WHAT’S NEW?

FOUR LANDMARK STUDIES 

WHAT MAKES MICE FAT? 
Since food consists of fat, protein and carbs, it has proven difficult to pinpoint exactly what aspect of the typical diet leads to weight gain. Part of the problem is that it is very difficult to do studies on humans where what they eat is controlled for long enough periods to work out what are the most important factors, however studies on animals that are similar to us can help point us in the right direction.



Scientists from the University of Aberdeen and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have undertaken the largest study of its kind looking at what components of diet – fat, carbohydrates or protein – caused mice to gain weight. The study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism and includes 29 different diets that vary in their fat, carbohydrate (in particular sugars) and protein contents.

The mice were fed these diets for three months, which is equivalent to nine years in humans. In total over 100,000 measurements were made of body weight changes and their body fat was measured using a micro MRI machine.

Professor John Speakman, who led the study, said: “The result of this enormous study was unequivocal – the only thing that made the mice get fat was eating more fat in their diets. “Carbohydrates including up to 30% of calories coming from sugar had no effect. Combining sugar with fat had no more impact than fat alone. There was no evidence that low protein (down to 5%) stimulated greater intake, suggesting there is no protein target. These effects of dietary fat seemed to be because uniquely fat in the diet stimulated the reward centres in the brain, stimulating greater intake. A clear limitation of this study is that it is based on mice rather than humans. However, mice have lots of similarities to humans in their physiology and metabolism, and we are never going to do studies where the diets of humans are controlled in the same way for such long periods. So the evidence it provides is a good clue to what the effects of different diets are likely to be in humans.

Read more: 

• Fat Consumption is the Only Cause of Weight Gain
• Dietary Fat, but Not Protein or Carbohydrate, Regulates Energy Intake and Causes Adiposity in Mice 

HOW SLEEP LOSS MAY CONTRIBUTE TO WEIGHT GAIN
Epidemiological studies have shown that the risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes is elevated in those who suffer from chronic sleep loss or who carry out shift work. Other studies have shown an association between disrupted sleep and adverse weight gain, in which fat accumulation is increased at the same time as the muscle mass is reduced – a combination that in and of itself has been associated with numerous adverse health consequences.

In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University now demonstrate that one night of sleep loss has a tissue-specific impact on the regulation of gene expression and metabolism in humans. This may explain how shift work and chronic sleep loss impairs our metabolism and adversely affects our body composition.

The researchers studied 15 healthy normal-weight individuals who participated in two in-lab sessions in which activity and meal patterns were highly standardised. In randomised order, the participants slept a normal night of sleep (over eight hours) during one session, and were instead kept awake the entire night during the other session. The morning after each night-time intervention, small tissue samples (biopsies) were taken from the participants' subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin) and skeletal muscle. These two tissues often exhibit disrupted metabolism in conditions such as obesity and diabetes. At the same time in the morning, blood samples were also taken to enable a comparison across tissue compartments of a number of metabolites. These metabolites comprise sugar molecules, as well as different fats and amino acids (building blocks of proteins).

The tissue samples revealed that the sleep loss condition resulted in a tissue-specific change in DNA methylation, one mechanism that regulates gene expression. DNA methylation is a so-called epigenetic modification that is involved in regulating how the genes of each cell in the body are turned on or off, and is impacted by both hereditary as well as environmental factors, such as physical activity.

“Our new findings indicate that sleep loss causes tissue-specific changes to the degree of DNA methylation in genes spread throughout the human genome. Our parallel analysis of both muscle and adipose [fat] tissue further enabled us to reveal that DNA methylation is not regulated similarly in these tissues in response to acute sleep loss,” says Jonathan Cedernaes who led the study. “It will be interesting to investigate to what extent one or more nights of recovery sleep can normalise the metabolic changes that we observe at the tissue level as a result of sleep loss. Diet and exercise are factors that can also alter DNA methylation, and these factors can thus possibly be used to counteract adverse metabolic effects of sleep loss,” he says.

Read more: 

• Acute sleep loss results in tissue-specific alterations in genome-wide DNA methylation state and metabolic fuel utilization in humans 
• For more information, please contact: Jonathan Cedernaes, M.D., Ph.D. at the Neuroscience Department, Uppsala University. jonathan.cedernaes@neuro.uu.se 

AN INSIDE LOOK AT PROBIOTICS 
Every day, millions of people take probiotics – preparations containing live bacteria that are meant to fortify their immune systems, prevent disease or repair the adverse effects of antibiotics. Yet the benefits of probiotics have not really been medically proven. It is not even clear if probiotic bacteria really colonize the digestive tract or, if they do, what effects these have on humans and their microbiomes – the native bacteria in their guts. In two back-to-back reports published in Cell, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science show – in both mice and in humans – that a probiotic preparation of 11 strains of the most widely used probiotic families may sometimes be less-than-beneficial for the user and their microbiome.



To explore how probiotics truly affect us would turn out to be an “inside job”: For the first study, 25 human volunteers underwent upper endoscopy and colonoscopy to sample their baseline microbiome composition and function in different gut regions. Fifteen of those volunteers were then divided into two groups: The first were administered the 11-strain probiotic preparation, and the second were given placebo pills. Three weeks into the four-week treatment, all participants underwent a second upper endoscopy and colonoscopy to assess their response to the probiotics or placebo, and they were then followed for an additional two months.

The researchers discovered that probiotics’ gut colonization was highly individual. However, they fell into two main groups: The “persisters” guts hosted the probiotic microbes while the microbiomes of “resisters” expelled them. The team found they could predict whether a person would be a persister or resister just by examining their baseline microbiome and host gene expression profile. Persisters, they noted, exhibited changes to their native microbiome and gut gene expression profile, while resisters did not have such changes.

“Our results suggest that probiotics should not be universally given to the public as a ‘one size fits all’ supplement,” says Dr Eran Elinav. “Instead, they could be tailored to each individual and their particular needs. Our findings even suggest how such personalization might be carried out.” Dr Eran Segal continues: “These results add to our previous ones on diet that had revealed a similar individual response to foods, and which have highlighted the role of the gut microbiome in driving very specific clinical differences between people.”

In the second study, the researchers addressed a related question that is of equal importance to the general public, who are often told to take probiotics to counter the effects of antibiotics: Do probiotics colonize the gut following antibiotic treatment, and how does this impact the human host and their microbiome? The researchers administered wide-spectrum antibiotics to 21 human volunteers, who then underwent an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy to observe the changes to both the gut and its microbiome following the antibiotic treatment. Next, the volunteers were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The first was a “watch and wait” group, letting their microbiome recover on its own. The second group was administered the 11-strain probiotic preparation over a four-week period. The third group was treated with an autologous fecal microbiome transplant (aFMT), made up of their own bacteria that had been collected before giving them the antibiotic.

Probiotics, after the antibiotic had cleared the path, could easily colonize the human gut - more so than in the previous study in which antibiotics had not been given. To the team’s surprise, the probiotics’ gut colonization prevented both the host gut’s gene expression and their microbiome from returning to their normal pre-antibiotic configurations for months afterward. In contrast, autologous FMT resulted in the native gut microbiome recolonizing and the gut gene expression profile returning to normal within days. “These results,” says Elinav, “reveal a new and potentially alarming adverse side effect of probiotic use with antibiotics that might even bring long-term consequences. In contrast, personalized treatment – replenishing the gut with one’s own microbes – was associated with a full reversal of the drugs’ effects.”

Since probiotics are among the world's most traded over-the-counter supplements, these results may have immediate, broad implications. “Contrary to the current dogma that probiotics are harmless and benefit everyone,” says Segal, “we suggest that probiotics preparations should be tailored to individuals, or that such treatments such as autologous FMT may be indicated in some cases.”

Read more: 

• Personalized Gut Mucosal Colonization Resistance to Empiric Probiotics Is Associated with Unique Host and Microbiome Features 
• Post-Antibiotic Gut Mucosal Microbiome Reconstitution Is Impaired by Probiotics and Improved by Autologous FMT 

PREVENTING DIABETES 
The PREVIEW diabetes prevention learning module provides an up-to-date, evidence-based and easy-to-use interactive summary of healthy eating, physical activity and psychology for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and is freely available here.

PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY

DIETS: LET’S BREAK THE 50-YEAR FAD CYCLE 
Overweight and obesity is a global phenomenon, with the World Health Organisation estimating in 2016, that 1,900 million adults and 380 million children have a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 kg/m2. The causes are multifaceted and complex. In 2007, the Foresight Programme of the UK Government Office for Science published an obesity system map, developed through a multi-stakeholder process.



This qualitative, conceptual model has 108 variables, some of which are measurable (eg, the ambient temperature of the indoor environment), and others that are more difficult to quantify (eg, desire to differentiate food offerings). The relationships between the variables are illustrated with more than 300 solid or dashed lines to indicate positive and negative influences. All the variables are interconnected, some with large numbers of inputs and others with large numbers of outputs. The connections give rise to feedback loops with as few as two variables (eg, a affects b which in turn affects a) or involving as many as 16 variables.

At the core of the map is “energy balance” (energy intake versus energy expenditure). 

The highest quality (Level 1) scientific evidence from randomised controlled trials in humans shows quite clearly that in the long-term (more than 2 years), the macronutrient composition (ie, fat, carbohydrate or protein) of the diet doesn’t matter – with respect to body weight, it’s total energy intake (kilojoules/calories) that ultimately counts. Despite this, most purveyors of popular diets continue to focus on single nutrients or ingredients as the cause of all our current lifestyle-related ailments, and most state of course that all you need to do to solve the problem is to avoid them. If only it was that simple …

We have a really good recent example of the lack of success of the one-nutrient-at-a-time approach – the vast variety of low fat diets contrived in the final quarter of the 20th century. Low fat diets (in contrast to traditional low-fat eating patterns as enjoyed by certain ethnic groups for hundreds of years) did not deliver the improvements in health that were expected by their original proponents.

Present day narrative suggests that in an academic showdown spanning both sides of the Atlantic in the 1960s and 70s, “anti-fat” scientist Dr Ancel Keys defeated “anti-sugar” scientist Dr John Yudkin, and the low-fat message was enshrined in Dietary Guidelines worldwide, paving the way for low-fat variants of all of our favourite foods for the next quarter of a century. In the mean-time we all gained more weight and developed type 2 diabetes. Again, if only it was that simple …

Not everyone agreed with Keys hypotheses, and as characteristic of scientific research, academic debate continued. Mindful of this, the very first edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans published in 1980 included a range of practical advice to help people choose a healthful pattern of eating. There was a chapter on how to “Avoid too much fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol” and also one on how to “Avoid too much sugar”, thus addressing both Keys’ and Yudkin’s concerns. Dietary Guidelines from 1980 onwards have always included practical advice on reducing saturated fat and added sugars. The problem is, the average person didn’t know about the Dietary Guidelines as they were a government publication in a pre-internet world. Needless to say, they would not have been on the best seller list in the local bookstore back in 1980. Even today few people have actually read them despite their being freely available over the internet.

In the 1970s and 80s, low-fat diet books by Nathan Pritikin in the USA and Ross Horne in Australia (an engineer and a pilot respectively) made the best seller lists. They had both experienced dramatic health improvements when they started consuming a low-fat diet. There were many other similar titles as the publishing industry caught and rode the wave. Devout followers of the various low-fat gurus sought low-fat foods in their local supermarkets and food industry caught on, producing low-fat versions of all of our favourite foods, often replacing the fat with dietary fibres (eg, gums), maltodextrins, starches, added sugars and refined proteins. The rest, as they say, is history …

Sadly, history has a bad habit of repeating itself. With respect to fad diets, the cycle appears to last around 50 years. Here’s a snapshot of the past 50 years.

• High fat, low carbohydrate diets were fashionable in the early 1970s thanks to Dr Atkins’ and his Diet Revolution: The High Calorie Way to Stay Thin Forever 
• Low fat, high carbohydrate diets came into fashion in the early 1980s, thanks to Nathan Pritikin’s The Pritikin Promise: 28 Days to a Longer Healthier Life and Ross Horne’s The New Health Revolution, and stayed with us for around 20 years 
• Low carbohydrate, high protein diet variants came back in vogue in early 1999 with the release of Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, and The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet in 2006. 
• Low sugar diets became popular in the mid-noughties, and low carbohydrate (starches and sugars) diets have been popular in more recent years. Indeed, extremely low carbohydrate/high fat diets are now in vogue, with ketogenic diets rapidly gaining in popularity – last popular back in 1971 ... 

When you break it down and do the math it’s pretty simple – there are 3 macronutrients:

50 years/3 macronutrients = new focus for fad diets every 15–20 years. 

So it’s protein’s turn for the hit list next. Veganism or test-tube meat anyone?

Let’s break the cycle. Diets don’t work. Instead, opt for what we know works for long-term health and wellbeing.

• Enjoy a healthful pattern of eating that suits your cultural, family and personal food preferences and budget 
• Be as physically active as you can every day 
• Find ways to deal with stress, and 
• Get a good night’s sleep. Eight hours. 

Read more: 

• Low carbohydrate versus isoenergetic balanced diets for reducing weight and cardiovascular risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 
• Making progress on the global crisis of obesity and weight management

 
Alan Barclay, PhD is a consultant dietitian and chef (Cert III). 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 or check out his website.

KEEPING IT GREEN – EATING FOR BODY AND PLANET

THE ETHICS OF MEAT
The fairy tale farm evokes images of pigs rolling in muddy pig pens, cows grazing in green pastures and hens happily sitting on eggs in wooden hen houses. While this may have been the scene in the 1890s, the reality today is not so pretty. Increasing demand, corporatisation of agriculture and the expectation of low prices has encouraged the intensive production of animal products, along with a decline of our humanity and compassion for animals.



Many of us are blissfully ignorant of how our meat, milk and eggs get to the shops but there has been a shift in our attitudes and preferences. Social media, vegan activism and a growing awareness of animal welfare have helped to fuel the rise of flexitarianism, or eating less meat, as well as a rise in ethical claims on food such as ‘free-range’, ‘organic’ and ‘cruelty free’. Here we take a look at the main welfare issues within animal farming and how industries are responding with more ethical alternatives. 

• CONFINEMENT – Chickens and pigs are commonly kept in cages or crates with little room to turn around. Lack of exercise weakens their bones and as chickens are grown unnaturally fast, broken bones are a common issue. Free-range chickens and ‘sow-stall free pork’ offers a more ethical alternative. 
• DENIAL OF NATURAL BEHAVIOURS – chickens instinctively like to run around, roost, and dust bathe and all these behaviours are denied or severely curtailed in intensive farms. Free range farming allows chicken to engage in their natural behaviours. Similarly, pigs like to root around outside with their specially adapted snouts, and free-range farming allows them to do this. 
• UNWANTED CHICKS AND CALVES – Only female chickens lay eggs, yet 50% of chicks born are males. Shockingly, male chicks are killed, either gassed or – horrifyingly - thrown alive into grinding machines. Similarly, dairy cows only produce milk if they have recently given birth so most calves are slaughtered, except for a small number of female calves that are raised to produce milk themselves. 
• PAINFUL PROCEDURES – For a variety of reasons, intensive farming often involves hurting animals. Farmers may trim chicken beaks, dock horns, castrate pigs, lambs and calves, clip teeth, dock tails, ring noses, remove horn buds. These painful procedures are usually done without anaesthetic. 

Ethical farming meat, egg and dairy farming are more labour intensive and therefore more expensive. In the case of milk, organic milk from smaller farms with kinder practices can cost double the amount of conventionally produced milk. This is out of reach for many. Another issue is the limited supply of more ethical products. While the situation is changing, ethically produced meat is still harder to find. How we can increase the supply is to demand it, and the food supply will gradually change to give us what we want.

How to be an ethical omnivore 

• Enjoy a plant-based diet and when you eat your ‘just enough’ amount of animal products, choose the most ethical options available to you – a win for the animals and you! Eating just enough animal foods, and perhaps less than you do now, will reduce the cost impact as well. 
• Choose organic, free range, cruelty free or humane choice meat and dairy. Organic farming standards include welfare for farm workers and animals. 
• Choose wild, game meats – such as rabbit, kangaroo, venison (deer) that are free to roam before slaughter (and also have a smaller environmental footprint). 
• Support smaller organic/biodynamic farms – as they use kinder and more environmentally sustainable production methods. 
• Dine at ethical eateries – Support restaurants that use higher welfare animal ingredients – e.g. cage-free eggs. There are online directories such as Choose Wisely in Australia that help locate ethical eateries near you. 
• Eat nose-to-tail and waste nothing – if we’re going to kill animals for food the least we can do is eat everything and not waste it. This means eating all the cuts and not just the popular ones. The bonus is they’re cheaper. 

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

SPELT
Spelt is one of today’s trendy grains with organic cred and a mystical “ancient grains” health halo. An older wheat variety of uncertain parentage – possibly a hybrid of emmer and bread wheat – it was long cultivated in parts of Europe, but fell out of fashion because it is a hulled wheat (meaning it has a tough husk and is harder to process). Today it is back big time and available whole, pearled, cracked, rolled and green or milled to make flour and products such as couscous, pasta, bread and breakfast cereals. In the kitchen you’ll find it’s a very versatile grain with a nutty, al dente texture that happily pairs with robust flavours or substitutes for regular wheat in most recipes. We think it’s a good carb to stock in your pantry and doesn’t need the accompanying hype.



Some nutrition and food writers make Very Rash Claims that many people who can’t tolerate wheat can tolerate spelt. There is no evidence for this in peer-reviewed science journals. Spelt is a variety of wheat and it contains gluten (about 80% of its protein is gluten) putting it very much on the Absolutely Avoid List for people with medically diagnosed celiac disease.

Fans like to claim it is nutritionally superior to regular wheat. But when the Grains and Legumes Nutrition Council checked this out recently they found a very mixed bag of research findings. “The nutrient composition of spelt,” they report “appears to vary depending on the variety and the environmental conditions where it is grown. Belgian research examining milled and wholemeal grain samples found that de-hulled spelt contains more copper, zinc, iron, magnesium and phosphorus than soft winter wheat. Another study in Italy showed that spelt contains more protein and soluble fibre than conventional wheat varieties. This research further showed that bread made from wholemeal spelt flour has less total starch and more resistant starch compared with bread made from white flour (milled from both spelt and conventional wheat). However, other research has shown no significant difference between the nutritional content of spelt and (hard red) winter wheat in terms of protein, fibre, vitamin and mineral content. The exception was zinc content, which was found to higher in spelt wheat.”

As for its glycemic index, it hasn’t been GI tested but we would guesstimate pearled spelt to be similar to whole wheat kernels. The GI of other spelt products from breads to breakfast cereals will depend on the product and the amount and type of processing.


 Source: USDA National Nutrient Database

IN THE GI NEWS KITCHEN

ALAN BARCLAY: REVERSING DIABETES
The latest research into type 2 diabetes shows that for some people it’s possible to put diabetes into remission and for others they can prevent or at least delay the complications of diabetes. In Reversing Diabetes (Murdoch Books), Dr Alan Barclay explores what these findings mean and includes 70 inspiring, delicious recipes for households large and small. Available from online retailers and bookshops everywhere.

 
SPELT SPAGHETTI WITH RATATOUILLE 
Use regular wheat spaghetti if that’s what’s in the pantry. To go gluten-free is you need to, substitute with rice or other gluten-free pasta. Serves 2 • Preparation 15 minutes • Cooking 15 minutes



Olive oil spray
1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 eggplant (aubergine), chopped
1 red capsicum (pepper), chopped
2 zucchini (courgettes), chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
250g (9oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
140g (5oz) spelt spaghetti
1 small handful basil leaves, to serve

Spray a large non-stick frying pan with olive oil and place over medium–high heat. Cook the onion, stirring, for 2 minutes or until softened. Stir in the eggplant, capsicum, zucchini and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. • Stir in the tomatoes and 1 cup water, and cook for a further 2 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened and the other vegetables are tender. Remove the pan from the heat. • While the vegetables are cooking, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook the pasta for 8–10 minutes or until al dente. • Drain the pasta, add it to the ratatouille and gently toss to combine. Serve the pasta and ratatouille with the basil scattered over the top.

Per serving 
Energy 1495kJ/ 355Cal; protein 14g; fat 3g (includes 0.3g saturated fat; saturated : unsaturated fat ratio 0.11); carbohydrate 62g; fibre 12g; sodium 30mg; potassium 1085mg; sodium : potassium ratio 0.03  

ANNEKA MANNING: BAKECLUB 

Anneka Manning is an author, food editor, cooking teacher, home economist, mother of two and the founder of BakeClub. With over 27 years' experience, she specialises in teaching the ‘why’ behind the ‘how’ of baking, giving home cooks the know-how, understanding and skill to bake with confidence and success, every time. She has written and contributed to a number of books, including The Low GI Family Cookbook (Hachette), Mastering the Art of Baking (Murdoch Books) and BakeClass (Murdoch Books).

SALMON AND ROAST VEGETABLE FRITTATAS
Make sure you roast extra vegetables when making them for dinner for a quick and easy lunch or light meal the next day. Serve with a green salad. Makes: 8 • Preparation time: 15 minutes (+ 5 minutes cooling time) • Baking time: 25 minutes



Olive oil, to grease (optional)
3½ cups (about 630g) chopped roasted vegetables (see Baker’s Tips)
210g/7oz tin red or pink salmon in spring water, drained and coarsely flaked
½ cup (50g/2½oz) coarsely grated vintage cheddar cheese
⅓ cup chopped chives, flat-leaf parsley and/or basil
6 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F (170°C/325°F fan-forced). Grease 8 holes of a 1/3 cup (80ml) muffin tin with olive oil or line with paper muffin cases. • Place vegetables, salmon, cheese and herbs in a large mixing bowl and toss gently to combine evenly. Spoon the mixture into the muffin holes, dividing evenly. Crack the eggs into a jug, season well with salt and pepper and then use a fork to whisk to combine. Carefully pour into the muffin holes over the vegetable mixture, dividing evenly. • Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes until set and golden. (The eggs will continue to cook in the tin, so it’s ok if the centre is a little soft, just not runny). Stand in the tin for 5 minutes, then use a small palette knife or butter knife to remove the frittatas from the tin. Serve warm or room temperature with a green salad.

Baker’s tips

• Roasted pumpkin, capsicum, carrots, sweet potato, zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms all work well in these frittatas. 
• Add chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, sage or thyme to your vegetables before roasting them for an extra flavour hit. 
• These frittatas will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Serve at room temperature or reheat in an oven preheated to 180°C/350°F (160°C/320°F fan-forced) for 5–10 minutes. 

Per serve (one frittata) 
630kJ/ 150 calories; 13g protein; 8g fat (includes 3g saturated fat; saturated : unsaturated fat ratio 0.6); 5g available carbs (includes 2.5g sugars and 2.5g starches); 5g fibre; 340mg sodium

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Nutritional analysis To analyse Australian foods, beverages, processed products and recipes, we use FoodWorks which contains the AusNut and Nuttab databases. If necessary, this is supplemented with data from www.calorieking.com.au or http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search.

Disclaimer GI News endeavours to check the veracity of news stories cited in this free e-newsletter by referring to the primary source, but cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies in the articles so published. GI News provides links to other World Wide Web sites as a convenience to users, but cannot be held responsible for the content or availability of these sites. All recipes that are included within GI News have been analysed however they have not been tested for their glycemic index properties by an accredited laboratory according to the ISO standards.

© ®™ The University of Sydney, Australia

GI News - September 2018

GI News is published online every month by the University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and the Charles Perkins Centre, and delivered to the mailboxes of our 97,000 subscribers. Our goal is to help people choose the high-quality carbs that are digested at a rate that our bodies can comfortably accommodate and to share the latest scientific findings on food and diet with a particular focus on carbohydrates, dietary fibres, blood glucose and the glycemic index.

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

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

INTRODUCING NEW FOODS TO BABIES: WHEN AND WHAT
Recently, the Trump administration angered health experts around the world with its attempt to weaken a UN resolution encouraging breastfeeding. The US bid to promote the use of formula was unsuccessful and has prompted discussions about the importance of exclusively breastfeeding (if possible) for the baby’s first six months of life, before other foods are introduced. In this edited version of their article in The Conversation, Clare Collins and Jenna Hollis look at current recommendations on introducing new foods to babies.

“Guidelines recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life. But our 2017 study of new mothers in Australia found many were unsure what exclusive breastfeeding meant. The World Health Organisation defines exclusive breastfeeding as feeding only breastmilk and no other foods or drinks, not even water. The definition does allow inclusion of oral rehydration solutions, or drops or syrups for vitamins, minerals, and medicines prescribed by a doctor. Preterm or underweight babies may need extra nutritious fluids, which are administered in consultation between parents and paediatricians.

Some mothers may not be able to breastfeed. Others may choose to move on from breastfeeding. If a baby isn’t breastfed, or is partially breastfed, commercial infant formula should be the only other food given until six months. Breast (or infant formula) feeding is recommended alongside other foods until the baby is 12 months and, for breastfeeding, for as long as the mother and her infant want to keep it going.

Introducing other foods Parents can start introducing other foods from around six months of age. At this age, the baby’s iron stores obtained from their mother will have started to deplete. Pureed meat or legumes and iron-fortified rice cereal, are good sources of iron and are recommended first foods. Next, parents can introduce a variety of vegetables, fruit, and other foods. New foods should be added one at a time. Gradually increase the texture from pureed initially at six months, then to lumpy, and to family food textures at 12 months of age. Take care to still avoid hard foods that don’t break up easily to prevent choking, such as nuts and small, hard pieces of vegetables and fruit.



Cow’s milk products can be introduced, including full-fat yoghurt and cheese, but cow’s milk shouldn’t be given as the main drink until after 12 months (this is because it contains too much protein and salts). Boiled then cooled tap water can be given from six months and tap water should continue to be boiled first and cooled before given to baby until 12 months.

By 12 months, babies can be offered a variety of nutritious foods that are enjoyed by the rest of the family, except for choking hazards such as nuts.

Why does timing matter? Breastfeeding has many benefits for the mother and baby. It protects babies against infection, obesity, and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes later in life. Breastmilk has all the energy and nutrients babies need in the first months of life. Even when exclusive breastfeeding doesn’t work out as planned, every extra day a baby receives any breastmilk is beneficial. Breastmilk contains antibodies and helps to mature the infant’s gut.

At six months, babies also need semi-solid foods to help meet their energy needs for growth and development, and specific nutrient requirements. Iron deficiency anaemia is common in infants, mainly due to a low intake of iron-rich foods after six months of age. By six months, babies usually show signs they’re ready for food. These include sitting up, controlling their head, eyeing your food when you eat, and reaching out for food. In the 2016 study of mothers and their children we published, we found babies introduced to semi-solid foods at six months were less likely to experience feeding difficulties than babies who were given them between four and six months of age.”

Nutrition tips for baby’s first year

• Seek advice on breastfeeding when you need it. 
• If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. 
• Focus on developing healthy eating habits as a family. 

Read more about breastfeeding in The Conversation: 

• Breastmilk alone is best for the first six months – here’s what to do next 
• Breastfeeding is not 'easy' – stop telling new mothers that it is 
• Giving your baby solid food early won't help them sleep better 
• Breastfeeding dictator or breastfeeding enabler? Midwives' support styles can make a difference

WHAT’S NEW?

YOUR BABY’S THYROID GLAND PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
Adequate concentrations of maternal and neonatal thyroid hormones are essential for fetal neural development and play a key part in regulating fetal growth, brain development, and metabolism. Fetal thyroid function begins at 12–14 weeks gestation; however, maternal transfer of thyroid hormones continues until full-term and has a protective role in fetal neurodevelopment until the first few days of life.


The thyroid gland

Thyroid hormone concentrations in newborn babies are affected by neonatal, maternal, and pregnancy-related factors, including maternal thyroid function and iodine status. Congenital hypothyroidism is defined as inadequate thyroid function in newborn infants and is one of the most readily preventable causes of intellectual disability in children.

A world-first University of Sydney study in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology reveals Australian babies born with moderately high concentrations of a hormone called thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) have a higher risk of poor educational and development outcomes at school age. It suggests that the mother is not consuming enough iodine. This is the first population-based study demonstrating the association between moderately high TSH in infants and their later school age neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Congenital hypothyroidism refers to abnormal thyroid function in newborn infants. Globally, about one in 2000 children are born with congenital hypothyroidism each year and the incidence of subclinical thyroid disease is at least ten times higher than overt thyroid disease. If untreated for several months after birth, severe congenital hypothyroidism can lead to growth failure and permanent intellectual disability.

Screening for congenital hypothyroidism in the first days of life, done usually by testing concentrations of neonatal thyroid-stimulating hormone in baby's blood, provides an opportunity to identify infants with abnormal thyroid hormone concentrations. In developed countries, newborn screening of TSH levels and early treatment for congenital hypothyroidism has nearly eliminated intellectual disabilities associated with congenital hypothyroidism. Currently, only newborns with TSH concentrations at the 99.95th percentile of the population range, are diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism and treated with the hormone thyroxine. At this percentile, blood concentration of TSH usually exceeds 20 mU per litre of whole blood.

The researchers found that infants with a neonatal TSH concentration just lower than the cut-off (20 mU/L blood, a near miss) have an increased likelihood of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes at school age. Said another way, the study reveals a gradual increasing risk of poor educational and development outcomes for newborns with increasing TSH concentrations from the 75th to the 99.95th percentile.

“The results showed a clear dose-response association between neonatal thyroid stimulating hormone and risk of scoring below the national minimum standard for numeracy and reading,” said the University of Sydney’s A/Professor Natasha Nassar, the study’s senior author.

“This study can't prove a cause and effect relationship between thyroid stimulating hormone levels in newborns and educational and development outcomes in school age children, but it suggests an urgent need for prospective studies examining different thyroid hormone thresholds for intervening with thyroxine,” said Dr Bridget Wilcken, Clinical Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at the Children's Hospital at Westmead. “Given that thyroxine is a relatively safe medication when indicated and properly monitored, this simple intervention may prevent significant learning and developmental problems in a small group of affected children.”

Read more 

• Association between borderline neonatal thyroid-stimulating hormone concentrations and educational and developmental outcomes: a population-based record-linkage study 
• Preconception Maternal Iodine Status Is Positively Associated with IQ but Not with Measures of Executive Function in Childhood 

ALL ABOUT IODINE 
Iodine is a naturally occurring mineral that is needed by the thyroid gland in order to synthesize thyroxine, an important hormone that regulates metabolism. In babies and young children, thyroid hormones play a key role in physical and mental development. A deficiency of iodine can lead to learning difficulties and affect physical development and hearing. The recommended dietary intake a day for iodine is 150 micrograms for most adults, but this increases to 220 micrograms during pregnancy and 270 micrograms while breast-feeding, as your baby will take the iodine it needs from you.

 
The mineral iodine

Iodine deficiency
Because Australian and New Zealand soils are low in iodine, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the New Zealand Ministry of Health recommend that all women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or considering pregnancy, take an iodine supplement. However, it’s best to speak with your doctor before taking a supplement, especially if you have a pre-existing thyroid condition.

Though iodine deficiency is not typically a problem in the United States, as most table salt is enriched with iodine, the American Thyroid Association recommends that all women who are pregnant, breast-feeding, or considering pregnancy take an iodine supplement of 150 micrograms each day. Kelp and seaweed supplements are not recommended as they contain varying amounts of iodine and can even cause toxicity (too much iodine). Again, speak with your doctor first.

The best source of iodine in our diet is seafood. We also get iodine from other foods including milk and vegetables, but the amount varies depending on how these foods are grown and processed. In Australia and New Zealand, all salt used for making bread (apart from organic breads) must now be iodised, so bread has become a source of iodine. 

• This is an edited extract from The Low GI Eating Plan for an Optimal Pregnancy (Dr Jennie Brand-Miller, Dr Kate Marsh and Prof Robert Moses); published in Australia as The Bump to Baby Diet.

BABY FORMULA CAN CHANGE GUT BACTERIA 
A study of more than 1000 Canadian mothers and their infants in Journal of Pediatrics found exclusive breastfeeding in the first three months of life provided more protection against an infant becoming overweight at one year of age than either partial breastfeeding or formula feeding. This association is partially explained by the influence breastfeeding has on an infant’s gut microbiome say the researchers. “Breastfeeding is one of the most influential factors in shaping the infant gut microbiome,” says Dr. Meghan Azad.

“Our research showed that partial breastfeeding and exclusive formula feeding were associated with a higher microbial diversity at three months of age, meaning more types of microbes were present in the baby’s gut, as well as an abundance of a group of bacteria called Lachnospiracae, which has been associated with infant overweight,” explains Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj. “We also distinguished between partial breastfeeding mixed with formula versus partial breastfeeding mixed with foods,” adds Dr. Jessica Forbes. “We found that breastfed infants supplemented with formula were at increased risk for becoming overweight at one year of age, and had a different microbiota composition than exclusively breastfed infants; whereas breastfed infants supplemented with complementary foods only (no formula) were similar to exclusively breastfed infants with no increased risk.”

 “These results emphasize the importance of breastfeeding as a possible protective factor against infant overweight by modifying the gut microbiome,” says Azad. “They suggest that improved programs and policies to support exclusive breastfeeding could have a meaningful impact on infant health.”

Read more 

• Association of exposure to formula in the hospital and subsequent infant feeding practices with gut microbiota and risk of overweight in the first year of life 
• Commentary on this study 

MOTHER NATURE KNOWS BEST FOR BABY’S FIRST FOOD 
Mother’s milk provides the perfect mix of nutrients – carbs, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals – for babies to grow and thrive for the first six months of life. Mother Nature made it sweet so it is very appealing to babies. The sweetness comes from a special sugar called lactose only found in milk. Our human milk has one of the highest concentrations of lactose of any mammal coming in at some 7 grams of lactose per 100 millilitres (3½ fluid ounces) which in household measures is little over ⅓ cup. It is about 1½ times that of cow’s milk. Why so much? One reason is probably to satisfy our fast-growing, energy-hungry, glucose-demanding brain. Scans show that a baby’s brain reaches more than half adult size in the first 90 days of baby’s life.



Mother’s milk also contains special carbs called oligosaccharides (think of them as prebiotics, foods that friendly bacteria in the large intestine chomp on to thrive).


Source: The Good Carbs Cookbook

MATERNAL NUTRITION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WE EVER IMAGINED
The man who transformed our thinking about the causes of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer was Sir David Barker (physician, biologist and epidemiologist). Caroline Fall and Clive Osmond remind us that Barker’s: “‘fetal programming hypothesis’ challenged the idea that these diseases are explained by bad genes and unhealthy adult lifestyles. Instead, he proposed, their roots lie in the early life environment: ‘The nourishment a baby receives from its mother, and its exposure to infection after birth, determine its susceptibility to chronic disease in later life’. By permanently ‘programming’ the body’s metabolism and growth, they determine the pathologies of old age. His now widely accepted ideas stimulated research into the developmental origins of health and disease. To pull back the modern epidemics of chronic disease we should prioritise the health and nutrition of girls, pregnant women and infants.” And he said this over 20 years ago.

“Maternal nutrition is more important than we ever imagined,” says Prof Jennie Brand-Miller. “Life inside the womb is a critical period for metabolic programming that influences a baby’s cell types, cell numbers, body composition, hormonal feedback, metabolic activity, and appetite. Our food supply and dietary recommendations should be based first and foremost on the needs of pregnant women,” she says. “If we cover them, we automatically cover everyone else. They should not be seen as the exception to the rule (and simply recommended nutritional supplements). We now also know that different patterns of growth have long-term effects on the risk of specific diseases. If growth is restricted, there is a higher risk of abdominal obesity, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes as an adult. Over-nutrition, seen for example in maternal diabetes and obesity, is also linked to increased risk of obesity in adult life. The positive news is that we know that interventions in pregnancy are probably more effective than later interventions. So, we have to give Mum and her unborn baby much greater focus.”

Read more 

• Commentary: The developmental origins of health and disease: an appreciation of the life and work of Professor David J.P. Barker, 1938–2013 

PLANNED PARENTHOOD TIPS FOR MUM AND DAD 
Improving your own health before conception and providing a healthy environment for your unborn child can go a long way towards ensuring they have the best possible start in life. Here are eight tips from The Low GI Plan for Optimal Pregnancy for improving your health three to six months before conception.

1. Organise your pre-pregnancy health checks with your doctor. 
2. Review your medications (including non-prescription medications and supplements) with your doctor. Optimal intakes of iron, folate and iodine is critical. 
3. If you smoke, do your best to stop. 
4. Avoid alcohol and perhaps coffee (and other highly caffeinated beverages). 
5. Ensure your eating habits are healthy. 
6. Be physically active. 
7. If you are overweight, improve your diet and activity to achieve gradual weight loss. 
8. Take folate and iodine supplements 

Read more: 

• The Low GI Eating Plan for an Optimal Pregnancy 
• The Bump to Baby Diet 

HEALTHY EAT OUT/TAKE OUT – MEXICAN 
Mexican restaurants are popping up all over. They are ideal for low GI choices because they make great use of beans and corn. They also have small portions such as tacos if you just want a light meal. There are usually plenty of gluten-free and vegetarian choices. Menus often include detailed descriptions of dishes so you know exactly what you are getting (and you can always ask). Good options include:

• Tacos, burritos and quesadillas with mushrooms or vegetables, fish, seafood, pulled pork, beef, and chicken 
• Salads and salsas of all kinds 
• Chargrilled corn 
• Ceviche bowls with tuna, salmon or kingfish 
• Share plates with grilled octopus, guacamole, corn tamales.

PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY

IODINE AND THE THYROID GLAND 
Iodine was one of the first trace-minerals to be identified as an essential nutrient. Nearly 5000 years ago, Chinese physicians treated goitre (enlarged thyroid gland in the neck) by feeding seaweed, seafood extracts and burnt sponge – we now know that these are all rich sources of iodine. In 1811, iodine was identified in seaweed in France, and 8 years later a Swiss physician named Dr Coindet used a burnt sponge and seaweed extract for the treatment of goitre, and reasoned that iodine could be the active ingredient in seaweed. In 1819, he tested tincture of iodine at 250 mg/day, in 150 goitre patients with great success. In the 1920s, iodine was shown to be an integral part of the thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4) and in 1952 triiodothyronine (T3).

	Very low levels of iodine intake (less than 50µg/day) cause goitre, which presents as an enlarged thyroid gland. Other symptoms include dry skin, fatigue and hair loss.

The thyroid hormones T3 and T4 are required for the normal growth and development of essential organs including the brain and nervous system and have a broader role in the maturation of the body as a whole. They are important for energy production and oxygen consumption in all of our cells, helping to maintain the body’s metabolic rate. A typical adult body contains approximately 15–20mg of Iodine, of which 70–80% is in the thyroid gland (a butterfly-shaped organ located in the base of your neck) – which concentrates iodine. The rest is in our blood.

Iodine deficiency results in a range of conditions collectively termed iodine deficiency disorders. In severe deficiency, these have major effects on the developing foetus, such as abortion or stillbirth, congenital abnormalities, increased infant mortality, cretinism or mental deficiency with deaf mutism, spastic diplegia (a form of cerebral palsy), and even a form of dwarfism. In newborns, childhood or adulthood, iodine deficiency can lead to goitre or hypothyroidism as well as impaired mental and physical development. Paradoxically, excessive intakes of Iodine can also lead to the enlargement of the thyroid gland.

The iodine content of most foods is low and is affected by the soil, irrigation and fertilisers used. Losses can also occur in cooking (e.g., boiling). Best sources include:

• Seafoods – fish (e.g. canned salmon), shellfish (e.g. oysters), and seaweed (e.g., sushi). 
• Dairy - milk, yoghurt, cheese, etc. 
• Bread – Australian and New Zealand bakers are required to use iodised salt in bread. 
• Salt – Approximately 120 countries, including Canada and the USA, have adopted mandatory iodization of all food-grade salt. In Australia and New Zealand, it’s optional. While Iodine fortified salt contains high levels of iodine, use of iodised salt has reduced due to increased awareness of the association between high salt consumption and high blood pressure. 
• Supplements – Pregnant and breast-feeding women may require iodine supplements, though consultation with a doctor is recommended before commencing. 

Finally, it’s important to note that our ability to utilise absorbed iodine is influenced by goitrogens in foods. Goitrogens are found in brassica vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts and can interfere with the synthesis of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4. Similarly, foods that contain goitrogenic cyanoglucosides such as sweet potato and corn release thiocyanate that competes with iodine, blocking its uptake by the thyroid gland. This doesn’t mean that we should avoid these vegetables – just consume them in moderation as part of a healthy balanced diet.

Read more: 

• Nutrient Reference Values - Iodine
• Nutrition Australia – Iodine facts 
• Effect of different cooking methods on iodine losses  

 
Alan Barclay, PhD is a consultant dietitian and chef (Cert III). 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 or check out his website.

KEEPING IT GREEN – EATING FOR BODY AND PLANET

THE ANIMAL FOOD DILEMMA 
Meat and dairy products are valuable sources of nutrition yet a recent report by Greenpeace recommends limiting meat intake to 300g per week and dairy intake to 630g per week to lessen our environmental footprint. They say this would reduce global consumption of animal products by 50% by 2050. However, they did not have a nutrition expert involved so how can we be sure this advice supports good health? How do we reconcile the nutritional value of animal foods with their environmental footprint? We decided to delve deeper into the animal food dilemma.

 
What is the most sustainable diet? 
Meat has the greatest environmental footprint followed by dairy and then plant-foods. This is because livestock farming requires more land and water; and animals produce more green house gas (GHG) emissions compared to plant foods. You may think veganism (eating no animal products at all) is the most sustainable solution to feed our growing global population but you may be surprised to hear that it’s not, because growing crops doesn’t utilise all types of land. For example, some land is useless for growing fruits and vegetables but can be used for dairy farming or livestock grazing. In fact, a vegetarian diet including dairy products (lacto-vegetarian) has been identified as the most sustainable diet.

Eat a diet that is mostly plants, but some animal foods can be included in your diet and still be sustainable.

How much meat do you need?
In grappling with the animal food dilemma, we need to know how much we need – not want or crave, but actually need - for good health. National dietary recommendations are a good place to start. Meat is part of the ‘meat and protein alternatives’ group that includes red meat, white meat, fish, eggs and plant-based alternatives like pulses, legumes, nuts and seeds.

The US Dietary Guidelines recommend 5-6.5 ounces (around 140g-185g) of meat or protein equivalents per day for a sedentary person.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend 2-3 ‘serves’ of meat or alternatives 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, beans); 
• 170g tofu; 
• or 30g of nuts or seeds. 

 If you do the math, both countries are recommending around 1300g (45oz) of meat (or equivalent) per week, which seems a lot more than the 300g limit Greenpeace is recommending, but of course not all serves from this group need to be meat. The Australian guidelines recommend limiting your cooked red meat intake to 455g per week and including plant-based foods in the mix. And remember smaller animals such as chickens and pigs, and wild animals such as deer, bison and kangaroo all have a smaller environmental footprint than cattle.

The question of how much meat we can get away with eating and still look after our health and the environment is hotly debated and depends on a myriad of factors including: location/region, climate, production method, land and water use, feed type, animal genetics, waste management, supply chain efficiency, transport and wastage. We as citizen-eaters can help by eating animals ‘nose-to-tail’ (not just our favourite bits) and not wasting any because throwing animal foods in the bin just adds insult to injury (it wastes the already significant environmental costs in producing it).

Enjoy a variety of protein sources including plant sources but limit meat intake – especially from large, high eco-footprint animals to around 400g a week, or two meals. Whatever you do, don’t waste a skerrick of food, especially animal food. 

How much dairy do you need? 
While Greenpeace recommend no more than 630g dairy food a week, Australian and US dietary guidelines recommend 2-3 serves of dairy products (or equivalent), or 500-750g a day of dairy milk.

One serve of dairy is:

• 1 cup of milk or fortified soy milk; or 
• 40g cheese; 
• 200g yoghurt; 
• 100g almonds; 
• 100g firm tofu with calcium 

The dairy food group is a good source of many nutrients including calcium, Vitamin D and Vitamin B12. While you could meet these dietary requirements using only plant-based foods it is more difficult and you’ll probably need supplements or fortified foods. For example, calcium is available in foods such as almonds, however you would need to eat more than 3 handfuls of almonds (100g) to get just 1 serve of dairy alternatives. If you choose plant-based ‘milks’, choose one with added calcium.

Why is there conflicting advice? 
Greenpeace’s advice to consume no more than 300g of meat and 630g dairy products per week appears to conflict with both Australian and US national dietary guidelines, although it doesn’t have to if we chose more plant-based alternatives within the meat and dairy food groups. As Greenpeace correctly points out, you can meet your nutritional requirements with a vegetarian diet or vegan diet supplemented with Vitamin B12. However, there are still lingering nutrition questions we need to answer. For example, which groups (pregnant women, children, athletes, young women, teens?) are likely to experience nutritional shortfalls if meat and dairy are removed or limited from diets? How do we ensure those with higher needs have them met in an animal-food constrained world? If we are to solve the dilemma of animal foods, we need collaboration between environmental scientists and nutrition scientists and dietitians to ensure advice is evidence-based, and our sustainable diets are enjoyable.

The animal food dilemma in a nutshell: 

• Eating less meat reduces your environmental footprint, but you still need to meet your nutritional needs - include healthy plant-based meat and dairy alternatives such as nuts, seeds, legumes, fortified plant ‘milks’ and tofu. 
• If you eat meat make it a side show rather than the main attraction on your plate – fill half your plate with vegetables, a quarter with grains (or starchy vegetables) and limit meat to a quarter of your plate. 
• Replace some of your meat with plant proteins. For example, try adding lentils to your spaghetti Bolognese, burgers, meatloaf or casseroles; and adding chickpeas, tofu or 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

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



Food skills: shopping. Check the punnet closely (top and bottom) to make sure they all look well formed, fresh and dry (moisture attracts mould), have a uniform good bright colour, aren’t squashed or damaged (bruising or soft spots) and there’s no oozing juice or fermenting smell. Strawberries should have their green caps attached. Strawberries are best stored in the fridge, spread out in a single layer to avoid damage, but taste their best at room temperature so take them out for a while before eating.

Food skills: storing. Strawberries are among the most perishable of fruits and can turn soft and mouldy within 24 hours. They are hard to pass by, so open the punnet (or punnets) when you get home and sort and remove any bruised or damaged berries. Store in the refrigerator for two to three days in the punnet or place them on a plate in a single layer on paper towel and cover with plastic wrap. When you are ready to eat them, rinse gently in cool water (do not soak) before hulling and eating and allow to air-dry or pat gently with paper towel.


 Source: The Good Carbs Cookbook

IN THE GI NEWS KITCHEN

THE GOOD CARBS COOKBOOK 
The Good Carbs Cookbook (by Alan Barclay, Kate McGhie and Philippa Sandall) published by Murdoch Books helps you choose the best fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, lentils, seeds, nuts and grains and explains how to use them in 100 refreshingly nourishing recipes to enjoy every day, for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and dessert. The recipes are easy to prepare, (mostly) quick to cook, long in flavour and full of sustaining goodness, so you feel fuller for longer. There is a nutritional analysis for each recipe and tips and helpful hints for the novice, nervous, curious or time-starved cook.



STRAWBERRY, RHUBARB AND APPLE OAT CRUMBLE 
Rhubarb stalks can vary in colour from green to a perky bright red and we often, wrongly, assume that the red stalks are ‘ripe’ and sweeter. Colour and sweetness are not related and some green varieties produce very sweet stems. Smaller stalks will be tender, while thicker stalks tend to become stringy. Stalks the size of a finger are a good measure. Preparation time: 25 minutes • Cooking time: 30 minutes • Serves: 6



5 medium stalks rhubarb, trimmed and chopped
3 small cooking apples, cored and coarsely grated
200g (7oz) small strawberries, hulled
2 tablespoons runny honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup (90g/3¼oz) traditional rolled oats
50g (1¾oz) butter
½ cup (100g/3½oz) lightly packed soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
⅔ cup (100g/3½oz) coarsely chopped raw nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (fan-forced 160°C/315°F). • Put the rhubarb, apples, strawberries, honey and cinnamon in a bowl. Toss well and spoon into a deep baking dish. • In a bowl combine the oats, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts and rub together with your fingers until the mixture is knobby. Spread over the top of the fruit and bake for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is soft and bubbling and the top is golden and crunchy. • Tip: Thinly sliced ripe pear or blackberries would be a lovely addition to the fruit mixture.

Per serve 
1480kJ/355 calories; 6g protein; 18g fat (includes 5.5g saturated fat; saturated : unsaturated fat ratio 0.4); 42g available carbs (includes 32g sugars and 10g starches); 6g fibre; 70mg sodium; 430mg potassium; sodium : potassium ratio 0.2

ANNEKA MANNING: BAKECLUB 

Anneka Manning is an author, food editor, cooking teacher, home economist, mother of two and the founder of BakeClub. With over 27 years' experience, she specialises in teaching the ‘why’ behind the ‘how’ of baking, giving home cooks the know-how, understanding and skill to bake with confidence and success, every time. She has written and contributed to a number of books, including The Low GI Family Cookbook (Hachette), Mastering the Art of Baking (Murdoch Books) and BakeClass (Murdoch Books).

STRAWBERRY, MAPLE AND PISTACHIO PARFAIT 
A delicious combination of nuts, seeds and oats layered with sweet fresh strawberries and thick Greek-style yoghurt, it is hard to go past this parfait at breakfast time. Keep a jar of this granola in an airtight jar or container in the pantry, so you can whip up the parfait anytime you please. The granola will keep at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Preparation time: 15 minutes • Baking time: 12–15 minutes • Serves: 8



800g (1lb 7oz) natural Greek-style yoghurt
2½ punnets (60g/2oz) ripe strawberries, hulled and quartered

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

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

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

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Nutritional analysis To analyse Australian foods, beverages, processed products and recipes, we use FoodWorks which contains the AusNut and Nuttab databases. If necessary, this is supplemented with data from www.calorieking.com.au or http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search.

Disclaimer GI News endeavours to check the veracity of news stories cited in this free e-newsletter by referring to the primary source, but cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies in the articles so published. GI News provides links to other World Wide Web sites as a convenience to users, but cannot be held responsible for the content or availability of these sites. All recipes that are included within GI News have been analysed however they have not been tested for their glycemic index properties by an accredited laboratory according to the ISO standards.

© ®™ The University of Sydney, Australia

GI News - August 2018

GI News is published by the University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and the Charles Perkins Centre. Our goal is to help people choose the high-quality carbs that are digested at a rate that our bodies can comfortably accommodate and to share the latest scientific findings on food and diet with a particular focus on carbohydrates, dietary fibres, blood glucose and the glycemic index.

Publisher: Professor Jennie Brand-Miller, AM, PhD, FAIFST, FNSA
Editor: Philippa Sandall
Scientific Editor/Managing Editor: Alan Barclay, PhD, APD AN
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

THE COOKING SKILLS CONUNDRUM 
Have We Lost Our Food Skills and How to Get Them Back was the bait-clicky headline of a recent piece in the Sydney Morning Herald. The article by Paula Goodyer with contributions from dietitians including Profs. Clare Collins and Margaret Allman-Farinelli makes the point that “a host of factors have led to a generation who lack cooking nous. The effect is a wider waistline and a thinner wallet”. It is worth reading. But we seriously question putting the food skills of previous generations on any sort of pedestal (think seriously overcooked vegetables for starters).



Back in 2010 I created Recipes My Mother Cooked for Allen and Unwin. As well as their Mum’s recipes, I asked the book’s contributors (chefs, food writers, dietitians) to share some of their family fare memories. Some mothers were clearly truly amazing cooks. Many, however, had pretty basic skills and while family mealtimes were memorable, the meals themselves, not so much. Hadleigh Troy (then Restaurant Amuse, Perth; now Hampton and Maley) put it this way: “Although Mum says she taught me everything she knows when it comes to cooking, those who know her and love her are in on the joke.”



By food skills, Paula Goodyer is essentially talking about learning to cook and to plan and prepare meals. Clearly, it’s important to be able to feed yourself (and your family if you have one) healthy fare. But, here at GI News we think it’s time to take off the nostalgia blinkers because what we all need today are some new healthy food skills to equip us to thrive in a world with a very different food supply from any previous generation. Along with an abundance of locally grown and imported fresh produce available year round, we have an abundance of convenience foods from frozen vegetables and meals to home-delivered meals and takeaways to help us put dinner on the table at the end of the day (and possibly provide breakfast and lunch as well).

The practical healthy food skills we need to develop or to upgrade are our:

• Food knowledge skills to help us understand where the food we eat has come from, how it is grown, how animals are farmed, and whether or not it is sustainable. 
• Food shopping skills to help us choose fresh produce and to make smart choices with convenience foods, home-delivered meals and takeaways. 
• Food and nutrition skills to help us build healthy eating habits and to choose the sustaining foods we (and our families) need for good health and to cut through countless fads about foods, fad diets, and the misconceptions about healthy eating. 

As for the suggestion we need to turn off the tap with convenience foods, we think that’s idealistic rather than realistic in this day and age. Remember, in the end what really matters for good health, well-being and achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is the overall quality and quantity of the foods we consume – and those foods may be home cooked from scratch, assembled, delivered from a restaurant or healthy food provider, picked up as a takeout, or purchased as a frozen or pre-packaged meal from the supermarket.

There are many reasons people choose convenience foods. Sometimes it’s the only option for those on the road or working insane hours; for people doing shift work; for the frail elderly who can no longer cook but want to stay in their own home; for those with a disability who can’t cook; and for those who don’t have cooking facilities. Other times convenience food buys us time. As Prof Jennie Brand Miller says: “I don’t want to spend more time in the kitchen. I know how to cook but I want the food industry to provide me with high quality, healthy convenience food (takeaway food, eat-in food, plonk-together-in-a-saucepan food) so I get to do other things higher on my priority list such as being outside, exercise, yoga, mindfulness, reading, sailing … We know the food industry can give us anything we want but they work by the law of supply and demand. We have to DEMAND.”

To help our readers choose healthy convenience meals of all kinds, we’ll be adding an Eat Out/Take Out story to What’s New? from this issue of GI News. – Philippa Sandall, Editor.
Read more: 

• Paula Goodyer: Kitchen confidence: How we lost our food skills and how to get them back 
• Recipes My Mother Cooked 
• For food knowledge and practical shopping skills: The Good Carbs Cookbook 
• For food and nutrition skills: Catherine Saxelby’s Complete Food and Nutrition Companion (second edition)

WHAT’S NEW?

KIDS IN THE KITCHEN 
Dr Jennifer Utter is an associate professor in public health nutrition at the University of Auckland's School of Population Health. Her main research interests are in adolescent eating behaviours, weight control, and obesity prevention. In recent years she has co-authored a number of papers on cooking skills and cooking programs.



#1 Do cooking skills in emerging adulthood predict better nutrition? 
The answer is possibly. The findings of a study (based on self-reported data) in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior suggests that developing cooking skills as a young adult may have long-term benefits for health and nutrition including fewer fast food meals, more meals as a family, and more frequent preparation of meals with vegetables in adulthood.

Utter and colleagues collected data as part of the Project Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults longitudinal study conducted in Minneapolis-Saint Paul area schools (USA). Participants reported on adequacy of cooking skills in 2002–2003 when they were 18–23 years old. Data was then collected in 2015–2016 on nutrition-related outcomes when participants were 30–35 years old.

Most participants perceived their cooking skills to be adequate at age 18–23, with approximately one quarter reporting their cooking skills to be very adequate. Later in adulthood those who perceived their cooking skills as adequate ate less fast food meals and, for those with children, had more frequent family meals and had fewer barriers to food preparation. The authors conclude that “ongoing and new interventions to enhance cooking skills during adolescence and emerging adulthood are warranted but require strong evaluation designs that observe young people over a number of years.”

#2 Cooking programs for kids – more than good nutrition 
That certainly was the case for GI News editor Philippa Sandall. She and her classmates at Remuera Intermediate donned white starchy aprons with big bows for cooking classes for two years. The big bow was the undoing. She and her cooking partner Helen Budd were having a chat as something bubbled away in a pot on the gas stove. It must have been a pretty interesting conversation because they didn’t notice Helen’s burning bow until Margaret Howie dashed up and doused the flames with a pan of water. Many lessons learned.

This comprehensive program review by Utter and colleagues in Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition describes the experiential cooking programs for children and young people that have been conducted and evaluated to date. They report that youth cooking programs appear to result in better nutrition and cooking skills and that cooking programs may also positively influence social aspects of well-being. However, the jury is out on the true impact that cooking programs can have on nutrition and social well-being as to date evaluations of these programs have been limited, and large-scale, randomized controlled trials are needed to quantify.

Read more: 

• Self-Perceived Cooking Skills in Emerging Adulthood Predict Better Dietary Behaviors and Intake 10 Years Later: A Longitudinal Study 
• Child and Youth Cooking Programs: More Than Good Nutrition? 

WERE OUR GRANDPARENTS REALLY HEALTHIER THAN US? 
It’s a common refrain that our grandparents were raised in simpler, more natural times, before processed foods and ubiquitous screens gave us all sorts of lifestyle diseases. But how true is that assumption? Were our grandparents really healthier than us? Or are we just romanticising a bygone era? Tegan Taylor of ABC Health and Wellbeing has put together a useful summary. She covers life expectancy, diet, activity, and medicines and medical care. Her verdict: “Looking at diet, the claim that our grandparents had healthier lives than us seems a little dubious, and we're definitely able to access better health care and preventative medicine than they had access to. But they were probably healthier in terms of the amount of physical activity they did throughout the day.”

Read more: 

• Were our grandparents really healthier than us? 

AUSTRALIA VYING TO BE WORLD CHAMPION OF INACTIVITY
If we could go back 100 years in a time machine, what would kids be like? They’d be shorter, leaner, probably dirtier and less well-fed — but would they be fitter? It turns out reports Prof Tim Olds in The Conversation that we actually have a beautiful window on the past.

“In 1919, a young woman named E.M. Bedale started postgraduate research at University College London, an uncommon undertaking for a woman at that time. Her studies focused on energy balance in children, which led her to spend several years at a serendipitously eponymous school called Bedales in rural Hampshire. During her two years at Bedales, Miss Bedale measured the energy expenditure and intake of the school’s students, using methods that are still considered to be gold standards today. Her data provide a startling contrast to our time. Children from almost 100 years ago were 50% more active than kids today. They accumulated over four hours more of physical activity and sat for three hours less than today’s kids -  every day.”

And it’s not just the kids. He points out that: “In the 1960s, half the jobs in private industry in the United States required at least moderate-intensity physical activity, compared to less than 20% today. Work in factories and farms has given away to office work, and that has amounted to over 400 kilojoules less each day that adults expend at work. This difference alone results in a weight increase of about 13 kilograms over 50 years, which pretty closely matches actual changes in weight. The situation is similar here (Australia).”

He concludes: “The roots of inactivity go deep into the cultural and socioeconomic logic of post-industrial societies. In many ways, the whole ethos of ease now saturates our society, and efficiency is the hallmark of modernity.

Think about it this way – nobody is in the market for a labour-creating device. Sit-on mowers, leaf blowers, self-opening doors and automatic car windows, robot vacuum cleaners, sensor lighting, dishwashers and microwaves all yield daily microsavings in energy expenditure that add up to hundreds of kilojoules. In 1900, the average American housewife spent an estimated 40 hours every week in food preparation. Today, that time is barely four hours – and it appears to have reached an absolute minimum.

What can be done about it? We’re not going to wind back time to the days of kids playing cricket in the street, families driving the Vauxhall Viva with wind-down windows, dads pushing hand mowers and mums using wringers. The challenge is to fashion spaces where alternative forms of active leisure can be pursued. And we’ve already started: the gymnasium is such a space, internalising the lost world of manual labour. Exergaming (think Wii), which transposes outdoor play spaces into virtual worlds, is similar. We all need to re-imagine physical activity if we’re to overcome this malaise of post-industrial society.

Read more: 

• Australia Vying to Be World Champion of Inactivity 

HEALTHY EAT OUT/TAKE OUT 
Indian cuisine offers a variety of healthy meals including mains, salads and sides such as pickles and raita. On top of that opt for:

• Meat (lamb, beef and goat), chicken, fish and other seafood curries
• Vegetable curries including aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower); palak paneer (cottage cheese and spinach); and baingan patiala (eggplant and potato)
• Tikka (dry roasted) or tandoori (marinated in spices and yoghurt) chicken, prawns or fish
• Dhal (a good low GI choice)
• Unleavened breads such as chapatis, plain naan or roti 
• Rice, birayani and pulao – Basmati rice is lower GI but watch the quantity.