GI News

1 March 2018

PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY

SOCIAL DRINKING

Many factors influence what, when, and how much we drink, including taste, cultural background, religious beliefs, budget, health, and social occasion ... Drinking lubricates most social functions. It’s one of life’s pleasures. So, let’s look at some of the more popular options.

A round of drinks

Water Plain water is the best drink to quench your thirst: it is the most refreshing, provides zero kilojoules, plus a few minerals. However, it doesn’t seem to work so well socially – few people pop down to the pub for a couple of rounds of water.

Mineral water (with ice and a slice of lemon) is socially more acceptable. Plain mineral water (still or sparkling) contains relatively small amounts of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. Fruit flavoured varieties are increasingly popular and available in sugar sweetened or intensely sweetened (“diet”) varieties. Sugar sweetened versions provide around 400kJ (100 calories) and 24g of carbohydrate (sugars) per cup (250ml); intensely sweetened varieties provide some 12kJ (3 calories) and 0.5g of carbohydrate (sugars) per cup. If you are watching your weight or blood glucose levels, plain or intensely sweetened options are your best options.

Tea/coffee A cuppa with family or friends is a popular social activity in most parts of the world. Black tea or coffee provides very little energy (around 13kJ or 3 calories) or carbohydrate (less than 1g) per cup. Adding milk or sugar increases both of course, with a cup of unsweetened white tea or coffee providing about 75kJ (18 calories) and around 2g of carbohydrate; and a cup of sweetened (2 level teaspoons of sugar) white tea or coffee about 235kJ (55 calories) and around 10g of carbohydrate – enough to raise blood glucose levels in most people with diabetes if the sugar is sucrose (GI=65).

However, if you sweeten your tea or coffee with an intense sweetener like aspartame, saccharin, sucralose or stevia, you don’t appreciably increase its energy or carbohydrate content, and so it won’t adversely affect blood glucose levels or body weight.

Low joule/calorie or “diet” soft drinks Unlike water, tea or coffee, these soft drinks probably shouldn’t be consumed daily, but they are still good choices when socialising as an alternative to alcohol. Carbonated beverages have a low pH (they are acidic), and in theory, frequent consumption may increase the risk of developing tooth decay which is a serious health issue for many people. However, they have no effect on blood glucose levels and provide very few kilojoules (around 5kJ or 1 calorie per cup). There is good evidence that substituting regular soft drinks with diet varieties will help people to lose weight.

Fruit juices and fruit drinks People enjoy these soft options at social gatherings. They are a source of calories, vitamin C, dietary fibre and carbohydrate. On average, they provide approximately 400kJ (95 calories) per cup, and are an important source of vitamin C providing on average 113mg per cup, which is more than twice the RDI (45mg per day). Most fruit juice contains a small amount of dietary fibre, but higher fibre varieties are becoming increasingly common.

Fruit juices and drinks have a low pH and are a source of fermentable carbohydrate for cariogenic bacteria. Frequent consumption may therefore increase the risk of developing tooth decay. On average, fruit juices and drinks provide 22g of carbohydrate per cup. All fruit juices made from low GI fruit and most fruit drinks have a low GI, however a 250ml serve of most varieties has a medium glycemic load.

Sugar sweetened soft drinks Save these for special occasions. Like fruit juices and drinks, they have a low pH and are a source of fermentable carbohydrate for cariogenic bacteria, and consumption is associated with increased risk of tooth decay. On average, a small glass (250ml) of sugar sweetened soft drink provides around 440kJ, 27g of carbohydrate (around 2 exchanges), and most varieties have a medium glycemic index, and a medium–high glycemic load, and consequently they will raise blood glucose levels in people with diabetes.

Hard drinks For many people, social occasions include the enjoyment of alcoholic beverages in moderation. We have discussed them in detail in previous issues of GI News (See “Cheers” in Read More).

The bottom line Plain water is unquestionably the best option for quenching thirst, but it’s rarely the first choice when drinking socially with family, friends and colleagues. There’s an increasingly large variety of beverages out there so choose wisely for your health and enjoyment.

Read more:

Does low-energy sweetener consumption affect energy intake and body weight? A systematic review, including meta-analyses, of the evidence from human and animal studies.
Cheers
1 Australian measuring cup = 250mL

Alan Barclay, PhD is a consultant dietitian. He worked for Diabetes Australia (NSW) from 1998–2014 . He is author/co-author of more than 30 scientific publications, and author/co-author of The good Carbs Cookbook (Murdoch Books), Reversing Diabetes (Murdoch Books), The Low GI Diet: Managing Type 2 Diabetes (Hachette Australia) and The Ultimate Guide to Sugars and Sweeteners (The Experiment, New York).

Contact: You can follow him on Twitter.

KEEPING IT GREEN – EATING FOR BODY AND PLANET

MEAT-LESS

Meat-less movement

‘Meatless Monday’ is not new. It was started by the US government during World War 1 to reduce consumption of key foods to win the war (interestingly they also had ‘wheatless Wednesday’). It was revived as a health awareness campaign in 2003 to address excessive meat intake in the USA. Since then it has gone from strength to strength. People are seeing the environmental benefits of eating meat-free (or less meat) and not just on Mondays. Eating less meat is a growing global movement. According to Google Trends, interest in ‘vegetarian recipes’ has more than doubled over the past 5 years worldwide. And for those not quite ready to quit meat completely there is now a new category of eaters called ‘flexitarians’ who eat mostly vegetarian foods but have the occasional meaty meal.

The true cost of meat

There are some costs that are not included in the ticket price of food – the costs to the environment. According to the IPCC, not only are more resources required to produce livestock compared to plant foods, but their manure produces greenhouse gases too - an environmental double whammy. In countries where there are more cattle and sheep, these animals were the greatest agricultural contributor of greenhouse gases.

What can we do?

There is no doubt meat is nutritious, including red meat. Red meat is a great source of protein, iron and vitamin B12. However, some of us eat more than we need. To minimise your environmental impact, you need to eat ‘just enough’ meat to meet (pardon the pun) your nutritional requirements. For example, the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommended up to 455g cooked lean red meat per week. Ordering a 500g steak at a restaurant is a week’s worth of red meat on its own. Cooking 500g of raw red meat at a meal is enough for a family of 4. If this doesn’t seem enough, add some plant protein like legumes and plenty of vegetables and some wholegrains to fill the plate.

Enjoy variety

Meat is part of the ‘meat and alternatives’ food group that includes red meat, white meat, fish, eggs and plant-based alternatives like pulses, legumes, nuts and seeds. Aim for 2-3 ‘serves’ of a variety of options from this group per day, where one serve is: 65g of cooked red meat (100g raw); 80g cooked poultry (100g raw); 100g cooked fish (115g raw); 2 eggs; 1 cup (150g) cooked legumes (lentils, chickpeas, black beans); 170g tofu; or 30g of nuts or seeds.

Eating just enough meat, in a nutshell

Make meat a side player rather than the main event – aim for ¼ of the plate as meat, half the plate as vegetables, and a quarter as grains (or starchy vegetable).
Vary your meat choices - smaller animals such as poultry and (sustainable) fish have a smaller footprint. And don’t forget eggs – they offer perfect protein at a smaller environmental cost.
Replace some of your meat with plant proteins: try adding lentils to your spaghetti Bolognese, burgers, meatloaf or casseroles; or chickpeas or tofu and nuts to curries, soups and salads.

Thanks to Rachel Ananin AKA TheSeasonalDietitian.com for her assistance with this article.

Nicole Senior is an Accredited Nutritionist, author, consultant, cook, food enthusiast and mother who strives to make sense of nutrition science and delights in making healthy food delicious. Contact: You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or check out her website.

GOOD CARBS FOOD FACTS A TO Z

BEANS
Beans are packed with good things for good health including slow-digesting carbs, fibre (including the sticky ones that lower cholesterol), vitamins and minerals. But what makes them really stand out from the plant food crowd is their protein – typically 7–10 grams per half cup cooked dried beans.

Picture: Roasted Beetroot and White Bean Salad from The Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook (Hachette Australia)

Renowned for farts and jokes, the main culprits in beans are the large indigestible sugars (raffinose, stachyose and verbascose) which zip through the digestive system and arrive in the large bowel intact where the resident healthy bacteria enthusiastically ferment them and feast. That embarrassing gas is a natural outcome. Eating small amounts regularly helps your body acclimatize. And rinsing beans several times before soaking and cooking helps wash them away (the indigestible sugars are water soluble). Our word is “bean” and the Roman’s was “faba” – but they actually have a common ancestor, the Indo-European bhabh or bhabha which means “swollen” or “swelling”. Whoever had naming rights was spot on – beans are generous providers, swelling up in the cooking pot so that one cup of dried beans gives us two or three cups to serve. It’s no wonder they have made themselves at home in kitchens around the world in classic dishes, family favourites and vegetarian fare. Not only do they bulk things out, they thicken, add texture and colour, absorb flavours, make great partners, and are nourishing, frugal extenders making a little go a very long way.

Chia nutrition facts
Source: The Good Carbs Cookbook

IN THE GI NEWS KITCHEN

COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSION

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1 February 2018

GI News - February 2018

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

DOGS AND HEART HEALTH
Dog owners know how much warmth and comfort their canine companions add to their lives. A growing body of research shows they can do more than that. The Harvard Medical School Health Report, Get Healthy, Get a Dog, discusses how having a dog can prompt you to be more active, help calm jagged nerves, and reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness. Just petting a dog can lower blood pressure and heart rate (while having a positive effect on the dog as well). A new Swedish epidemiological study in Scientific Reports finds it may cut your risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 45% of all deaths. Having diabetes means that you are more likely to develop heart disease and have a greater chance of a heart attack or a stroke. As well as a combination of healthy low GI eating, regular physical activity and appropriate medication (and quitting smoking, if you do), there’s a growing body of evidence suggesting having a dog can be good for your heart.

Swedish scientists, who used national registries of more than 3.4 million Swedes aged 40 to 80, found that dog ownership had a dramatic effect on people who live alone, cutting the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 36%. In households with more people under the same roof, dogs had less of a positive impact, but still lowered deaths from heart disease by 15%. (Just over 13% of those in the study had dogs.) “If you have a dog you neutralise the effects of living alone” said Tove Fall, professor of epidemiology at Uppsala University.

The researchers analysed the effects of different breeds and found that owners of dogs originally bred for hunting, such as terriers, retrievers, and scent hounds, had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease. People who buy hunting dogs may be more physically active in the first place, because the dogs require so much exercise. The relationship may work both ways though, with livelier dogs effectively demanding that their owners do not slip into an overly-sedentary lifestyle.

“These kinds of epidemiological studies look for associations in large populations but do not provide answers on whether and how dogs could protect from cardiovascular disease. We know that dog owners in general have a higher level of physical activity, which could be one explanation to the observed results. Other explanations include an increased well-being and social contacts or effects of the dog on the bacterial microbiome in the owner. My impression is that this has to do with social support,” said Fall. One key question is whether dogs protect humans against heart disease by reducing blood pressure or through some other effect.

Tove Fall

“It may be that dog owners like to be outdoors more, or are more organised, or more empathic,” Fall said. “There might also be differences between owners and non-owners already before buying a dog, which could have influenced our results, such as those people choosing to get a dog tending to be more active and of better health.”

A recent article in The Conversation, Can pets create health in humans? says: “A study known as the “blue zone” study has focused on factors affecting longevity for over a decade. Nine factors have been identified as increasing lifespan in the communities studied, and many of these factors are increased by pets.” They include natural everyday movement, having a sense of purpose, regular destressing activities, belonging and commitment.

The bottom line from Harvard Health: Don't add a dog to your life if you're not ready or able to take care of one, and prepared to make sure it gets enough exercise. The potential benefits for your heart health are a plus.

Read more:

Dog ownership and the risk of cardiovascular disease and death – a nationwide cohort study (Mwenya Mubanga, Liisa Byberg, Christoph Nowak, Agneta Egenvall, Patrik K Magnusson, Erik Ingelsson, and Tove Fall, Uppsala University)
Four ways having a pet increases your lifespan (The Conversation)
Get Healthy, Get a Dog (Harvard Medical School Health Report)

WHAT’S NEW?

MISTAKEN BELIEFS ABOUT PET NUTRITION AND OBESITY

Obesity in pets is at epidemic proportions.
Obesity and overweight are an important health issue for more than half of our furry friends.

Obesity continues to be the greatest health threat to dogs and cats. It is a disease that kills millions of pets prematurely, can cause complications in almost every system in the body with conditions ranging from diabetes to osteoarthritis, creates immeasurable pain and suffering, and costs pet owners tens of millions of dollars in avoidable medical costs.

“Pet owners and vets both agree that good nutrition can extend a pet’s life. But they differ sharply on what constitutes good nutrition. Pet owners are far more likely to think corn and other grains are problematic” writes Ted Kyle in ConscienHealth. “Many think that food labelled organic and raw diets are better. And yet, none of this is supported by good evidence. In fact, no standards exist for pet foods that claim to be organic. Or “holistic”. Or for “treats”, (the pet industry’s fastest growing segment).”

All the little extras that your dog gets everyday can add up to a lot of extra calories and unbalance the diet if you’re not careful say the veterinarians at Tufts who recommend no more than 10% of calories come from foods that are not your dog’s main pet food. Experienced dog owners tend to use them only as a training tool when teaching a dog to walk on a lead, or sit etc. – a reward for good behaviour and carrying out a command.

A report in Vet Record finds that most commercially available dog treats often exceed the recommended daily energy allowance for treats. Researchers led by Giada Morelli at the University of Padua, compared the nutrient composition of different categories of treats to see if the daily intake recommendations on the label were in accordance with WSAVA guidelines. They analysed 32 popular dog treats available in pet shops and supermarkets (five biscuits, ten tender treats, three meat-based strips, five rawhides [dry bovine skin], twelve chewable sticks and six dental care sticks).

Three out of four treats contained between four to nine ingredients, and the ingredients were not precisely described. For example, biscuits and dental sticks had ‘cereals’ listed as the first ingredient, while tenders, meat strips, rawhides and chewable sticks had ‘meat and animal derivatives’ listed first. Almost half mentioned ‘sugars’ on the label's ingredient list and all contained varying amounts of minerals. The most calorically dense treats were biscuits, whereas the least calorically dense were dental sticks. When caloric density was expressed as kcal/treat, rawhides were the most energy-dense products, followed by chewable sticks and dental sticks.

Read more:

ConscienHealth (Mistaken Beliefs about Pet Nutrition and Obesity)
Petfoodology, Clinical Nutrition Services, Cummings Veterinary Medical Center, Tufts University
Study of ingredients and nutrient composition of commercially available treats for dogs (Vet Record)

WEIGHT LOSS FOR DOGS
Researchers from the University of Liverpool's Small Animal Teaching Hospital and Royal Canin have recently completed the largest ever international weight loss trial in dogs, involving 340 veterinary practices in 27 countries across the world. All dogs received a specially-formulated high-protein high-fibre weight loss diet for a period of a three months, and the amount of weight loss was determined. In addition, owners were asked to score levels of activity, quality of life, and food-seeking behaviour throughout the trial.

The majority of dogs enrolled in the study lost weight, with the average being 11% of their starting body weight. However, differences were noted between intact and neutered dogs, with neutered dogs losing less on average. Owners also reported improvements in activity and quality of life during the study whilst, despite being on a diet, their food-seeking behaviour became less pronounced.

“While the short-term duration of the study meant that many dogs did not reach their target weight, the fact that owners observed improved activity and quality of life suggests real benefits to wellbeing,” said Professor Alex German. A spokesperson for Royal Canin added: “In addition to improvements in quality of life and activity, owners believed that their dogs begged less as the study progressed, findings that can hopefully assure pet owners that returning their pet to a healthy body condition is beneficial and worthwhile.”

Read more:

Success of a weight loss plan for overweight dogs: The results of an international weight loss study

REIMAGINING OBESITY IN 2018
The recent JAMA theme issue on obesity includes a range of articles on its prevention and management. Edward Livingston notes in an accompanying editorial that: “The approach to the prevention and treatment of obesity needs to be reimagined. The relentless increase in the rate of obesity suggests that the strategies used to date for prevention are simply not working … From a population perspective, the increase in obesity over the past 4 decades has coincided with reductions in home cooking, greater reliance on preparing meals from packaged foods, the rise of fast foods and eating in restaurants, and a reduction in physical activity. There are excess calories in almost everything people eat in the modern era. Because of this, selecting one particular food type, like SSBs [sugar sweetened beverages], for targeted reductions is not likely to influence obesity at the population level. Rather, there is a need to consider the entire food supply and gradually encourage people to be more aware of how many calories they ingest from all sources and encourage them to select foods resulting in fewer calories eaten on a daily basis. Perhaps tax policy could be used to encourage these behaviors, with taxes based on the calorie content of foods. Revenue generated from these taxes could be used to subsidize healthy foods to make them more affordable.”

Read more:

Reimagining Obesity In 2018

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE OF HIGH AND LOW GI DIETS (IN MICE AND RATS)?
A systematic review and meta-analysis in Nutrients shows that male mice and rats fed high GI diets increased their body weight, body adiposity, and fasting insulin levels compared to those on low GI diets. While slowing carbohydrate digestion and absorption might be key to beneficial health effects, the low GI diets were also typically high in fibre including resistant starch which may exert mechanisms on metabolism independent of effects on postprandial glycaemia. However, the authors were not able to analyse the metabolic effect of dietary fibre as fibre content was typically not quantified in the original reporting articles, with only two paper specifying fibre content.

What about female mice and rats? “There are too few studies in female animals to be confident of effects,” report the authors calling for future experiments to include females given that the maternal nutritional environment is critical for the development of chronic diseases later in life.

Read more:

Metabolic Effects of High Glycaemic Index Diets: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Feeding Studies in Mice and Rats

PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY

DO HIGH CARB DIETS INCREASE THE RISK OF DIABETES?
High carbohydrate diets, and as a consequence foods and drinks high in carbohydrate, are the current dietary villains. Book store shelves are lined with the latest low-carb fad diet books. Similarly, our supermarket shelves are becoming increasingly stocked with food and drinks that proudly declare that they are low, or at least lower, in carbohydrate, on their food labels and associated marketing materials. Fad diets are great for business.

The theory behind the fad is that consumption of carbohydrate (starches and sugars) increases blood glucose and insulin levels, ultimately increasing insulin resistance, and therefore making it harder for our bodies to utilise fat (from our diets as well as what’s stored in our fat cells). Consequently, they make us get fatter. Because carbohydrate has the most profound effect on blood glucose and insulin levels, many people also think that reducing carbohydrate consumption may correspondingly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, as explained previously in GI News, proteins in food can also increase insulin secretion and fats can increase insulin requirements by increasing insulin resistance. Unfortunately, both foods and human physiology are much more complicated than what is portrayed in the latest fad diets.

Excess weight – particularly carried around the middle (central obesity) – is a well-established risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and randomised controlled trials conducted around the globe have proven conclusively that losing at least 7% of initial body weight will prevent its development in people with pre-diabetes (elevated fasting blood glucose or impaired glucose tolerance).

One of the best examples of this can be found in the Diabetes Prevention Program, which was a large (more than 3000 people), multi-centre randomised controlled clinical trial, which commenced in the USA in the mid-1990s. Participants were over 25, had a BMI over 24 kg/m2, and had pre-diabetes. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) placebo; (2) metformin; or (3) intense lifestyle.

Low saturated fat meal

People assigned to the intense lifestyle group were encouraged to achieve and maintain over 7% weight loss (based on their initial body weight) and were counselled to follow a reduced-energy (calorie/kilojoule), low-fat (also low in saturated fat) diet and to engage in more than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week. After an average of 2 years and 9 months, people in the lifestyle group had a 58% (3 out of 5) decrease in risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and due to these outstanding results, the trial was discontinued. Careful analysis of the data demonstrated that weight loss through reduced energy intake and increased physical activity was the main driver of their reduced diabetes risk.

Participants’ dietary intake was estimated at the beginning of the study (baseline) and 1 year later using a validated food frequency questionnaire. At baseline, body weight was inversely associated with total carbohydrate consumption and positively associated with total and saturated fat consumption. In other words, diets higher in total and saturated fat and lower in carbohydrate were associated with increased body weight. Similarly, weight loss at 1 year was strongly associated with increased carbohydrate consumption – in particular from foods that were naturally high in dietary fibre like fruits, vegetables and legumes. Weight loss was also associated with decreases in total and saturated fat consumption.

There are several potential reasons why increasing carbohydrate from fruits, vegetables and legumes are associated with weight loss:

High carbohydrate and high fibre foods generally have a lower energy density (Calories or kilojoules per gram of food), but are very filling.
The dietary fibres stimulate the production of short-chain fatty acids in the colon, which may alter energy metabolism in our liver, muscles and fat tissues.
Soluble dietary fibres from these foods slow down the passage of the carbohydrate from the stomach and intestine and slow their absorption into the blood.
The carbohydrate and fibre provide important fuel for the microbiome, which in turn effects energy balance.

The authors overall conclusion was: “Given the widespread public perception that carbohydrates are detrimental in increasing diabetes risk and the increasing prominence of low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss, the current findings are critical to the development of evidence-based recommendations for optimal dietary approaches to prevent diabetes.”

Based on the best available evidence, dietary patterns that encourage the regular consumption of quality carbohydrates do not increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Quite the contrary.

Read more:

KEEPING IT GREEN – EATING FOR BODY AND PLANET

WASTE NOT
According to the FAO, one-third of the food grown worldwide is wasted. That’s enough to feed all the hungry people in the world and leave leftovers. It also worsens our carbon footprint because we are wasting the water, fertiliser and energy used to produce food we throw away. Each one of us can make a difference (and save money – Australians throw away AUD$3800 worth of food a year). Here are our favourite food and money saving tips.

Apple

Eat the skin You might not be game enough to eat furry kiwi skin, but where possible eat the skin from your fruits and vegetables. Not only does it waste less, but often the brightly coloured skins from fruits like apples are a concentrated source of antioxidants and fibre. Off-cuts like carrot peels, onion and tomato tops, herb stalks and celery leaves can be saved in a sealed bag in the freezer and then used later along with a chicken carcass to make homemade stock.

Keep it fresh The way that you store foods can keep them fresh for an extra few days, or weeks. Store most fruits (not bananas) and vegetables in the fridge to keep them fresh. For fruits that ripen after picking, such as stone fruits, bring them out of the fridge to the fruit bowl a few at a time to ripen. Having them on display also encourages people to eat them. Keep leafy greens wrapped in paper towels inside bags or containers in the fridge to keep them crisp, and the slime at bay. Herbs can even be kept longer with their ‘feet’ in a glass or jar of water topped with a plastic bag. Wash fruits and vegetables just before you eat them, not before you store – moisture attracts mould. Freeze raw meats within a few days so you don’t forget them in the back of the fridge. Freeze loaves of sliced bread to keep them fresh, and then take slices out as you need them. Store dry goods such as breakfast cereal in airtight containers (or better yet, upcycled old jars) to help keep them fresh.

Don’t bin it, use it When your food is looking past its prime, don’t automatically bin it, be creative and use it. Toast old bread to make croutons for soup or toss them through your salad. Freeze over-ripe fruits such as bananas and berries and use them to make smoothies. Make a quick berry jam by adding the mushy fruit and sugar in a jar and microwave until it becomes jam-like, then put it in the fridge to enjoy with yoghurt, porridge, ice cream or on wholegrain toast. Cut the bruised bits out of fruits and stew them and serve with yoghurt or custard. Rescue limp veggies out of your fridge and use them to make soups, stews, pizza toppings or homemade veggie juice. Get creative with your leftover cooked meats and use them to make toasted sandwiches, quesadillas, nachos, frittata, omelette, salads, soups, pies and casseroles.

Compost if you can Eggshells, coffee grounds, tea leaves, fruit peels (not citrus) and vegetable scraps can all be composted. This may come as a surprise, but fruit and vegetable scraps decompose differently in landfill than in a compost bin. Unlike compost, landfill is lacking in oxygen therefore the organic scraps produce methane gas – a greenhouse gas 26 times stronger as they break down than carbon dioxide. Worm farms are also an excellent way to dispose of food scraps and create valuable compost for the garden. For apartment dwellers, Bokashi bins are a clever way to get rid of food scraps if you don’t have a garden.

Keeping it green, in a nutshell:

Save money and reduce your environmental footprint by wasting less food.
To keep your food fresh, store it correctly: fresh foods in the fridge or freezer and dry goods in airtight containers.
To minimise waste and maximise nutrition, use all your fruits and vegetable, and compost any scraps.
Rescue food past their prime and cook them up into new dishes
Transform your leftovers into a new meal.

Read more:

SAVE FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction

Thanks to Rachel Ananin AKA TheSeasonalDietitian.com for her assistance with this article.

Nicole Senior is an Accredited Nutritionist, author, consultant, cook, food enthusiast and mother who strives to make sense of nutrition science and delights in making healthy food delicious.
Contact: You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or check out her website.

GOOD CARBS FOOD FACTS A TO Z

CHIA SEEDS
Foodwatch nutritionist Catherine Saxelby brought chia seeds (Salvia hispanica) to our attention in 2009. In August GI News that year she wrote that they: “look like tiny sesame seeds and can be black, white or grey. Like all seeds, they are high in fat especially the good fats… They are one of the richest sources of the plant form of omega-3 called ALA. They are also big on fibre. In fact, at 37% they are an outstanding source of fibre, in particular of soluble fibre. They have the ability to absorb a high volume of liquid and become thick and gelatinous, thanks to some mucilages … They contain 15% protein – as much as from wheat – and a variety of vitamins, minerals and trace elements including folate, phosphorus, iron, manganese, copper and potassium. Like almonds and sesame seeds, they have a surprisingly high content of calcium, usually found in dairy foods, but how well this is absorbed is debatable.”

CHIA SEEDS

It’s easy to add them to your daily diet.

Sprinkle them on yoghurt, cereal, oatmeal, muesli, granola and salads.
Stir them into dressings. The seeds don’t form a gel in oil-based foods.
Blend into a morning smoothie.

A recent study by GI Labs Director of Research, Dr Alexandra Jenkins, and the research team at St. Michael's Hospital found salba-chia was effective in promoting weight loss and improving obesity-related risk factors in overweight and obese people with type 2 diabetes. “Lately, there has been a lot of research interest in satiety,” says Dr Jenkins. “Acute satiety studies can be useful in selecting foods and ingredients that cause feelings of fullness and highlighting which will be best suited for weight loss studies. Weight loss studies, which typically last 6 months–1 year, can demonstrate concretely that a product promotes feelings of fullness and result in lasting weight loss. Long term studies such as these are powerful because they allow researchers to investigate the effect of these products not only on body weight, but also detect whether there are other, additional, health benefits of incorporating the product into the diet.”

Chia nutrition facts

Source: USDA

IN THE GI NEWS KITCHEN

STICKS, SEEDS, PODS AND LEAVES
Kate contributed the recipes to Ian Hemphill’s best-selling Spice and Herb Bible. You will find more of her recipes on the Herbies spices website. Or you can follow her on Instagram (@herbieskitchen).
Kate
Kate uses Herbies spices and blends in her cooking, but you can substitute with what you have on hand in your pantry.

APPLE AND ALMOND OVERNIGHT OATS WITH CHIA SEEDS
Based on a bircher muesli recipe, these oats are a delicious, ready-made breakfast to kickstart the day. Herbie's Fragrant Sweet Spices blend contains coriander seed, cassia, cinnamon quills, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, poppy seeds, cloves, cardamom and rose petals. Quick steel cut oats (Uncle Toby’s) have a low GI (53). • Prep time: 10 mins • Refrigerate: 12 hours (overnight) • Serves: 6

APPLE AND ALMOND OVERNIGHT OATS WITH CHIA SEEDS

2 cups quick steel-cut oats
¼ cup white chia seeds
1½ cups cloudy apple juice
2 cups reduced fat milk (or almond milk)
1 granny smith apple, grated
1 tsp Herbies Fragrant Sweet Spices

Topping
1 granny smith apple, cut into matchsticks
½ cup slivered almonds
½ cup flaked coconut
Honey (optional)
Plain Greek yoghurt

Combine the oats, chia seeds, apple juice, milk, grated apple and spices in a bowl and mix well. • Place in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. • Serve topped with apple matchsticks, almonds and coconut, a drizzle of honey if using and a dollop of yoghurt.

Per serve (with milk)
1395kJ/335 calories; 11g protein; 16g fat (includes 4g saturated fat; saturated : unsaturated fat ratio 0.5); 32g available carbs (includes 16g sugars and 16g starches); 8g fibre; 63mg sodium; 504mg potassium; sodium : potassium ratio 0.13

CHRISSY FREER’S FOOD WITH ADDED LIFE
As a qualified nutritionist, Chrissy’s philosophy is simple: limit the amount of processed food in your diet and focus on whole foods. “By returning to eating whole foods, that is foods in their most natural state, we allow our bodies to benefit from all the available nutrients that food can provide.” Steer clear of food fads and miracle cures, if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is!
CHRISSY FREER

CHIA-CRUSTED SALMON WITH STIR-FRIED ASIAN GREENS AND TAMARI DRESSING
Chia seeds are a great alternative to breadcrumb crusts (and are gluten free). Combining them with and salmon ensures this meal is packed with essential fatty acids. It’s also packed with the goodness of Asian greens. Stir frying or lightly steaming these greens is the best way to preserve their nutrients and flavour. Prep: 10 minutes • Cook 10 • Serves 4

CHIA-CRUSTED SALMON WITH STIR-FRIED ASIAN GREENS AND TAMARI DRESSING

2 tbsp white chia seeds
2 tbsp black chia seeds
4 x 150g (5oz) skinless salmon fillets
2 bunches choy sum, washed and trimmed
2 tbsp sunflower oil 3
cm (1½in) piece ginger, peeled and julienned
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Tamari Dressing
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 tsp caster sugar

Combine white and black chia seeds on a plate. Press each salmon fillet in the chia seeds to evenly coat one side, then set aside. • Remove the stems from the choy sum, cut in half if long and reserve. To make the tamari dressing, put all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar. • Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Cook the salmon, chia side down, for 2–3 minutes or until golden. Turn and cook for a further 2 minutes (for medium), or until cooked to your liking. Set aside and keep warm. • Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large wok or frying pan over high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the choy sum stems and stir fry for 1–2 minutes, then add the choy sum leaves and stir fry for 1 minute more or until almost wilted. Add half the dressing and toss to combine. • To serve, divide the choy sum between serving plates, top each with a piece of salmon and drizzle over a little of the remaining dressing. •Serve with steamed noodles or rice.

Per serve (without rice or noodles)
1919kJ/457 calories; 38g protein; 30g fat (includes 5g saturated fat; saturated : unsaturated fat ratio 0.56); 5g available carbs (includes 5g sugars and 0g starches); 4g fibre; 560mg sodium; 630mg potassium; sodium : potassium ratio 0.89

INDIAN SCRAMBLED EGGS
Delicious for breakfast or brunch, spicy scrambled eggs with mushrooms makes a tasty light meal any time of day. Portabella mushrooms (sometimes spelled Portobello) are larger than the regular white mushroom with an almost meaty texture and the perfect partner topping scrambled eggs on low GI Burgen toast. As dietitian Glenn Cardwell reminded us in GI News, “mushroom eaters get many health benefits (one serve provides more than 20% of our daily needs of the essential nutrients riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, copper and selenium)”. Recipe courtesy Total Wellbeing Diet’s new Protein Balance program. Prep 5 mins •Cook 10 mins • Serves 1

INDIAN SCRAMBLED EGGS

1 tsp olive oil
2 Portabella mushrooms, sliced (60g/2oz)
2 garlic cloves, sliced (optional)
cooking oil spray
2 x 60g/2oz eggs
¼ cup milk
1 tsp turmeric
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
25g (¾oz) cheddar cheese
1 tbsp coriander leaves
1 slice low GI Burgen bread, toasted

Heat olive oil in a small frypan over medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms and garlic for 2–3 minutes or until golden. Set aside. •Whisk together eggs and milk in a jug. •Heat a small frypan over medium heat and spray with cooking oil. Add turmeric and cumin seeds and toast for 1 minute or until fragrant. Pour in egg mixture and grate over cheese. Once eggs are set around the edges, begin to fold egg mixture over itself until almost cooked. • Serve scrambled eggs and mushrooms on toast topped with coriander leaves.

Per serve
1884kJ/451 calories; 33g protein; 26g fat (includes 9g saturated fat; saturated : unsaturated fat ratio 0 : 53); 14g available carbs (includes 5g sugars and 9g starches); 4g fibre; 464mg sodium

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GI News - January 2018

GI News

GI News is published by the University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and the Charles Perkins Centre

Publisher: Professor Jennie Brand-Miller, AM, PhD, FAIFST, FNSA
Editor: Philippa Sandall
Scientific Editor/Managing Editor: Alan Barclay, PhD
Contact GI News: glycemic.index@gmail.com

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Manager: Fiona Atkinson, PhD
Contact: sugirs.manager@sydney.edu.au

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

DITCH THE DIET – IT IS ONLY MAKING YOU FATTER
Dr Nick Fuller, Research Director at Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, recently published Interval Weight Loss: How to Trick Your Body into Losing Weight One Month at a Time (Ebury Press). The goal is to lose a small amount of weight and then to take a break, maintaining the new body weight for a period of time before losing another small amount. Here he explains how it works.

“The reason diets don’t work and many people end up dieting themselves fatter and fatter is because we are tuned to a set body weight – a weight that our body feels most comfortable being. When we take our body out of that comfort zone through dieting or a reduction of energy intake, our body works to counteract the weight loss and in a state of stress the body’s innate response will be to store rather than offload weight.

This is in part a fight or flight response (in this instance, the energy restriction is the acute stress our body is responding to) and is core to the survival of the human species. The weight regain comes with a greater initial increase in fat mass. However, our body weight will often keep going up until our muscle mass stores are restored and what you end up with is a body that has a little extra fat storage to survive the next “starvation” (otherwise known as a diet) it has learned it needs to prepare for.

If you want to lose weight and keep it off forever, you need to trick your body into a new set point. That’s the basis of the Interval Weight Loss approach. Here’s how it works.

Month 1: Aim to lose about 2kg (4lb 4oz), that’s around ½ a kilo (500 grams) or a bit over 1lb a week (17oz).
Month 2: Maintain that new weight.
Month 3: Aim to lose about 2kg (4lb 4oz).
Month 4: Maintain that new weight.
Month 5: Aim to lose about 2kg (4lb 4oz.
Month 6: Maintain that new weight.

And to continue month by month with the above plan until you achieve your realistic goal weight. So, rather than activating the fight or flight response, the body is gently challenged to redefine its baseline body weight until you achieve your goal.”

Dr Nick Fuller

Nick is currently leading an Interval Weight Loss challenge on Channel Ten’s Studio 10 which will guide five people through a controlled lifestyle plan, with lasting results. “The selected viewers will follow Interval Weight Loss for a year under my health care professional advice and we will show the Australian people how to actually go about weight loss,” he added, “and in the confines of their day to day lives, unlike the weight loss shows we are used to in the past, where contestants are taken to secluded environments and forced to do activities they cannot sustain.”

Read more:

Intermittent energy restriction improves weight loss efficiency in obese men: the MATADOR study

WHAT’S NEW?

GOOD CARBS CONSENSUS
The International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium (ICQC) released a public statement outlining the scientific consensus on the health benefits of eating wholegrain foods such as brown rice, oats, corn, barley and more in November 2017. Most of the studies the consensus statement was based on were observational as there are very few clinical trials in this area. However, a recent randomised cross-over trial with two 8-week dietary intervention periods comprising whole grain diets and refined grain diets, separated by a washout period of around 6 weeks, has found that a wholegrain diet will reduce energy intake and body weight and the low-grade systemic inflammation markers CRP and IL-6.
What is a wholegrain?
Wholegrains are seeds and as food guru Harold McGhee says: “our most durable and concentrated foods … the rugged lifeboats designed to carry a plant’s offspring to the shore of an uncertain future. Tease apart a whole grain, or bean, or nut, and inside you find a tiny embryonic shoot”. And that’s why they are so nourishing: they are a baby plant’s pantry. And that’s also why we along with insects, birds and animals seek them out. The process of milling and refining grains consists of separating and removing the bran and germ. This gives us a more shelf-stable and quicker cooking end product, but means it lacks many of the vitamins, minerals, fats, and fibre of the original grain.

"There are many positive studies showing that a lack of cereal fibre is associated with increased risk of colon cancer," says Prof Jennie Brand-Miller. “One body of thought is that when people consume carbohydrates without fibre it quickly raises insulin levels and the insulin stimulates the growth of mutant cells, such as colon cancer cells. "Insulin is this anabolic hormone that doesn't distinguish between good cells and bad cells, so the insulin is increasing the multiplication of mutant cells and sort of acting like fertiliser," explained Prof Miller. When you ingest the whole grain, she says, the body benefits from the "full compliment of micronutrients and antioxidants" like Vitamin E and C, which help slow down the process of free radicals.”

“Grains are at their most nourishing when we eat them as whole as possible or as the minimally processed staples our forebears enjoyed,” write Dr Alan Barclay et al in The Good Carbs Cookbook. “They certainly figure prominently in the diets of the long-living Blue Zones folks, and observational studies around the world suggest that eating plenty of wholegrain staples may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. That’s why health professionals tend to worship at the altar of wholegrains and the words ‘consume more wholegrains’ are in dietary guidelines around the globe.”

Read more:

CAN DIETARY GUIDELINES SAVE THE PLANET?
To find the intersection of two contentious issues, look no further than the environment and dietary guidelines. On the environment, the current U.S. administration is busy wiggling out of commitments to reduce carbon emissions. On dietary guidelines, battles rage on multiple fronts – fats, red meat, and sugar are all hot topics. Undeterred, brave Dutch scientists have waded in and analyzed the potential impact of dietary guidelines on the environment. ConscienHealth’s Ted Kyle reports.

Earth in our hands

What happens if people start following guidelines? That seems like an innocent question and that’s what Paul Behrens and colleagues tried to answer. They looked at 37 nations with 64% of the world’s population. They compared average diets in each of those countries with the diets recommended by the local government. The goal was to estimate the effect that following recommendations would have on land use, water pollution, and carbon emissions. Their answers are impressive. On all three measures they found significant improvements, just from following guidelines that each country has already adopted. If we eat a bit less meat, dairy, fats, and sugars, both the planet and its inhabitants will be a bit healthier. In other words, “diets good for our health are also good for our planet,” says Professor Brian Morris of the University of Sydney.

Read more:

THE SIMPLICITY OF OBESITY AND THE MAGIC OF NUTRITION
Obesity is complex. Nutrition is important, but it isn’t magical, writes Ted Kyle in ConscienHealth. In the “magic of nutrition” world, however, obesity is simple. One pound of fat is the result of eating 3,500 calories. In this magical kingdom, the Mayo Clinic tells us: Your weight is a balancing act, but the equation is simple: If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. Because 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound.

More than 25 years ago, David Garner and Susan Wooley wrote that dietary approaches to obesity, by themselves, are inadequate for solving the problem. And yet this apparently comes as a revelation in a recent paper by David Benton and Hayley Young: Reducing calorie intake may not help you lose body weight.

Texas Tech University’s Prof Emily Dhurandhar tells us that she encounters shock when she teaches about the interaction of calories and human biology: Energy balance is dynamic and adaptable, but it is not above the first law of thermodynamics. You should see the look on their faces when I tell them the 3,500-calorie rule is wrong.

Shock and anger make people resistant to learning. And thus, we have policies to address obesity that have had little apparent impact. Public health experts tell us that we need only to cut 41 calories per day from the diets of children to solve the problem. So, we should not be surprised that obesity continues to rise, even among young children. Until we face facts and discard magical thinking, we will have little luck with reducing the health impact of obesity.

Read more:

GOING LOW GI GOT EASIER
Choosing healthy low GI carbohydrate foods is a key dietary choice. The Glycemic Index Foundation’s new website (gisymbol.com), provides a one-stop shop for healthy low GI living with recipes, meals plans, and downloadable resources. Research around the world over the past 35-plus years has clearly shown that by switching to eating mainly low GI carbs that trickle glucose into our bloodstream, we can reduce our day-long blood glucose and insulin levels thus helping us:

Manage our appetite because we will feel fuller for longer
Minimise our body fat
Maximise our muscle mass
Decrease our risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Why does it matter how high our BGL goes? As with blood pressure, there’s a healthy range and a risky range. Having BGLs in the normal range over the day is good for our body because it will also lower our day-long insulin levels. Having high BGLs from eating too many high GI foods can put pressure on our health, because it means that the pancreas has to work extra hard producing more insulin to move the glucose into the cells, where it provides energy for the body and brain. It’s not a good idea to overwork or overstress vital organs as they can wear out or stop functioning properly. We can’t easily replace a pancreas.

Here’s the 2-step approach going low GI.

Step 1: Swap it: Replace the high GI foods in your diet with low GI ones. Find out how to do this HERE.
Step 2: Don’t overload it: Keep those portions of carb-rich foods on your plate moderate to keep the glycemic load (GL) moderate. What’s moderate? It’s about a quarter of your dinner plate (inner rim) or 2–3 small, lower GI potatoes, ½ cup diced orange fleshed sweet potato or corn kernels or baked beans and ⅓ cup cooked basmati or other lower GI rice or pasta.

About the Glycemic Index Foundation (GIF). This is a not-for-profit health promotion charity that provides a range of scientifically backed resources based on low GI healthy eating principles. It is supported by Diabetes NSW and ACT and The University of Sydney.

Read more:

PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY

WHICH WEIGHT LOSS DIET HELPS YOU TO LOSE WEIGHT AND LIVE LONGER?
New year’s resolutions often include promises to lose weight. While increasing physical activity is commonly part of the equation, for most people, the burden of weight loss reduction focuses on the “diet”. The problem is, which diet? Around 2,500 new “diet” books are published each year – all proclaiming that their way is the only way to lose weight and keep it off. As there are only three major nutrients – fat, carbohydrate and protein – these “diets” typically manipulate (increase or decrease) one or two of these macronutrients to achieve the desired result. We only have to think about which diets have been popular over the past 50 years or so to understand what is going on: low-carb diets were fashionable in the 1970s; low-fat diets dominated the 80s and 90s; now “low carb” has made a comeback. Food is fad when it comes to “diets”.

But there are some good sound facts about “diets”. Over the past 50 years, nutrition scientists have carried out numerous randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of various weight-loss diets on body weight and mortality (yes, death) and the findings of these studies give us enough data to summarize their effects using systematic review and meta-analysis statistical techniques.

The most recent analysis looked at long-term studies (greater than one year) of adults with a BMI greater than 30kg/m2 in people from a European background and BMI greater than 25kg/m2 in people from other backgrounds including Asia and India. This meta-analysis clearly shows there is level 1 evidence that low-fat diets in combination with physical activity help people lose weight.

Active people

The researchers found 54 trials involving 30,206 people who were followed for up to 12 years. All but one of the trials included weight-loss interventions that were low fat (less than 30% of energy from fat), and most were also low in saturated fat. One study included the Mediterranean diet and one was very low carb (less than 50 grams of carb-containing foods a day). Most of the interventions included exercise advice or an exercise program.

After one year, the average weight reduction was 3.42kg (7.5 lb); at 2 years it was 2.51kg (5.5 lb); and at 3 years it was 2.56kg (5.6 lb). It may not sound like a lot of weight, but these results are all statistically significant and equivalent to each person losing and keeping off at least five (500g/1.1lb) tubs of margarine or butter. This amount of weight loss was also enough to have some significant effects on the risk of premature death – a nearly 20% reduction in fact, or 6 lives saved per 1000 people.

We are the first to agree that one-size does not fit all when it comes to dietary patterns. But it is important to note that at this point in time, there is not equivalent level 1 evidence for the efficacy of long-term use of low-carb diets.

Read more:

Stop press:

A High-Carbohydrate, High-Fiber, Low-Fat Diet Results in Weight Loss among Adults at High Risk of Type 2 Diabetes – I will cover this study in a future issue of GI News.

KEEPING IT GREEN – EATING FOR BODY AND PLANET

5 MORE SUSTAINABLE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? If you resolved to lose weight, eat healthier and exercise more, you have just joined a very big club as lifestyle improvements are some of the most popular. This year, why don’t you consider environmental sustainability as well as your health? There are many things you can do that can help both at the same time.

Drive less
Transportation is responsible for a hefty chunk of our energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (it’s about one-quarter in Australia and the USA). Try walking, cycling or even skating instead of driving as often as you can; it burns kilojoules/calories, it’s free and creates zero GHG emissions. And you can soak up more of your surroundings instead of whizzing straight past in a haze of exhaust fumes. Heck, you may smile and greet a stranger and create a bit more peace and harmony in the world while you’re at it. Catching public transport is better for the environment than driving a car and you usually have a little walk at the beginning and end of the journey.

Drink water
Disposable plastic bottles made up a whopping one-quarter of the litter removed Australia-wide by Clean Up Australia Day volunteers. This is equal to 3600 tonnes of plastic containers in 2016 alone. To put this into perspective this is equal to the weight of around 1000 mid-sized cars. In the USA 40 million containers are estimated to be thrown away every day, and only 30% are recycled. These figures are horrifying when you think of where all these bottles end up: in landfill and our waterways. This year buy a reusable drink bottle and drink water instead of sugary drinks. If you must buy a plastic or glass container, please recycle it, even if you have to take it home first. This is a healthier option both for you and the environment.

Recylcable water bottles

Meat-less Monday
A good steak is a great thing, but did you know animal foods make up a large portion of our food-footprint? Around 2kg of greenhouse gas emissions are made in the production of just 80g of lamb. The same emissions arise from a comparatively large 2kg of lentils. Not only are plant foods better for the environment; they are also great for our health, so this is a win-win. Make plant foods the basis of your diet and eat just enough of the animal foods your body requires and waste nothing.

Reduce packaging
In some Sydney preschools, children are given re-usable sandwich bags and water bottles to help them achieve waste-free lunches when they go to ‘big school’. This helps reduce plastic in landfill and reduces litter in school playgrounds. A waste-free lunch is a worthy goal for grown-ups too. When you shop for snacks like muesli (granola) bars, nuts, canned fruit, dried fruit, milk and yoghurt, try to avoid individually wrapped items and instead make your own or buy in bulk and portion them out in re-usable containers. For the unavoidable soft plastic packaging waste, find out where you can recycle it. In Australia, the two major supermarkets have soft plastic recycling bins.

Fill your cup
Disposable coffee cups are an environmental disaster. ABC’s War on Waste TV series revealed around 50,000 cups, enough to fill one Melbourne tram, are binned by Aussies every 30 minutes! The situation is likely to be similar in other coffee-loving countries. Contrary to popular belief, most disposable cups are not recyclable as they are lined with plastic to stop leaking. Why not have fewer coffees and treat yourself to a fair-trade barista-made coffee and drink it from your own personalised re-usable cup.

The un-plugged truth

Take active transport whenever possible; that is, human powered rather than fossil fuel powered.
Drink water in a re-usable bottle to save pollution and reduce empty kilojoules/calories in sweet drinks (soda).
Enjoy a plant-based diet with just enough animal foods.
Reduce your waste and your waistline by eating fewer packaged foods (and always recycle).
Avoid disposable coffee cups and take your own re-usable cup.

Thanks to Rachel Ananin AKA TheSeasonalDietitian.com for her assistance with this article.

Nicole Senior is an Accredited Nutritionist, author, consultant, cook, food enthusiast and mother who strives to make sense of nutrition science and delights in making healthy food delicious.
Contact: You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or check out her website.

GOOD CARBS FOOD FACTS A TO Z

APPLES
A bowl of apples
We’re apple lovers to our core, smitten at first bite. There’s that sharp “crack!” as you break the crispy skin and then a mouthful of juicy, slightly grainy flesh. Although available year round, new season apples appear in the produce aisles from late summer through autumn. And that’s when they are at their crisp and crunchy, sweet and juicy best. Did you know that the plants that eventually produced apple trees were among the first flowering plants on earth evolving about 4.5 million years ago in Central Asia.

The wild apple (Malus sieversii), ancestor of most cultivars of the domesticated apple (M. domestica), is still producing tasty apples on the slopes of Central Asia’s Tian Shan mountains. Domestic apples are grown on every continent (apart from Antarctica), which is why they are so readily available to pack in lunch boxes; grate over muesli; slice into salads; braise with caraway and cabbage; serve with pork; and lovingly bake into muffins, pies and tarts.

Fruit bowl or fridge? Keep apples cold to prevent them from ripening further. Since most apples are picked at peak ripeness, additional "ripening" actually means "decaying"—and this process speeds up tenfold when the fruit is left at room temperature. But to enjoy that juicy, crisp, texture you need to store them in plastic bags in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator rather than in a fruit bowl on the bench. They will keep this way for many weeks. It is a dilemma if your approach is “if it’s healthy keep it handy”.

We think it’s a good idea to have the best of both. Keep most of the apples in the refrigerator and put a few in a small bowl to encourage the family to snack on good carbs rather than heading for the cookie jar.

So, while the so-called exotic super fruits are winning all the plaudits these days, Nicole Senior reckons that “apples are the everyday hero with good levels of fibre, vitamin C and potassium and the highest levels of antioxidants of all the commonly eaten (and more affordable) fruits”.

Apple nutrition facts
Source: USDA

IN THE GI NEWS KITCHEN

FROM THE GOOD CARBS COOKBOOK

Good Carbs Cookbook by Dr Alan Barclay, Kate McGhie and Philippa Sandall (Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99)
Photography by Alan Benson

LAMB SHANKS WITH GARDEN PEAS AND MINT
Lamb and pearl barley are a natural pairing and 1 large shank is enough for two people generally, though it depends how hungry they are. This is a one-pot meal you can prepare quickly and leave to gently cook. Add tiny whole carrots, peeled garlic cloves and extra onions with the barley if you like. Prep: 15 minutes • Cook 2 hours • Serves 6

1 tablespoon (20ml) olive oil.
4 large lamb shanks.
1 brown onion, chopped.
About 4 cups (1 litre) chicken stock.
1½ cups pearl barley.
1½ cups garden peas.
1 handful mint leaves, fresh.
1 large orange, zest and juice.
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

LAMB SHANKS WITH GARDEN PEAS AND MINT

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF (fan 160ºC/315ºF). • Place a large casserole dish on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Pour in the oil and, when hot, add the shanks to brown all over, turning occasionally, for about 8 minutes. Push the shanks to the side of the dish slightly and reduce the heat. Add the onion and cook for about 8 minutes, or until golden. Pour in the stock, bring to a lively simmer, cover and place in the oven for about 1½ hours, or until the shanks are tender. •Rinse the barley, drain and add it to the casserole dish, making sure it is covered in liquid. If not, add a little more stock. Cover and cook for about 25–30 minutes, or until barley is al dente, adding the peas in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Roughly chop half the mint and stir it in with the orange zest and juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Using forks, pull the meat from the bone and serve with the barley and pea mixture, garnished with the remaining mint leaves.

Per serve
1665kJ/400 calories; 27g protein; 13.5g fat (includes 5g saturated fat; saturated : unsaturated fat ratio 0.56); 37.5g available carbs (includes 4g sugars and 33.5g starches); 8g fibre; 560mg sodium; 630mg potassium; sodium : potassium ratio 0.89

STICKS, SEEDS, PODS and LEAVES
Kate Hemphill’s recipes. Kate contributed the recipes to Ian Hemphill’s best-selling Spice and Herb Bible. You will find more of her recipes on the Herbies spices website. Or you can follow her on Instagram (@herbieskitchen). Kate uses Herbies spices and blends, but you can substitute with what you have in your pantry.

BROWN RICE TUNA POKE BOWL WITH FURIKAKE
The poke (poke-ay) bowl is the dish of the moment – full of healthy ingredients and great flavour. The possibilities are endless, just combine your favourite veg and protein, use the citrus & soy dressing, and top with Furikake Japanese seasoning (also called Japanese seasoning, umami sprinkle. It contains toasted sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, sea salt, nori flakes (nagai, sea lettuce, Ulva spp.), minced red chilli, orange peel, sansho powder and a little sugar. • Prep time: 15 mins • Cook time: 5 mins • Serves: 2

250g (9oz) sashimi grade tuna fillet, cut into 1cm (½in) dice
250g (2 cups) cooked short grain brown rice
1 carrot, grated or spiralised
½ cup fresh soy beans (shelled edamame)
½ cup finely sliced red cabbage
10 snow peas, finely sliced
2 tbsp (30ml) pickled ginger
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1–2 tsp Herbie's Furikake Seasoning

Dressing:
⅓ cup lemon juice
⅓ cup light soy sauce
¼ cup lime juice
2 tbsp (30ml) soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

BROWN RICE TUNA POKE BOWL WITH FURIKAKE

Combine dressing ingredients, then pour half over tuna dice and refrigerate for 10 minutes while preparing salad. • To assemble bowl, place rice on the bottom then top with vegetables; pour over remaining dressing, then top with tuna, spring onions and furikake. • Serve immediately.

Per serve
2210kJ/530 calories; 45g protein; 9g fat (includes 2g saturated fat; saturated : unsaturated fat ratio 0.29); 58g available carbs (includes 10g sugars and 48g starches); 12g fibre; 1729mg sodium; 1332mg potassium; sodium : potassium ratio 1.30

COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSION

charge others for access to the work
include all or part of the work in advertising or a product for sale, or
modify the work.

.

1 March 2018

PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY

KEEPING IT GREEN – EATING FOR BODY AND PLANET

GOOD CARBS FOOD FACTS A TO Z

IN THE GI NEWS KITCHEN

COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSION

1 February 2018

GI News - February 2018

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WHAT’S NEW?

PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY

KEEPING IT GREEN – EATING FOR BODY AND PLANET

GOOD CARBS FOOD FACTS A TO Z

IN THE GI NEWS KITCHEN

COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSION

1 January 2018

GI News - January 2018

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WHAT’S NEW?

PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY

KEEPING IT GREEN – EATING FOR BODY AND PLANET

GOOD CARBS FOOD FACTS A TO Z

IN THE GI NEWS KITCHEN

COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSION

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