Our top 10 picks for your low GI emergency pantry
The take-home message of the last few months, with 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, is that preparing for an emergency is the smart thing to do. Bush fires, cyclones, tornadoes, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes and blizzards could leave you trapped without electricity or gas. It’s vital to have ready-to-eat food on hand to keep you and your family fighting fit until the disaster has passed. And this is where processed foods shine, 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. Here are our 10 top pantry picks.
Tip: 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.
Every step you take…
In a five-year Australian study of nearly 600 adults averaging 50 years of age published in the British Medical Journal, walking more steps (the participants wore pedometers) was associated with reductions in body mass index, waist to hip ratio, and insulin sensitivity (a measure of type 2 diabetes risk). Sedentary people who increased their daily steps to 10,000 over the five year span saw improvement in their insulin sensitivity by three times compared to those who took only 3000 steps for five days a week. Past research has shown that walking more can decrease the risk of becoming overweight and developing insulin resistance. But the study is the first to suggest that increasing the actual number of steps you take can make a difference in your diabetes risk, researchers said.
How many steps should you take? According to a 2008 study on walking and maintaining a healthy weight, men ages 18–50 should take 12,000 steps a day. For men 50 and up, you'll need 11,000 steps a day. Women ages 18–40 need to take 12,000 steps a day, whereas women ages 40–50 should take 11,000 steps a day. Women in their 50s should take 10,000 steps a day, and women 60 and older should take 8000 steps a day. A rough estimate of how far you need to walk: depending on your stride, the average person takes about 1000 steps for every 0.8 kilometer (or about a half mile). To walk 11,000 steps is roughly equivalent to 8.8 km (5.5 miles).
Beat metabolic syndrome with a low GI diet
The bottom line from a cross-sectional analysis of the association of dietary GI and GL with the metabolic syndrome reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and in the an accompanying editorial is that using the GI as intended – to choose the lowest GI food within a food group/category as part of a healthy, well balanced diet (moderate in carbohydrate) – may reduce the risk of developing the metabolic syndrome (large waist circumference, high blood glucose and triglyceride levels, and low HDL (Good) cholesterol levels), which in turn is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
Cinnamon/cassia and BGLs
A daily dose of two grams of cinnamon/cassia (Cinnamomum cassia, Holland and Barrett Ltd, UK) for 12 weeks was associated with improved blood pressure measures and BGLs in people with type-2 diabetes, reports a clinical study from Imperial College London. ‘The two gram dose of cinnamon (cassia) administered in our study was safe and well tolerated over the 12 weeks of treatment,’ wrote Dr Rajadurai Akilen and his co-workers in Diabetic Medicine. ‘The sustainability and durability of the effect of cinnamon has not been tested, nor has its long-term tolerability and safety, both of which will need to be determined. However, the short-term effects of the use of cinnamon for patients with type 2 diabetes look promising.’
The researchers report that the cinnamon supplement over the 12 weeks was associated with a reduction in HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin) levels from 8.22 to 7.86% in the cinnamon group compared with an increase in the placebo group from 8.55 to 8.68% and a mean decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure of 3.4 and 5.0 mmHg, respectively.
GI Group: In recent years, lab research has suggested that cassia cinnamon, which contains around 5% of coumarin, may make body cells more sensitive to insulin. Small studies in healthy people and people with diabetes have also shown that Cinnamomum cassia can reduce the blood glucose rise after eating. But the jury is still out – some results have been promising but it’s too early to say that cinnamon cassia definitely does have beneficial health effects for people with type 2 diabetes. We covered the story in GI News in April 2009
Green tea and BGLs
Research from Lund University, Sweden and published in the Nutrition Journal suggests that drinking a cup of green tea rather than water after eating (white bread in the study) could boost feelings of fullness, but found no evidence to support previous suggestions that it may moderate insulin sensitivity or glucose levels. You can read the whole article HERE
Vinegar and BGLs
A recent paper in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that the BGL benefit of adding vinegar to a meal (as in a dressing with your salad) is more pronounced after a high GI meal than a low one. Read more about it on Catherine Saxelby’s website HERE.
Paddock2Plate
Produce stories from our favourite food and nutrition websites that caught our eye and we think may catch yours. Fish is the flavour of the month in February.
#1 Paprika festival Ian and Liz Hemphill of Herbie’s Spices went in search of Hungary’s best paprika recently and spent five rainy days in the Hungarian countryside visiting farms and factories and attending the Kolosca Paprika Festival, where groups of locals cooked up wonderful paprika-spiced specialties. ‘Our favourite,’ writes Liz, ‘was this simple but fabulous catfish soup. It’s a good fish, firm fleshed and not too bony. You might find it in Australia called silver cobbler, or just cobbler, or you could use ling.’ Check out Liz’s catfish soup HERE.
# 2 En papillote ‘There’s something delightful about receiving a parcel, ‘ writes Inside Cuisine’s Rebecca Varidel. ‘It’s the child-like discovery process in the opening of the parcel that delights and enchants us. This holds true also for food. Cooking in parchment paper, en papillote in French or al cartoccio in Italian, was one of the earliest cooking techniques that I experimented with as a child. Perhaps I was enchanted (then as now) with the hidden treasures of aromas and taste. When the best of the season’s ingredients are folded in a pouch (of parchment, bag or aluminium foil) and then baked, the flavour is captured within and released as the parcel is opened.’ Check out Rebecca’s fish en papilotte (with step-by-step photos) HERE.
The scoop on the recipe for recovery
Emma Stirling APD
What a heartbreaking time watching our sunny state of Queensland be inundated with wild weather and flooding and now to see a repeat on a smaller scale in Victoria too. But what a wonderful week to be reminded of the power of the human spirit, compassion for our fellow man and food as a cure all. Which brings me to my latest retro find that I’ve been longing to share with you, and it ties in nicely with a fantastic project for recovery that you’ll want to know about.
Sharing first. In today’s high tech hospital a dietitian plays a critical role from ICU to outpatient rehabilitation and nourishment often comes in a clinical formulation down a tube. But nutrition therapy used to be a lot simpler as this golden item – Dainty Dishes For children, invalids and convalescents suggests. It is a text book for Nurses’ Cookery Certificate required by The Royal Victorian Trained Nurses Association by Lucy Drake and revised by Dorothy M. Giles. I’m still reading it all but there are gems like: ‘A woman may be excused if she cannot make a cake, but it should be regarded as a social crime, if she is not able to prepare a good cup of beef tea or nourishing soup, and a few simple dishes, which will help, and not retard an invalid’s recovery.’ You can read more about gems like this on my blog.
Now for the fantastic project. This back to basics, home nourishment approach is being replicated now in Queensland with Baked Relief. The brainchild of Danielle Crismani, teams of home cooks are preparing and delivering nourishment and encouragement to the affected areas, plus volunteers facing the enormous and heart wrenching clean up tasks. They are baking every sweet and savoury slice known to man, plus family dinners too and delivering supplies including bottled water with online co-ordination and army-like precision. I applaud everyone involved who has volunteered their time and recognise the power of food as a recipe towards recovery.
Here’s how this wonderful relief network started. Separated from her boys who were with her mum (whose property was affected by flooding) and needing to do something, Danielle came up with the idea to start baking some relief for the State Emergency Services volunteers who were sandbagging around Brisbane. She put the word out about what she was doing on her blog and on Twitter and Facebook and offers of help and baking came rushing in. It has just grown beyond imagining since then and Baked Relief is now in the hands of hundreds of home cooks and bakers and is reaching people who are recovering from the floods and all of those thousands of volunteers helping them.
For the most up to date information about #bakedrelief please check twitter. @BakedRelief, @digellabakes or @melkettle or search #bakedrelief at twitter.com
Emma Stirling is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and health writer with over ten years experience writing for major publications. She is editor of The Scoop on Nutrition – a blog by expert dietitians. Check it out for hot news bites.
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)
My traditional winter minestrone
Fresh homemade vegetable soup shows up on Italian kitchen tables all year long. Whatever fresh vegetables are already in the fridge, or growing in the vegetable garden or are the seasonal choices at the greengrocer’s is what constitutes that day’s ‘minestrone’ or large pot of soup. These days we can easily find zucchini in the winter and broccoli in the summer, but I stick pretty much to the traditional winter/spring/summer/fall vegetables. Here’s how I make my minestrone during the winter months. Choose a lower GI potato if you can. Serves: 8 (1½ cups each)
1 large leek, white part only, thinly sliced
1 large potato (240g/8oz), peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
3 medium carrots, sliced
wedge (180g/6oz) butternut pumpkin (squash), peeled and diced
180g/6oz cauliflower or broccoli, broken into small florets
120g/4oz fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
4 large peeled canned tomatoes, seeds removed, chopped
4 sprigs flat leaf parsley
30g/1oz parmigiano cheese rind, scrubbed and cut into small pieces (optional)
Prepare the vegetables, parsley and cheese and add them and all at once to a large soup pot with a little salt to taste. Pour in 10 cups cold water, cover and bring to a boil on high, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for approximately 1 hour.
Allow the soup to cool down a bit to prevent splattering. Using a handheld immersion mixer or a food blender, pulse the vegetables in batches to attain a chunky, semi-pureed texture. Heat before serving. (If preferred, the cooked vegetables can be left intact and served directly from the pot.)
Per serving
Energy: 365kJ/ 87cals; Protein 4g; Fat 1g (includes less than 1g saturated fat and 2mg cholesterol); Available carbs 16g; Fibre 4g
Cut back on the food bills and enjoy fresh-tasting, easily prepared, seasonal, satisfying and delicious low or moderate GI meals that don’t compromise on quality and flavour one little bit with Money Saving Meals author Diane Temple. For more recipes check out the Money Saving Meals website.
Tuna and chickpea salad from the low GI emergency pantry
Use a flavoured tuna (like chilli) if you want more zing. To give it some crunch, serve with grainy crackers such as Ryvita crispbreads or make wraps with white corn tortillas. Ship chives or spring (green) onions over the top for a little extra colour and flavour if you have some in the fridge or garden. Serves 4
280g jar char-grilled vegetable antipasto
185g can tuna, drained
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
125g can corn, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons oil from antipasto jar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Roughly chop the antipasto vegetables and set aside the oil from the jar to make the dressing.
Flake the tuna in a large bowl using a fork. Add the chickpeas, vegetables and corn and stir to combine.
Whisk together the oil and vinegar to make a dressing, pour over salad and stir lightly to combine.
Per serve
Energy: 1230kJ/ 294 cals; Protein 20g; 16Fat g (includes 1g saturated fat and 25mg cholesterol); Available 26carbs g; Fibre 6g
Feedback: We would love to hear what you have stocked in your emergency pantry and what you whip up to feed the family in times of crisis when, for whatever reason, you don't have water or power.
Myth: Everyone should drink 8 glasses of water a day.
![[NICOLE]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2007/dec2007/nicole125.jpg)
Nicole Senior
Fact: Most adults need around 2–2½ litres of fluid daily but not all this fluid needs to be water. Fluid needs vary greatly according to climatic conditions, physical activity, body size, diet and your health status.
Eight glasses of water a day is eight metric cups (or eight 8 ounce glasses), or 2 litres. Some experts say there is absolutely no scientific foundation for this oft given advice. This puzzled me because I thought there were principles and guidelines to calculate a person’s fluid requirements and they roughly equate to this 8-glass rule of thumb. Are these guidelines I’ve been using based on good scientific evidence? Before you throw your water bottle against the nearest brick wall, here’s more information to ‘fill out’ the story of how much water we should drink.
Everyone knows we can’t survive long without water. For the more morbid among you, survival time is around 1 week but can be as little as a few hours for a marathon runner experiencing catastrophic heatstroke. Water is essential for life and needed for temperature regulation, digestion, metabolism, absorption of nutrients and excretion of waste. About half the water needed each day goes to sweat and water vapour in our breath. Water accounts for 50–80% of our lean body mass; men have slightly more than women, and the proportion goes down as we age. Replacement of lost water is vital to maintain normal functioning.
The Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) for Australia and New Zealand acknowledge it is difficult to experimentally derive Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) for water because of individual variation. Because of this, they established an Adequate Intake (AI) based on the median intake of the population. This is a roundabout way of saying they came up with a best guess: 2.1 lites (8 cups) for women and 2.6 litres (10 cups) for men, with clear caveats that people living in hot climates or very physically active need more. You can see how the 8-glass a day rule is starting to sound plausible. Of interest is no Upper Limit (UL) has been set because over-hydration causing hyponatremia (dangerously low electrolyte sodium levels) is unlikely in normal circumstances.
However, what the 8-glass rule fails to recognise is you don’t have to drink all your fluid requirements. There is a lot of water already in food, especially fruits and vegetables as well as the obvious liquid and semi-solid foods like soups, yoghurt and custard. According to Australia’s last national nutrition survey, the intrinsic water in food contributed 700–800ml per day. Water is also a by-product of metabolism: around 250ml (1 metric cup) per day is produced this way. So more accurately, the 8-glass a day rule should be more like 4–6 glasses.
What about thirst? I’ve heard the human thirst mechanism is a poor indicator of our fluid needs and we should drink even though we aren’t thirsty, but is this true? A perusal of the scientific literature suggests this is only true in athletes because their fluid needs are high, and the elderly because their thirst mechanism is poor. For the rest of us, our thirst serves us well.
So, drink when you feel thirsty and don’t feel you have to gulp down 8 glasses of water a day. For many, 4–6 glasses is probably enough. And remember tea, milk, juice and even coffee all contribute valuable fluids, just go easy on the sweetened drinks to prevent kilojoule/calorie blow-outs
Thirsty for more? You can find more great information on eating (and drinking) for health at Nicole’s website HERE.
![[ALAN]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2009/april2009/alan125.jpg)
Dr Alan Barclay
Snacking to keep your energy up and your BGLs down in an emergency
People in Queensland and Victoria here in Australia have been faced with real emergencies this summer. It has been fantastic to see an organisation like Baked Relief cooking their hearts out to help victims and rescuers alike keep going. When faced with an emergency that isolates us, we need nutrient-dense snacks to keep us going and also to provide us with the sustained energy we need for the extra physical activity these situations often require –you may have to clamber onto the roof to be winched to safety by helicopter. Snacks can be just as important as meals in situations like this. You need foods that will keep safely at room temperature for prolonged periods (so you can store them away) and you can eat with minimum preparation (clean, safe water may be scarce, and you may have no gas or electricity).
Our top 10 snacks: The following list (in alpha order) includes foods from our emergency pantry as well as what you may have on hand to help you get through the long days of isolation (and clamber onto the roof if you have to):
Professor Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions
I have PCOS and have been told that if I eat a low GI diet it will help me lose some weight and maybe even help me get pregnant. I have tried diets before and never seem to stick to them. Have you got any tips – I really want to succeed this time round.
There are four tips we usually suggest when people want to change their diet and create new eating habits they can stick to.
1. Aim to make changes gradually. Don’t try and change everything overnight. Start with a few small changes and add more as you achieve these. Keep in mind that it takes about 3 months for a new change to become a habit.
2. Attempt the easiest changes first. Nothing inspires like success, so increase your chances by picking something simple to get you going on the right track like eating a piece of fruit as a snack every day.
3. Break those big goals into a number of smaller goals. A big goal such as wanting to drop a couple of dress sizes is unlikely to happen quickly. Smaller more specific goals such as limiting fast food to once a week or making sure you eat a low GI breakfast are much more achievable.
4. Be prepared for setbacks. You are only human. But if you have a lapse, don’t beat yourself up, just get back on track the next day.
Good luck. And if you need more help and support, it is a good idea to see a registered (accredited practicing) dietitian.
– From the revised and updated edition of the Low GI Diet for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Prof Jennie Brand-Miller, Dr Kate Marsh and Prof Nadir Farid (Hachette).
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
![[FIONA]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2009/may2009/fiona125.jpg)
Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com
See The New Glucose Revolution on YouTube
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‘Just tell me what to eat’
Dr Joanna McMillan Price
‘The most common request I receive from women, ‘writes Dr Joanna, ‘is just tell me what to eat. If we want to look and feel our best, we have to consider what we put in our mouths. The right combination of food and drink can give you radiant skin, glossy, healthy hair, strong nails, clear eyes (not to mention good vision) and great teeth and gums.
Despite the intense scientific and public arguments over which diet is best – high protein, low fat, low GI, low carb, low kilojoule or whatever – it seems to me one message resounds above all. We can only do our best when we go back to basics and eat real food that has been minimally processed. This is the food our bodies have evolved to eat and not the kind manufacturers have devised.
Nonetheless, we lead busy lives. We don’t have time most days to spend long hours preparing and cooking food. Certain modern preservation, storing and food distribution techniques are convenient, safe and often necessary, and can help us achieve a healthier diet. Growing your own veggies organically in the backyard is commendable if you can do it, but the fact is most of us can’t. What we can do instead is use selected frozen, canned, marinated and dried produce, as well as local seasonal fresh produce, in order to eat as well as possible.
We also now have to bear in mind more recent problems that affect agriculture and contribute to the rising cost of food such as climate change, oil price hikes and other factors. While a diet high in animal food and low in grains may be the one on which we evolved (and therefore may physiologically be best for us), we can no longer eat that way when compelling practical, ethical and environmental considerations are taken into account. The simple truth is we cannot feed the world without grains.’
Inner Health Outer Beauty is available from leading bookstores in Australia or you can order a copy HERE.
The Diogenes children’s study
In December GI News we reported the findings of the Diogenes Study, which was set up to investigate whether people who have undergone recent major weight loss could maintain that lower weight. The researchers reported that: ‘A modest increase in protein content and a modest reduction in the glycemic index led to an improvement in study completion and maintenance of weight loss.’
Professor Arne Astrup
To recap, the research team led by Professor Arne Astrup at the University of Copenhagen randomly assigned 773 adults who had previous lost an average of 11kg to one of five diets for a 26-week intervention period. These were not calorie controlled diets – those taking part could eat as much food as they liked from their assigned diet group. Participants were on average 41 years old and were all parents. Their children, although not part of the trial, were assigned to the same diets. All five diets were designed to have a moderate fat content (25–30% of total energy). The diets were:
The scoop on a healthy kitchen # 1
Emma Stirling APD
If you’ve made resolutions around healthy eating and home cooking for 2011, give yourself a big pat on the back. But before you can take charge of new health goals, you really need to get your house in order. Well, more importantly, your kitchen and its setup for good nutrition. Let’s kick off 2011 with the scoop on a healthy kitchen and a look at our top equipment picks.
In a spin: A multicoloured, vibrant salad is one of the best ways to boost your health and help meet your vegetable serves each day. But nothing spoils a salad more than unwashed, gritty rocket or spinach or soggy leaves that are not spun dry. So invest in a salad spinner and aim for at least five different veggies in your salads. You can also toss in some low GI chickpeas or three bean mix for a fibre boost.
Back to basics: It's not a long list, but good knives, heat resistant silicon spatulas, wooden spoons, separate cutting boards for meat and produce, a colander, a heavy based saucepan or Dutch oven and non-stick fry pan are on my list of essentials.
The added touch: A long hand held fine grater, called a microplane, allows you to artfully but quickly add a little parmesan to the top of pasta, lime zest or fresh ginger to fruit salad or fresh, whole cinnamon or nutmeg to Bircher muesli. Remember it’s that little touch of spice or garnish, that turns healthy fare nice and boosts the flavour without added fat, salt or sugar. And don’t discount the old box grater. Hand grating, instead of using a food processor, is a great way to burn off kilojoules and give your arms a workout as you cook.
Measure up: It’s so easy to measure and weigh ingredients and check portion sizes when you have stainless steel measuring spoons, a set of cups, glass jugs for liquids and digital scales.
Under pressure: Pressure cookers also help cut down cooking time, trap in flavours and retain nutrients. They are perfect for speeding up cooking time of those healthy low GI chickpeas and other legumes.
Take it slowly: Electric slow cookers allow you to prep a curry or bolognaise sauce and leave it on low, slow heat all day (while you’re away) without the risk of burning or bubbling over. Slow cooking is also one of the best ways to tenderise cheaper cuts of meat.
With a twist: you can use a coffee grinder for spices, a cast iron grill pan for pressing toasted sandwiches, a fruit dehydrator for drying fresh herbs, and a wok for dry roasting nuts and seeds.
On hand: You don’t need to spend the price of a small car on the top of the range food processor, especially if you’re just getting going. Many people find an inexpensive hand held blender just the ticket to healthy fare. You can keep it ready on your bench top to immerse directly into soups, whip up a smoothie or use the mini chopper for a quick and healthy dip, salsa or marinade.
Emma Stirling is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and health writer with over ten years experience writing for major publications. She is editor of The Scoop on Nutrition – a blog by expert dietitians. Check it out for hot news bites.
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.
Crumbed cod with vinaigrette topping
My grandfather owned a fish store and so fish was often on the menu when we ate at Grandma’s. If she was cooking just for us kids she wouldn’t fuss too much, but who knew? We all loved this recipe and always cleaned our plates! Grandma served this with veggies like steamed cauliflower florets or sautéed zucchini as we had already had pasta in some form beforehand. If you don’t have pasta first, I suggest serving it with veggies or a salad and perhaps baked orange-fleshed sweet potato wedges. If cod is not available, use another firm, white-fleshed fish such as scrod or halibut. Ask your fishmonger for suggestions. Serves 2
2 x 150g (5oz) fresh cod fillets, rinsed and patted dry
2 tbsp egg substitute (or 1 small egg, whisked)
¼ cup seasoned breadcrumbs (made from a low GI bread of course)
vegetable spray
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
freshly ground sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 large sprigs flat parsley, finely chopped
Preheat the broiler/grill. Coat the bottom of a shallow baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
Place the egg substitute and the breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Dip the fish into the egg first and then the breadcrumbs, coating both sides well. Lay the fillets flat in the baking dish, bottom side up and cook about 15cm (6in) from the heat for 2½–3 minutes. Turn and cook a further 2½ minutes or until flesh flakes and they are done.
Meanwhile, prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together the vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.
Sprinkle the parsley over the fish, drizzle with vinaigrette and serve immediately with vegetables or salad.
Per serving (fish and vinaigrette only)
Energy: 600kJ/143 cals; Protein 20g; Fat 4g (includes less than 1g saturated fat and 40mg cholesterol); Available carbs 8g; Fibre 1g
Cut back on the food bills and enjoy fresh-tasting, easily prepared, seasonal, satisfying and delicious low or moderate GI meals that don’t compromise on quality and flavour one little bit with Money Saving Meals author Diane Temple. For more recipes check out the Money Saving Meals website.
Asian fish & cucumber salad
This Vietnamese-style salad from our book, Money Saving Meals, is made with basa fillets – a freshwater Vietnamese catfish with a mild flesh (and not too many bones) that remains moist during cooking. It was also very cheap. If you want to use a local fish, tell the fishmonger what you are making and ask for some economical suggestions. Serves 4.
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1½ tablespoons peanut oil
400g (14oz) fish fillets (such as basa), cut into chunks
125g (4oz) vermicelli noodles
3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce or 100 g mixed lettuce leaves
2 Lebanese cucumbers, halved lengthwise, sliced thinly
1 carrot, coarsely grated
2 tablespoons chopped dill
4 green onions, sliced
1/3 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
Dressing
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons peanut oil
Whisk the turmeric, fish sauce and 2 teaspoons of the oil together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the fish and set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
Prepare the vermicelli noodles. Pop them into a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and leave them to soften. Drain, run them under cold water, drain again, then snip in half (or small pieces) with kitchen scissors.
Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved. Put the lettuce, cucumber slices and carrot into a large serving bowl with the noodles and drizzle over the dressing.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat and stir-fry the fish for about 3–4 minutes, stirring often, until just cooked. Add the dill and green onion, stir to combine. Fold the fish mixture gently through the salad so that the fish is coated with the dressing and top with the roasted peanuts for added crunch.
Per serving
Energy:2000kJ/340 cals; Protein 29g; Fat 25g (includes 4g saturated fat and 59mg cholesterol); Available carbs 32g; Fibre 5g
Diabetic Living
This month’s Diabetic Living magazine (for ANZ) comes with a free booklet (Your Low GI Healthy Eating Guide) stuck to the cover that was generous sponsored by Abbott Diabetes Care. As we were putting together this issue of GI News, we spoke to Diabetic Living editor Erica Goatly about the booklet: ‘We’re already getting very positive reader feedback about how it is motivating them to get their eating back on track and it has only been on the newsstands a few days,’ she said. The following low GI recipe is reproduced with permission from January/February Diabetic Living magazine (photography by Louise Lister). If you haven’t used puy or French-style lentils before, you can buy them in supermarkets, health shops and delis. McKenzies brand French-style lentils are widely available in supermarkets in Australia and not pricy at all (your GI News editor buys them in her local IGA at Bondi Beach.)
Ocean trout with lentils
1 tsp olive oil
1 red onion cut into thin slivers
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ cup (100g) Puy or French-style lentils, rinsed and drained
¾ cup water (180ml)
½ cup (125ml) salt reduced chicken stock
Freshly ground black pepper
200g (7oz) skinless, boneless ocean trout fillet cut into 2 portions
1 bunch asparagus, woody ends trimmed
Olive oil cooking spray
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ tsp grated lemon zest
Flat leaf parsley leaves, to serve
160g sugar snap peas or mangetout, steamed, to serve
Heat oil in a medium saucepan on medium. Add garlic and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–7 minutes until onion softens slightly. Add lentils, water and stock. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, covered, for 20–25 minutes or until lentils are just tender. Remove pan from heat. Set aside, covered, for 5 minutes. Season with pepper.
Meanwhile, preheat the barbecue grill or chargrill pan to medium-high. Spray each side of the fillets and asparagus with cooking spray. Add asparagus to barbecue grill or chargrill pan. Cook, turning occasionally, for 3–4 minutes or until just tender. Transfer to a plate. Add trout to barbecue grill or chargrill pan. Cook on each side for 2½ minutes for medium, or until cooked to your liking.
Divide lentil mixture between plates. Top with trout. Sprinkle the lemon juice, lemon zest and parsley over. Accompany with asparagus and sugar snap peas.
Per serving
Energy: 1513kJ/360 cals; Protein 38g; Fat 9g (includes 1.6g saturated fat and 55mg cholesterol); Available carbs 28g; Fibre 11g
Myth: You have to avoid carbs after 5pm to lose weight.
Nicole Senior
Fact: The time of day you eat carbs makes no difference to your weight – it’s the total amount you eat over the day that counts.
Avoiding carbs after five is popular advice, often given by people in the fitness industry to assist their clients lose weight. There’s even a diet book of the same name. While proponents may mean well, such advice simply adds to the mythology around weight loss. Following this advice might even work in the short term, but this only compounds the misunderstanding about why.
Similar to the previous myth ‘eating at night makes you fat’ (GI News November 2007) , the timing of carb intake is physiologically irrelevant; it’s the amount and type you eat that matters. There’s not a single study on the National Library of Medicine (PubMed) database about carbohydrate timing and weight loss (however, there’s plenty on carb timing and athletic performance if you’re interested).
Like other diets that restrict a particular nutrient or food group, the advice to avoid carbs after 5pm is simply a kilojoule/calorie reduction strategy dressed up as something catchier. When you think of a typical evening meal of chicken, noodles and vegetables, it’s not hard to see how skipping noodles creates a kilojoule deficit. If you can do it, great – it is possible to eat enough grain foods (preferably wholegrain and low GI) at other times during the day.
However a common experience of evening carb avoiders is they are still hungry after dinner and that’s when TV snacking can wreak havoc. Biscuits, chocolate and sweets are common evening saboteurs and they all contain carbohydrates. (And a side note, many people don’t understand that sugar is a carbohydrate too, which results in starchy foods getting a bad rap and sugar sailing through unsullied). Unfortunately the biscuits and chocolate also contain hefty amounts of saturated fat and kilojoules as well. This carb-craving may be physiological or psychological but it doesn’t really matter – the kilojoule damage is done.
The ‘no carbs after 5pm’ rule – and its variants 4pm and 6pm – is part of a dieting mentality we know is inherently unsustainable, although to be fair it is a much more moderate ‘low-carb’ diet. By deliberately depriving ourselves of commonly eaten, enjoyable foods we repeatedly build up psychological pressure that eventually results in overeating blow-outs: the classic dieting merry-go-round.
A far more balanced approach to lose weight is to eat smaller portions of carb-rich core foods like bread, pasta, rice, noodles and the like, and choose lower GI versions combined with plenty of vegetables and satisfying amounts of lean meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian alternatives. In nutrition circles, this is what we call a ‘balanced meal’. Unfortunately for many, the ‘moderation’ message is boring and unappealing.
This situation is not helped by the diet industries who also know the moderation message doesn’t sell and come up with all manner of trumped-up benefits and half-baked theories as to why their diet will actually work when all they are doing is selling creative ways to eat fewer kilojoules.
To lose weight we must reconcile the facts we must eat less and exercise more, and all the while ensure we eat quality foods to meet our nutritional needs. Blacklisting particular nutrients like carbs or fats is not helpful to this end. Prioritising nutrient rich foods from all the food groups in suitable amounts according to our energy needs is the answer.
Nicole Senior MSc (Nut&Diet) BSc (Nut) is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist. You can find good advice and great recipes using nutrient rich foods in Nicole’s books Eat to Beat Cholesterol and Heart Food available HERE.
Dr Alan Barclay
A healthy low GI diet is achievable
There’s pretty compelling evidence from population health studies and clinical trials around the world that as part of an overall healthy, balanced diet, we should aim for an average dietary GI of around 45 for longterm health and wellbeing. It’s not as hard as it sounds when you take the ‘this for that’ option, that is you simply substitute healthy low GI carbs for high GI ones when shopping, cooking and eating out:
While this is in principle relatively simple, finding those healthy low GI alternatives has not always been that easy. This is why one of the primary objectives of the Glycemic Index Foundation has been to work with food industry in Australia and around the world to develop healthy low GI alternatives for popular everyday foods thus making healthy low GI choices, easy choices for everybody.
Our first step was to identify the top five sources of glycemic carbohydrate in the Australian diet (and the pattern is very similar in North America). They are: Breads, Breakfast cereals, Potatoes, Sugars and sugar-based products and Rice and pasta. Giving people healthy low GI alternatives for these foods will make it relatively easy for anyone to achieve an average dietary GI of 45 (this is a good 10 points below the ‘low’ GI diets achieved in the European Diogenes study and the UK’s RISCK study).
Breads: Healthy low GI breads are now relatively common in Australia, with popular brands like Burgen found on most supermarket shelves. New additions include popular tortillas like Mission Foods White Corn Tortillas (GI = 52) which can be used as wraps or in Mexican cooking.
Breakfast cereals: This category is harder. Currently when people ask us about low GI breakfast cereals we tend to suggest traditional porridge oats or natural mueslis such as Morning Sun mueslis (GI=49). The reason healthy low GI ready-to-eat breakfast cereals are harder to find on the supermarket shelves is partly because modern processing techniques (rolling and flaking) make their starch rapidly digested and absorbed. Don’t be disheartened, the challenge is not insurmountable. We are currently talking to a major breakfast cereal company (as we did with the potato growers) with the aim of working with them to help them lower the GI of all of their popular ready-to-eat cereals.
Potatoes: The Carisma potato is the first success story of an ongoing collaboration between the GI Foundation, University of Sydney and the Australian potato industry. Large scale production of this low GI (55) general purpose potato is the first step to providing shoppers with a full range of low GI potatoes that they can use for specific purposes such as potato salads, mashing, roasting, baking, etc.
Sugar: Logicane, the first low GI (50) cane sugar was launched in Australia in 2009, and is helping to lower the GI of popular sugary foods that are popular contributors to our daily glycemic load.
Rice & pasta: There are an increasing number of low GI rices being produced and tested including Moolgiri (GI54) and Saffola Arise (GI54). And despite popular perception, regular pasta made from hard durum wheat has a low GI. For example, the GI of Vetta’s range is 49. Like potato, keep those portions moderate to reap the glycemic rewards of these popular, inexpensive starchy staples.
What next? The GI Foundation looks forward to working collaboratively with food industry in 2011, to continue to make healthy low GI choices easy choices. And by the ‘food industry’ we mean food manufacturers around the world. If you are a GI News reader in the UK or US, you may say: “we don’t have the healthy low GI choices you do.” We have to say we have knocked on doors around the world to encourage food manufacturers to a) have their products GI tested and b) join the Symbol program to make is easier for shoppers to identify those low GI foods. To date we haven’t had much success internationally – they say there’s not enough demand. We need you to show them they are wrong. What should you do? Create DEMAND. Contact the customer service department of the manufacturers of your favourite breads and breakfast cereals for starters and ask them about the GI of their products.
For more information about the GI Symbol Program
Dr Alan W Barclay, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Glycemic Index Foundation (Ltd)
Phone: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Mob: +61 (0)416 111 046
Fax: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Email: alan@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com
Professor Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions
From the perspective of blood glucose, is honey better than sugar?
Up until recently, we would have said honey is not different from table sugar. After all, honey doesn’t contribute much in the way of micronutrients, and we thought it had a similar effect on blood glucose as table sugar.
In fact, while most commercial varieties have the same or greater effect than table sugar, recent evidence suggests that some forms of honey have only a minor effect on blood glucose. These are the pure floral honeys – (in Australia) red gum, yellow box, ironbark and others – that have been produced by allowing bees access only to some types of gum trees (eucalypts). It’s possible that all pure floral honeys have only modest glycemic effects, but it is too early to say as there hasn’t been sufficient testing around the world. Romanian locust honey appears to have the lowest effect of all the honeys.
Why would one honey be different from another? Well, most commercial honeys are made from a mixture of honeys derived from different hives and different floral sources. To maintain a consistent flavour, some of the more pungent characteristics are removed. We suspect that the components that are removed are physiologically active and work to slow down absorption. For example, Australian floral honeys might contain alpha-glucosidase inhibitors that bees have extracted from the eucalypt flowers. We know that these potent inhibitors exist in many plants and, indeed, some diabetic medications (e.g. Acarbose) are based on pure forms of these inhibitors.
In addition, a recent study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that five German honeys have a low GI. The researchers found that the ‘glycaemic index and insulinaemic index correlated significantly with the fructose content of honey varieties’.
GI testing by an accredited laboratory
North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
20 Victoria Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M5C 298 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com
Australia
Fiona Atkinson
Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com
See The New Glucose Revolution on YouTube
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Water is unique
‘Most beverages can support hydration, but water is unique in its capacity to do this without adding sugars or many other compounds to the diet,’ write Prof. Barry Popkin and Melissa Daniels in a recent systematic review looking at the impact of water on energy intake and weight. They point out that in the average diet the proportion of water has diminished as people have shifted to other beverages containing one or many of the following – sugar, caffeine, natural and artificial flavourings, non-nutritive sweeteners and carbonation. For more on water, hydration, health and weight, check out the following articles by Prof Barry Popkin published in Nutrition Reviews:
![[COLLAGE]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2011/feb2011/collage.jpg)
![[COLLAGE]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2011/jan2011/collage.jpg)
![[COLLAGE]](http://www.glycemicindex.com/blog/2010/dec2010/collage.jpg)