2–4 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, optional
Bring sauce ingredients to room temperature.
Cook spaghetti according to package directions until al dente. Do not overcook.
Warm the milk over low-medium heat in a large non-stick sauté pan. Add the butter and when it is melted add the gorgonzola. Stir until creamy. Remove from heat and set aside.
Drain the pasta, add to the sauce. Mix well.
Sprinkle the walnuts and mint on top of the spaghetti. Serve immediately with grated cheese on the side.
Per serve
1690 kJ/404 calories; 16g protein; 18g fat (includes 10g saturated fat); 47g available carbs; 2g fibre
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 our Money Saving Meals packed with fresh produce including these delicious stuffed vegetables from the Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook (Hachette Australia)
Stuffed vegetables with barley, quinoa, pine nuts and pepitas.
You could substitute the pearl barley and quinoa with cooked brown rice or couscous. Any variety of fresh herbs, vegetables and nuts/seeds can be added to the stuffing mix. Serves 4.
½ cup pearl barley
½ cup quinoa
3 cups water
2 medium eggplants (aubergine), halved lengthwise
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 zucchini (courgette), finely diced
2 red capsicums, halved, deseeded
6 large vine ripened tomatoes
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp pepitas
2 tbsp freshly chopped mint
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Photo of vegetables stuffed with quinoa: Ian Hofstetter
Cook the pearl barley and quinoa in separate pans following packet instructions until tender. Drain well. Meanwhile …
Scoop out the flesh of the eggplants, leaving a 1cm (½in) shell. Sprinkle the shell with salt and turn upside down on kitchen paper to drain off the bitter juices. Dice the eggplant flesh.
Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
Deseed and dice 2 of the tomatoes. Cut of the tops of the remaining 4 tomatoes and scoop out their seeds, leaving a shell, set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium–low heat. Add the onion and celery, cook stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, oregano and zucchini, cook stirring for 1 minute more. Increase the heat to medium–high, add the diced eggplant and zucchini and cook stirring for 2–3 minutes or until light golden.
Add the drained barley, quinoa, diced tomato, pepitas, pine nuts, mint and parsley and season.
Rinse the eggplant shells out and pat dry. Fill the eggplants, tomatoes and capsicums with the stuffing, place on a lightly oiled baking tray and roast for 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft and golden brown. Serve.
Per serve
1538 kJ/368 calories; 12g protein; 19g fat (includes 2g saturated fat); 31g available carbs; 13g fibre
Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals.
The cover describes the recipes in this book as ‘delicious,’ ‘nutritious’ and ‘super-fast’. And they are. We particularly like the fact that many are also low GI and that Jamie seems as keen on a can of legumes as we are! Check out www.jamieoliver.com for more information.
Lamb meatballs, chop salad and harissa yoghurt
‘This book is an expression of big, exciting flavours, fast, for busy people’ writes Jamie in his intro. This recipe is certainly all that. Recipe © Jamie Oliver 2012. Serves 4.
Meatballs
400g (14oz) lean lamb mince
1 heaped tsp garam masala
olive oil
1 pinch of saffron
½–1 fresh red chilli
2 spring onions
½ a bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro)
2 cloves of garlic
1 x 400g (14oz) tin of chickpeas
350g (12oz) passata
Salad
½ a cucumber
2 little gem lettuces
1 bunch of radishes
2 ripe tomatoes
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
To serve
1 heaped tsp harissa
4 heaped tbsp fat-free natural yoghurt
8 small wholewheat tortillas
1 orange
Photography © David Loftus, 2012
Ingredients out • Kettle boiled • Large frying pan, medium heat • Large lidded pan, medium-high heat
Mix the mince in a bowl with salt, pepper and the garam masala • Divide into 4, then roll each piece into 4 balls with wet hands, placing them in the frying pan as you roll them and adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil • Toss regularly until dark golden all over • Put the saffron into a cup, just cover with boiling water and leave to soak.
Finely slice the chilli, trimmed spring onions and coriander stalks (reserving the leaves), put them into the large pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then squash in the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher • Fry for 40 seconds, then add the saffron and its soaking water, the drained chickpeas and the passata, cover and bring to the boil • In a small dish, swirl the harissa through the yoghurt.
Roughly chop and mix all the salad veg for the salad on a board • Add the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, then season to taste • Loosen the sauce with a splash of water if needed, then pour into the meatball pan and season to taste • Microwave (800W) the tortillas for 45 seconds • Serve it all with orange wedges and a scattering of coriander leaves.
Per serve
1945 kJ/465 calories; 34g protein; 18g fat (includes 5g saturated fat); 36g available carbs; 12g fibre
Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals is published by Michael Joseph, Penguin and is available in good bookshops and online.
We Are What We Ate
Alyssa Crittenden: How honey helped to make us human….
Dr Alyssa Crittenden
‘Most discussions of the evolution of the human diet implicate meat as the proverbial smoking gun responsible for many hallmarks of human evolution such as brain expansion, cooperation, family formation, pair bonding, tool making, and even selection of marriage partners. Some alternative interpretations discuss the importance of plant foods, like tubers (starchy underground storage organs – similar to potatoes), and suggest that the collection and consumption of plant foods is what made us human. The debate of the significance of meat versus potatoes, so to speak, appears to be rooted in deep evolutionary time.
More recently, however, there has been a trend in incorporating a wider range of foods in evolutionary reconstructions of the human diet.
With the popularity of the “Paleolithic Diet” and “caveman cooking” steadily on the rise, it is increasingly important to turn to different lines of evidence to inform our thinking on the history of humans and their food. As new lines of evidence converge, it is becoming clear that the ancestral human diet was varied and included a combination of both animal protein and fat as well as plant foods; a Paleolithic menu that included meat, potatoes – and dessert!
It appears that the human sweet tooth has a long history in human evolution. New research proposes that honey may have been important in human evolution.
Upper Paleolithic (8,000 – 40,000 years ago) rock art from all around the world depicts images of early humans collecting honey. The images range from figures climbing ladders to access hives residing high in trees to figures smoking out hives filled with honeycomb. Honey and bee larvae are important foods consumed by many populations of hunters and gatherers worldwide. Foragers in Latin America, Asia, Australia, and Africa include honey and bee larvae as major components of their diet.
The Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, the population with whom I work, even list honey as their number one preferred food item!
The Hadza consume honey and larvae of both stingless bees and stinging bees, including the African killer bee (Apis mellifera). The Hadza locate the hives with the assistance of a wild African bird, the aptly named honey guide (Indicator indicator). The honey guide bird and the Hadza honey hunter communicate back and forth through a series of whistles and the bird guides the honey hunter, tree by tree, to the bee hive. Once the honey hunter has located the hive, he pounds wooden pegs ito the trunk of the tree, climbs to the top where the hive is located, chops into the tree to expose the hive, and smokes it out by placing burning brush into the opening. Smoking the hive acts to pacify the bees by dulling the senses of the guard bees who protect the opening of the hive. The bees see the smoke as a habitat threat and focus on collecting enough honey to rebuild their hive elsewhere. This allows the hunter to collect the honeycomb without being stung by the killer bees. The honey guide bird patiently waits outside of the hive and as the honey hunter obtains his honeycomb prize, the honey guide bird is rewarded with its delicious prize – wax from the comb and bees.
Honey is a highly nutritious (and delicious!) food source, composed primarily of fructose and glucose. Combined with larvae, which is high in protein, fat, and B vitamins, honeycomb is nature’s energy bar. The ethnographic cross-cultural evidence of honey consumption, combined with depictions of honey hunting portrayed in rock art around the world, suggest that honey has long been been a part of human history. Early humans, and their expanding brains, would have greatly benefited from consuming honey and bee larvae because the human brain needs glucose to fuel the high metabolic demands of neural development and function. The Paleolithic diet likely included meat, plant foods, and honeycomb – one of the sweet secrets to human evolution!’
– The Importance of Honey Consumption in Human Evolution. Food and Foodways
– Clip from an upcoming documentary on the Hadza (the population with whom I work)
– David Attenborough follows a honeyguide bird
Dr Alyssa Crittenden is Lincy Assistant Professor of Anthropology (and honey enthusiast!), University of Nevada, Las Vegas
GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay
![[ALAN]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2009/april2009/alan125.jpg)
Dr Alan Barclay
New health claim legislation for Australia and New Zealand includes provisions for GI.
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand’s (FSANZ) draft food standard to regulate nutrition content claims and health claims on food labels and in advertisements was recently approved by the Legislative and Governance Forum on Food Regulation clearing the way for its implementation in early 2013.
Once law, all health claims need to be supported by high quality scientific evidence and will only be permitted on foods that meet specific eligibility criteria including the Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion (NPSC), which identifies healthier foods and drinks. The NPSC model is still undergoing development as part of the process of developing a new front-of-pack labelling system for Australia.
Under the new standard:
- General level health claims such as ‘calcium is good for strong bones’ can be supported either by pre-approved or industry self-substantiated food/health relationships.
- High level health claims such as ‘calcium reduces the risk of osteoporosis’ however, will require pre-approval by FSANZ.
What about the GI Symbol? The new Standard also allows Certification Trademarks owned by bona fide not-for-profit organisations like the GI Foundation’s GI Symbol (or the Heart Foundation’s Tick) to be used. Foods that carry the GI Symbol have always met the requirements of AS 4694 – 2007, and in fact must now meet the requirements of ISO 26642:2010 (the international standard for GI testing).
As foods that use the GI Symbol have already met the Symbol program’s very stringent nutrient criteria, which identify healthier low GI choices within food categories, they do not need to additionally meet FSANZ’s Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion.
In 2013, here at the GI Foundation we will be developing a range of high level health claims about the GI and these will only be able to be used on foods that carry the GI Symbol. Stay tuned…
The GI Symbol, making healthy low GI choices easy choices
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.barclay@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com
GI Update with Prof Jennie Brand-Miller
Prof Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions.
I have heard it’s a good idea to go meatless one day a week. Why is that?
The beta cells of the pancreas, which make insulin, are under constant assault from our modern Western way of eating – it's not just too many high-Gl carbs, it's also too much saturated fat. Both increase your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. One way to cut the saturated fat is to have a "meat-free" day. Make it the one day of the week where you make a concerted effort to give legumes the starring role in your diet. There are plenty of vegetarian recipes in our Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook but if you've not in the mood to cook, then try a healthy high protein-low GI felafel wrap. You'll need to buy Goodness Superfoods™ wholegrain barley wraps, some hommus, tabbouli and felafel balls (all at your local supermarket). Spread the hommus over the wrap, then the tabbuouli, then squash 2-3 balls and wrap. Heat for 30 seconds in the microwave and voila…tonight's meal.
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
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1 December 2012
GI News—December 2012
- Dr Alan Barclay on why healthy low GI food doesn't need to cost more;
- Eating carbs mostly AFTER 5pm: are there benefits?
- What would batman eat? Helping kids make healthier choices;
- Kids prefer a colourful range of food on the plate;
- Low GI emergency pantry;
- Coffee sobers you up: Nicole Senior investigates;
- Six recipes to enjoy including three fruity desserts for festive fare.
Good eating, good health and good reading.
Editor: Philippa Sandall
Web management and design: Alan Barclay, PhD
Contact email (for questions or permission to reproduce stories from this newsletter): info@gisymbol.com for technical problems or faults please contact smb.ginewstech@sydney.edu.au
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Food for Thought
Embrace health as a kind of wealth.
Heading into the festive season, we are bombarded with ideas for a ‘cracking’ Christmas feast which mostly seems to involve spending a lot of time, money and calories on a day’s good cheer. We thought that it might be timely to ponder Dr David Katz’s comment that the truly great hope for the future of food involves treating health more like wealth. The following is reproduced with his very kind (as ever) permission.
Dr David Katz
‘In the beginning food was money and money was food. Food was the first currency, and modern currency is spoken of in terms of food – we are “breadwinners,” we “make dough,” and we “bring home the bacon.”
We respect how money will affect the quality of our lives, but overlook it with regard to food. We invest in wealth, but generally, not health. Our time horizon for money is distant; for food, it’s only as far away as our next donut. We measure the value of food as calories per dollar, an obsolete metric in an age of epidemic obesity and caloric excess.
None of this is all that hard to fix. Our culture could embrace health as a kind of wealth. A cultural commitment to investing in health could be the normal expectation for any responsible adult. Experts who provide guidance toward better choices – dietitians, health coaches, and other qualified experts – could be valued universally as we value financial planners and investment counselors. And financial rewards for choosing better nutrition, courtesy of those with skin in the game, could put a high polish on the already luminous prize.
Food is a product of culture. The inertia of culture makes it tougher to turn than the Titanic. But the looming collisions (diabetes, obesity etc) are cause to get the job done -- and we can.
The best way to predict the future ... is to create it. Unlike genes, culture is a medium of our devising. We created it – and we can update it. And by so doing, we can create the more nourishing future of food we would all like to predict.
So here’s a thought for the festive season and new year – investing in health and treating it as something of great and universal cultural value – something we raise our kids to aspire to as they aspire to being rich – is a true, potential game-changer for the future of food, ourselves, and our planet.
About Dr David Katz
Known internationally for expertise in nutrition, weight management, and chronic disease prevention, Katz is the founding director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center. He is the editor-in-chief of the journal Childhood Obesity, President-Elect of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, founder and President of the non-profit Turn the Tide Foundation, and a blogger/medical review board member for The Huffington Post.
www.davidkatzmd.com
http://twitter.com/DrDavidKatz
What’s New?
Eating patterns in Canada – culture seems to count when it comes to obesity.
Quebec has the lowest combined rates of overweight and obesity of any Canadian province. It now turns out that it is also the one province in Canada that truly maintains a true and distinct eating Culture (that is culture with a capital C). According to the 15th edition of Eating Patterns in Canada, Quebec households are less calorie conscious than other Canadians and take great pleasure in eating. The vast majority (82%) feel that it is important to enjoy full and regular meals each day, which compares to 60% of western Canadians and 63% of Ontarians. They are also less likely to skip meals. While some believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day it is lunch and dinner that are of most significance. Most of these meals are prepared at home, with 6 out of 10 lunches and 6.5 out of 10 dinners in Quebec households being made from scratch. They also enjoy dessert with dinner more often – about 112 times a year compared with about 89 times in Atlantic Canada, 57 in Ontario and 55 on the west coast. And they are the least likely to snack.
Prof Arya Sharma
Prof Arya Sharma says: ‘While I am generally cautious about inferring cause-and-effect, I am also the first to support any move to improving eating culture. Improving eating culture in the rest of Canada requires a discussion of ‘values’ – and apparently, Quebecers place a higher value on home cooking, regular eating, and finding pleasure in food than the rest of us. Changing this culture will take more than taxing and banning foods. Indeed, I am confident that changing culture will eventually change consumer behaviour, which in turn will ultimately change supply. No easy task – but perhaps worth a wider discussion. In the mean time, perhaps more of us should enjoy our desserts.’
– 15th edition of Eating Patterns in Canada (EPIC).
Eating carbs mostly AFTER 5pm at dinner reduces diabetes and cardiovascular risks.
Eating carbs mostly at dinner (rather than throughout the day) could benefit people suffering from severe and morbid obesity according to new research published in two papers in Obesity and in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases.‘The idea for this research came about from studies on Muslims during Ramadan, when they
fast during the day and eat high-carbohydrate meals in the evening, that
showed the secretion curve of leptin was changed,’ explained Prof.
Madar.
Here's what the researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem did. They randomly assigned 78 police officers to either the carbs-mostly-at-dinner diet or the control carbs-throughout -the-day diet for 6 months and measured the effects on the secretion of leptin, considered to be the satiety hormone, whose level in the blood is usually low during the day and high during the night; ghrelin, considered the hunger hormone, whose level in the blood is usually high during the day and low during the night; and adiponectin, considered the link between obesity, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, whose curve is low and flat in obese people. The results showed that eating carbs mostly at dinner led to changes in daylight hormonal profiles in favor of the dieters whose:
- satiety hormone leptin’s secretion curve became convex during daylight hours with a nadir in the late day hunger hormone
- ghrelin’s secretion curve became concave, peaking only in the evening hours
- curve of adiponectin, considered the link between obesity, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, was elevated.
A diet rich in slowly digested carbs reduces markers of inflammation in overweight and obese adults.
Dr Marian Neuhouser
Among overweight and obese adults, a low glycemic load diet rich in slowly digested carbohydrates significantly reduces markers of inflammation associated with chronic disease, according to a new study by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center published in Journal of Nutrition. In the study, the 80 participants (half normal weight and half overweight) completed a 28-day high glycemic load diet and 28-day a low glycemic load diet in random order. The diets were identical in carbohydrate content, calories and macronutrients. ‘This finding is important and clinically useful since C-reactive protein is associated with an increased risk for many cancers as well as cardiovascular disease,' said lead author Dr Marian Neuhouser. It also modestly increased blood levels of a protein hormone called adiponectin, which plays a key role in protecting against several cancers, including breast cancer, as well as metabolic disorders such as type-2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and hardening of the arteries.
Higher dietary glycemic load diet linked to worse colon cancer survival.
Lifestyle has been shown to play an important role in the development of colorectal cancer. Risk factors, such as obesity and physical activity have been shown to directly influence insulin levels and recent studies have shown a direct link between host factors that lead to hyperinsulinemia and cancer recurrence and mortality in colorectal cancer survivors; however, the influence of glycemic load and other related dietary intakes have on the survival of colon cancer patients is unknown. Researchers have now identified a link between higher dietary glycemic load and total carbohydrate intake and increased risk of cancer recurrences or death among stage 3 colon cancer patients, a finding that suggests that diet and lifestyle modification can have a role in improving patient survival, according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Kid stuff.
#1 What would Batman eat? Having trouble getting your child to make healthier eating choices at their favorite fast food restaurant? Priming them with the simple phrase: ‘What would Batman eat?’ may be the answer! In a recent field study by Brian Wansink and colleagues published in Journal of Consumer Research, 22 children in a summer camp were asked if they would like French fries or apple slices with lunch. On one day, they were shown pictures of real or fictional role models and asked what the role models would choose, before making their own decision. The use of this simple prime increased the amount of children who selected apple slices from 9.1% to 45.5%! Making the connection between eating healthy and being an admirable adult clearly helps children to make healthier eating decisions. So, next time you are at a fast food restaurant, be sure to ask them ‘What would Batman eat?’
#2 Should you plate food for your child the same way you do for yourself? In Brian Wansink and colleagues' study in Acta Paediatrica, pre-teen children and adults were shown 48 different photographs and asked for their preferences based on different dimensions of food presentation. These included the number of components and colors on the plate, the position of the main component, crowded plate versus an empty plate presentation, organizational levels and design. The results suggest amazing opportunities to encourage more nutritionally diverse diets among children. While adults prefer three components and three colors on their plates children preferred seven components and six colors, more than double the adult preference of three!
#3 Is childcare ‘making kids chubbier’? A Canadian study which followed children from 1.5 to 10 years old reports they were 65% more likely to become overweight if cared for in a nursery-style setting, than those cared for by a parent, and who had little exposure to other forms of childcare. Before you start feeling even guiltier as a working parent with a child in child care, check out what NHS Choices has to say. ‘…this interesting study raises more questions than it answers. It is unclear why childcare arrangements would be associated with weight gain, and the study cannot show a cause and effect relationship between centre-based childcare and obesity. The researchers speculate that some childcare centres may have ‘obesogenic’ features (those that promote weight gain). It’s also worth bearing in mind that the study was performed in Canada, and it may be that the results cannot be translated to the UK, or other countries. However, it serves to highlight the importance of good diet and plenty of physical activity for all children, regardless of where they are looked after.’
Get the Scoop
Preparing for an emergency is the smart thing to do.
We originally ran this story early in 2011 after the catastrophic earthquake and aftershocks in Christchurch (NZ), the big freeze in Europe, blizzards in the US and disastrous floods in Australia, Brazil and Sri Lanka. Super-storm Sandy and its aftermath reminds us that you can be without electricity or gas for several weeks. It’s vital to have ready-to-eat food on hand to keep everyone fighting fit until the disaster has passed. And this is where canned foods come to the fore, enabling you to whip up a variety of healthy, tasty low GI meals in minutes. Opt for low(er) salt/sodium products when there is a choice and check use-by dates. Drain canned foods and rinse if you have clean water. Tip: Make sure you have a can opener! Because you can’t depend on refrigeration after cans or jars have been opened, buy sizes that you and your family can consume at one sitting. Here are our 10 top pantry picks.
- Canned beans, chickpeas and lentils and bean dishes such as chilli beans, refried beans, lentil and pea and ham soups – OK cold but quickly heated on a camp stove
- Canned fish –such as tuna, salmon, sardines, crabmeat, prawns, mackerel, herrings
- Canned meats and meat dishes such as chilli beef and beans, ravioli, spaghetti Bolognese and broths (OK cold but quickly heated on a camp stove)
- Cans, jars or tubs of fruit in natural juice; dried fruit such as apple, apricots, dates, peaches, pears, prunes, sultanas, fruit and nut mixes, fruit straps
- Cans and jars of vegetables such as artichoke hearts, asparagus, bamboo shoots, beetroot, cabbage/sauerkraut, capsicum, carrots, corn kernels, mushrooms, peas, tomatoes
- Nuts (not salted) and nut/seed mixes
- Dry cereals such as fruit and nut muesli (natural or toasted), muesli bars
- Grainy crackers and crispbreads, oatmeal biscuits and shelf stable flat breads and wraps such as white corn tortillas and reduced-carb wraps
- Powdered milk, small containers UHT milk,
- And if you have a heating source such as a camp stove or gas bottle barbecue, you can expand your options to include foods that don’t need much water to cook such as instant noodles and ready to eat basmati brown rice
What to drink? Bottled water, single-serving-sized juice that doesn't need to be refrigerated, diet soft drinks.
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.
This December, we bring back an old favourite from Johanna’s kitchen as she hasn’t had time to create something special for us – she is out there on the front line helping survivors of super-storm Sandy in New Jersey.
Flourless chocolate hazelnut cake.
This cake isn’t an Italian recipe at all, but it was a huge hit in my household one Christmas in Friuli. It is built around rich and nutty tasting ingredients that melt in your mouth. White flour is replaced by fibre-rich, vitamin-and mineral-dense ground hazelnuts. The lasting mouth feel is the result of the primarily unsaturated fat in the nuts. This cake stands proudly on its own – no frosting or ice cream can add to its most satisfying taste. If you must, try just a slight dusting of powdered sugar on the top of the cake. Because of the amount of sugar, the GI will be moderate. Enjoy it for dessert when entertaining and special occasions like birthdays. It will feed a crowd. And if you are worried about the calories, just have a sliver instead of a slice!
Serves 12
3½ cups ground roasted hazelnuts (approx. 375 g/13 oz)
1½ cups sugar
2 tbsp vanilla essence
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa (approx. 70 g/2½ oz)
12 egg whites
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Coat a spring-form pan with vegetable spray.
Mix the hazelnuts, sugar, vanilla and cocoa in a medium sized bowl. Beat egg whites until stiff and dry. Gently fold them into the chocolate nut mixture.
Pour the batter into the greased pan. Bake for 40–50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.
Per slice (when cut into 12 slices)
Energy: 1402 kJ/ 334 cals; Protein 9 g; Fat 20 g (includes 2 g saturated fat and 0 mg cholesterol); Carbs 34 g; Fibre 5 g
What about those 12 egg yolks? Here are some ideas from the ever-amazing chef and food writer Kate McGhie:
- Make mayo/hollandaise
- Whisk through pasta (carbonara or alfredo) or stir fries
- Poach the yolk and then chop and use in salads (potato is excellent) or on asparagus with salmon and a lemon-oil dressing
- Use in custard or lemon curd.
- Freeze. I pop a yolk into each cavity of an ice block tray, add a pinch salt for savoury use or sugar for sweet and freeze. When frozen I pop them into a freezer bag.
Sweetcorn and coconut salad.
A simple corn salad is ramped up with lively flavours and an unexpected burst of chilli heat. You can make this a day in advance and store, covered, in the fridge says Kate McGhie. Serves 4–6
3 cups fresh corn kernels
2½ cups milk
1 tsp butter
2 small red chillies, finely chopped
½ tsp ground cumin
2cm (1in) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
pinch turmeric
2 tbsp shredded coconut
6 sprigs coriander (cilantro), roughly torn
Place the corn and milk in a pan and simmer for 45 minutes or until reduced by three-quarters. Season to taste with a little salt if you wish.
Melt the butter in a pan and swirl the chillies, cumin, ginger and turmeric. Add to the corn mixture with the coriander and coconut. Stir well, cook for 2 minutes more and serve warm or cooled.
Per serve (for 6 people)
Energy: 760 kJ/200 cals; Protein 7 g; Fat 6 g (includes 4 g saturated fat and 14 mg cholesterol); Carbs 23 g; Fibre 3 g
Sweet potato and pistachio quinoa.
This dish can be served warm with lamb, chicken or fish such as mackerel and swordfish or served cold as a salad says Kate McIntosh. Serves 4–6 as a side dish
1 orange-fleshed sweet potato (about 400 g), peeled and cut into 2cm (3/4in) dice
200g (7oz) quinoa
3 cups light chicken stock (low sodium)
3 tbsp pistachios, chopped quite finely
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped coriander
2 tbsp chopped parsley
rind only 1 preserved lemon, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF ).
Roast the diced sweet potato for about 20 minutes or until tender
Cook the quinoa following the packet instructions in 3 cups (750 ml) chicken stock, then drain.
For a warm dish, heat a large pan, add all ingredients and stir over low heat until warmed through. If serving cold, simply toss all ingredients together and season to taste.
Per serve (for 6 people)
kJ/Cal 1269/302; Protein 8 g; Fat 12 g (includes saturated 2 g) Carbohydrate 38 g; Fibre 5 g
Three fruity desserts for festive fare ...
Mango, passion fruit and lime fruit salad.
Kate McIntosh’s dessert is absolutely delicious and truly made in minutes. Serves 2
2 medium ripe mangoes, peeled and cut into dice (about 2 cups mango dice)
2 ripe passion fruit
Dressing
½ cup (125 ml) mango puree
pinch of ground ginger
1 lime, juiced
Combine the mango puree, ginger and lime juice in a small bowl to make the dressing.
Place the mango dice into a serving bowl. Scoop out the passionfruit pulp and seeds and add to the mango dice, then gently stir through the mango-lime dressing.
Per serve
700 kJ/167 calories; 3 g protein; 0.6 g fat (includes 0 g saturated fat); 33 g carbohydrate; 6 g fibre
Baked spiced pears with zabaglione sauce.
Johanna Burani’s pears with cinnamon and cardamom are a marriage made in culinary heaven. Serves 4
2 ripe Bosc pears
2 tbsp sugar, divided
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp marsala wine
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
Peel, halve and core the pears. Place them cut side down in a rectangular baking pan with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.
Combine 1 tablespoon of the sugar with the spices, and sprinkle half of this mixture over the pears. Bake the pears for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn the pear halves over, sprinkle with the remaining sugar-spice mixture and continue to bake for another 5 minutes. Pears are done when they are easily pierced by a fork but still hold their shape. Large pears may take a little longer to cook. Remove from the oven, place in individual dessert dishes and set aside.
To make the sauce, combine the egg yolk and remaining tablespoon of sugar in a very small saucepan and mix vigorously for at least 5 minutes with a wooden spoon. Slowly add the marsala and mix well. Heat over low heat stirring constantly for approximately 1 minute or until the mixture thickens WITHOUT COMING TO A BOIL. Pour the sauce over the pear halves and serve warm or at room temperature.
Per serve (Serving size: ½ pear with 2 tbsp of sauce)
Energy: 416 kJ/ 99 cals; Protein 1 g; Fat 2 g (includes less than 1 g saturated fat and 55 mg cholesterol); Carbs 21 g; Fibre 2 g
Easy mango crumble.
You can use fresh in season or canned or frozen mango cheeks or slices in Catherine Saxelby and Jennene Plummer’s deliciously versatile recipe (from Zest). It also works with other summery fruits and other nuts like pistachios or macadamias. Serves 4–6
100g (3½oz) almond bread or biscotti, roughly crushed
½ cup rolled oats
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp wheatgerm
2 x 400g (14oz) cans mango slices in syrup, drained, (reserve 2 tbsp of the syrup), or 8 frozen or fresh mango cheeks
1 tbsp chopped pistachio nuts
2 tbsp maple syrup low fat vanilla yoghurt and maple syrup to serve
Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
Combine the crushed almond bread, oats, brown sugar, wheatgerm and the 2 tablespoons of reserved mango syrup in a large mixing bowl.
Cut mango into chunks and arrange in a shallow ovenproof dish. Scatter over the crumble mixture and bake for 20–25 minutes until the topping is crisp and golden. Serve with yoghurt and a drizzle of maple syrup.
Per serve
Energy 1260 kJ/ 300 cals; 17 g fat (includes 6 saturated fat g); 2.5 g fibre; 7 g protein; 28 g available carbohydrate
Busting Food Myths with Nicole Senior
![[NICOLE]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2007/dec2007/nicole125.jpg)
Nicole Senior
Myth: Coffee sobers you up.
Sorry, the only thing that sobers you up if you have drunk too much alcohol is TIME. It’s not a question of having a cup of strong black coffee to wake you up, nor a cold shower. It’s a question of getting the alcohol out of your body. And that takes time. If you have a large glass (250ml) wine, you need to allow about three hours for your body to break down the alcohol. So imagine how long a night on the town takes …
In fact, there are no hard and fast rules about how long the alcohol will stay in your body—it depends on your age and weight, whether you’re male or female, what sort of metabolism you have, how much food you’ve eaten, the type of alcohol over what period of time, how stressed you are and whether you are on any medication.
Downing a mug of coffee may be the worst thing you can do, according to a Temple University study (in mice) published in Behavioural Neuroscience. In the laboratory, caffeine made ‘drunk’ mice more alert but did not reverse the learning problems caused by alcohol, including their ability to avoid things they should have known could hurt them. The same results have been found in people who combine caffeine-loaded energy drinks with alcohol: the caffeine makes them more alert but their judgment is still impaired by the alcohol. In effect, the caffeine-alcohol combination makes you feel like you can, but actually you can’t: the potential for injury
and misadventure is obvious.
The good news is that another study (in rats this time) has shown that a cup of coffee and an aspirin may help with the sore head the next day.
Key info: Coffee may make you feel more alert when you have drunk too much – but it doesn’t help you make better decisions or drive safely. Only time breaks down alcohol in the body.
Hungry for more? See http://rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov and http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-and-you/health.
Nicole Senior is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist and author of Food Myths available in bookshops and online and from www.greatideas.net.au
GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay
Dr Alan Barclay
Put your money where your mouth is
This is a popular challenge in a variety of situations, but I have rarely heard it in the context of what we actually do put in our mouths. As Dr David Katz points out in Food for Thought ‘We respect how money will affect the quality of our lives, but overlook it with regard to food’.
‘Healthy food costs more’ is a popular tabloid headline along with hard-luck stories such as ‘I can’t afford healthy food’. But healthy food does not cost more. Not if you make the most of the inexpensive, filling and healthy staples that our parents and grandparents enjoyed. This includes naturally low GI foods like traditional oats; legumes such as beans, chickpeas and lentils (dried or canned) and split peas (channa dal), grain foods like barley (pearl), burgul, pasta, noodles and low or lower GI rices; starchy veggies like carrots, potatoes (Carisma and other lower GI varieties), taro, yams, parsnips and sweet corn; fresh green and salad veggies and fruit in season; and dairy foods like milk and yogurt (or the calcium enriched soy alternatives). For frugal low GI food know how, check out websites like food cents and Money Saving Meals (which has recipes packed with low GI ingredients).
And cooking healthy food doesn’t have to take longer. Check out Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals. This man knows how to make the most of a can of beans or a packet of pasta to create meals that will have the family coming back for more and the kids eating their greens. Possibly.
We do appreciate that some healthy low GI foods such as bread can cost a little more than the high GI alternatives. This is because the quality of the ingredients usually needs to be higher in order for the product to have a low GI, and processing techniques may also be different. However, quality really counts when it comes to your daily bread because for many of us, it is the number one source of glycemic carbohydrate in our diet. This is partly because it is such a versatile product – we can eat it for breakfast, use it to make sandwiches for lunch, and serve it with dinner all of which makes choosing a lower GI bread one of the easiest ways of lowering the overall glycemic impact of our diet. I realise for families, it's tempting to take advantage of supermarket price wars that drive prices down on staples like bread, but the cheap white stuff on offer is going to drive those BGLs up, and is not a good long-term investment.
So, invest your hard-earned cash in your health and buy healthy, low GI food and a low GI bread (it will also keep you feeling fuller for longer). In Australia and New Zealand, it is easy to find low GI breads – simply look for those that carry the GI Symbol:
- Bürgen® Soy-Lin GI 52
- Bürgen® Pumpkin Seeds GI51
- Bürgen® Rye GI53
- Bürgen® Fruit & Muesli GI53
- Bürgen® Wholemeal Seeds GI39
- Bürgen® Wholegrain & Oats GI51
- Cripps 9 Grain Sandwich GI53
- Tip Top Original 9-grain GI53
- Tip Top 9 Grain Wholemeal GI53
- Tip Top 9 Grain Mini Loaf Original GI53
- Tip Top 9 Grain Pumpkin Seeds GI53
- Tip Top 9 Grain 9 Seed GI53
If you don't have the GI Symbol to guide you, look for quality breads like authentic sourdoughs, dense grainy breads and pumpernickel or rye bread.
The GI Symbol, making healthy low GI choices easy choices
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.barclay@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com
GI Update with Prof Jennie Brand-Miller
Prof Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions.
Nutrition recommendations during lactation.
The energy cost of lactation depends largely on how much milk your baby is drinking. Assuming human milk provides about 3 kilojoules per mL, and that you are producing 1 litre a day, that’s a whopping 3000 kilojoules in the milk itself. But there’s a ‘tax’ in making all this milk, so in fact you need to ingest an extra 3700 kilojoules/day. However, most women have stored some extra fat during pregnancy which they want to lose during the first few months of their baby’s life. Allowing for this, the science suggests you need to get about 2000 extra kilojoules a day – about 20 per cent more than usual. Most women just eat more but some women do less physical activity than usual.
Losing weight: If you entered pregnancy being overweight, then now’s a good time to lose those extra kilos. You should do it slowly. Losses of approximately half a kilogram a week do not seem to affect milk production or your baby’s rate of growth. If you started pregnancy underweight, then make sure you eat three meals a day and are not losing weight. If your appetite is poor, then make an extra effort to eat small, energy dense healthy snacks (for example, nuts and dried fruit) between meals. During lactation, you’ll need an extra 15–20 g of protein a day – that’s relatively easy to obtain in our diet.
Nutrients that may be deficient in your diet while breastfeeding include folate, calcium, and vitamins E, D and B6.
- Folate: You’ll need about 130 micrograms more folate a day than you did pre-pregnancy. While a supplement is not necessary during lactation, make sure you are eating folate-rich foods – leafy green vegetables being one of the richest sources.
- Calcium: There’s about 250–300 mg of calcium in a litre of human milk, equivalent to an extra serving of dairy or equivalent per day.
- Vitamin D: Human milk provides small amounts of vitamin D, around 50 micrograms per litre. This is drawn from stores in your liver but these are depleted within eight weeks of birth. As it’s near impossible to obtain sufficient Vitamin D just from food (even with the ideal diet) so you need to expose your skin to brief periods of sunlight at appropriate times of the day.
Top 10 breastfeeding snacks
- Wholegrain toast or raisin toast
- Wholegrain sandwiches
- Glass of milk or soy milk or a fruit smoothie
- Yoghurt
- Dried fruit and nut mix
- Wholegrain crispbreads with cheese or avocado and tomato
- Hummus or tzatziki dip with vegetable crudités
- Muesli or porridge with low-fat milk or soy milk
- Small can of baked beans or four-bean mix
- Roasted chickpeas
We are delighted to let GI News readers know that a US edition is on the way. The publisher is Matthew Lore of The Experiment. Matthew has published many of our books in the past and we are very happy to be working with him on this. We will keep you posted re publication details.
New GI values from SUGiRS: Nudie coconut water.
Coconut water has long been a popular drink (fresh, canned or bottled) in tropical climes, especially in India, SE Asia, Brazil, the Caribbean, Africa and many Pacific islands. It is simply the watery fluid inside the coconut, so it’s a type of juice (but from a nut not a fruit). Like other juices, it is low GI. Compared with say fresh orange juice, it has similar carbs per serving, more potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium but not as much in the way of vitamin C. SUGiRS recently tested Nudie Coconut Water and here are the (rounded) results:
- ‘Straight Up’ Nudie Coconut Water (350ml bottle): GI 55, available carbohydrate 18g, fibre 1g, GL 10
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
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