Food for Thought

There May Not Be a Magic Bullet, But We Still Have Commonsense
While numerous studies have consistently shown the glycemic index (GI) to be an effective tool in reducing blood glucose and insulin levels and the risks of certain diseases, it sometimes comes under criticism for not being the ‘magic bullet’ people sometimes expect in weight management.

The glycemic index is a powerful tool when used in the right way—that is, in combination with healthy eating, regular exercise, and medications as needed. The glycemic index is not intended to be used in isolation, with a disregard to commonsense. When used appropriately (ie in the context of a good diet), the GI can benefit overall health, promoting satiety and minimising diabetes risk and complications. The concept of the GI improves outcomes because it involves a more complete understanding of how carbohydrates are digested in the human body, recognising differences between different carbohydrate-containing foods (not just sugars versus starches), and how this will affect our physiological responses after consumption.

This leads to what some view as criticisms of the GI—that there is a such a broad range of GI values for different types of potatoes, for example, or that the GI of bananas will change depending on their stage of ripeness. However, we should not hold the GI to higher standards than we apply to other nutrient factors. We know the carbohydrate and fibre content of a banana will vary with ripeness, or its vitamin C content with storage. We would never expect the fat content of the local supermarket’s sausages to be exactly the same as that listed in the national tables of food composition.

While there are notable variances in GI (eg for different varieties of rice), there is also notable consistency. Apples, oranges, legumes and pastas have GI values in the 40s, white bread in the 70s, cornflakes in the 80s. Moreover, clinical intervention studies suggest that current GI tables are sufficiently accurate to produce differences in average blood glucose values in people with diabetes (Brand-Miller et al, Diabetes Care 2003).

Many people today are ready and willing to be active participants in their own health care, wanting to learn more about their conditions and how to manage them, even if this entails more than a few simple rules, and requires a deeper understanding of how their body works. Those who put the effort into understanding their physical condition and how they can help themselves will surely reap the long-term rewards and health benefits relating to the GI and beyond.

—Atarah Grysman, MSc, Glycemic Index Laboratories, Toronto

GI News Briefs

The Protective Power of Plant Protein

High in fibre and low in fat, it’s long been acknowledged that fruit, vegetables and legumes (pulses) play a central role in a healthy heart diet. In fact, increased consumption of these healthful foods is associated with a lower incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other age-related diseases. Now a four-country study led by Prof Paul Elliott of Imperial College London has found that diets rich in vegetable protein tend to reduce blood pressure. High blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke and is the biggest cause of preventable mortality worldwide. During Elliot’s study, 4,680 volunteers aged 40–59 in Japan, China, UK and the US had their blood pressure read eight times and wrote down everything they had consumed in the 24 hours before each of the four checkup sessions over a 6-week period. Writing in the January issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, the researchers report ‘an inverse relationship between individual’s vegetable protein intake and their blood pressure’—the higher the vegetable protein intake, the lower the blood pressure.
—Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol 166, pp79–86


Photo: Ian Hofstetter, www.ianhofstetter.com.au The Low GI Diet Cookbook

GI Group: You don’t need to eat meat, chicken or fish every day (or at all) to get enough protein. Plant proteins can provide us with all the essential and non-essential amino acids we need so long as we eat a wide variety of foods. These plant proteins include many low GI foods such as legumes (pulses), wholegrains such as barley and traditional oats, foods rich in soy protein like tofu, nuts and seeds, and vegetables. There’s no need to worry about special combinations of plant foods at the same meal, the body keeps a short-term supply of essential amino acids so that ‘protein combining’ can happen over the whole day.

Did Your Kids Eat Breakfast This Morning?
Most of us have been told (countless times) that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But a lot of us skip breakfast. Not a good example because alarmingly around 40 per cent of kids are breakfast skippers too. Why? Well, the usual suspects. Too tired. Needed more sleep. Rushed. Not hungry. Don’t like breakfast. Dieting.



Writing in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association last year, Dr Ruth Striegel-Moore reported that the older a girl gets, the more likely she is to skip breakfast. They found that 77 per cent of white nine-year-old girls and 57 per cent of the black nine-year-old girls regularly ate breakfast. By age 19 this had plummeted and less than 32 per cent of the white girls and 22 per cent of the black girls in the study were regularly eating breakfast. The researchers analysed dietary information from the nine-year National Heart Lung and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study from 2,379 girls who entered the study at age 9 or 10. They also report that the breakfast eaters’ diets were consistently higher in calcium and fibre than the skippers and that they had a lower BMI.
—Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 105, Issue 6, June 2005, Pages 938–45


If You Want to Give Your Kids a Headstart, Give Them Oatmeal for Breakfast
In recent years, numerous studies have shown that eating breakfast can improve speed in short-term memory tests, alertness (which may help memory and learning), and mood, calmness and reduce feelings of stress. Breakfast also helps school children perform better in creativity tests. Breakfast helps to replenish blood glucose levels, which is important since the brain itself has no reserves of glucose, its main energy source...



Reporting in Physiology & Behavior in 2005, Tufts University psychologists confirmed previous studies that when kids eat breakfast they do better in tests that require processing brainpower for complex visual display (such as puzzles) than when they skip brekkie. Taking it a step further this time, the Tufts team gave the kids different breakfasts on different occasions—oatmeal and milk one day and Cap’n Crunch with milk another and then compared the test results. They found that the 60 elementary school students performed better on a raft of tests after tucking into stick-to-the-ribs oatmeal rather than firing up on Cap’n Crunch. Children aged 9–11 notched up improvements in their spatial memory (things like puzzles, drawing, and geography, as well as some technical skills used in math and science); while the 6–8-year-olds listened better and also scored higher on spatial memory. The researchers believe that their results show that what kids eat for breakfast really matters. They say ‘due to compositional differences in protein and fiber content, glycemic scores, and rate of digestion, oatmeal may provide a slower and more sustained energy source and consequently result in cognitive enhancement compared to low-fibre high glycemic ready-to-eat cereal.’
— Journal of Physiology and Behavior, Volume 85, Issue 5, 2005, Pages 635–45

GI Values Update

Pita Bread: The Perfect Pocket
Top it, stuff it, wrap it, cut it into wedges and dip it, or split it open and bake it to make ‘crisps’—pita is the ultimate meal-in-a-bread to have around for all occasions. The original value for white unleavened pita bread was from Canada (GI 57). New results have been published for pita breads available through Tesco stores in the UK including ‘Mini White Pitta’ (GI 68), Value ‘White Pitta’ (GI 69) and ‘Wholemeal Pitta’ (GI 56). (British Journal of Nutrition (2005, 94).



Try these simple serving suggestions to boost your vegetable and legume intake.

• Wrap up with hommous, shredded lettuce, felafel, tabbouli and a tangy tomato salsa; or avocado, mushrooms, bean salad, shredded lettuce and capsicum strips; or tuna, borlotti beans, onion rings, cucumber, feta and a drizzle of oil and vinegar.
• Use pita bread as an instant pizza base—top with tomato paste, mushrooms, capsicum, finely sliced onion, olives and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
• Serve dips such as hommous and babaghanoush with pita crisps—simply cut the pita bread into triangles, open out the ‘halves’ and spray with a little olive oil, sprinkle over paprika for extra flavour and bake at 180ºC (350ºF) for about 5 minutes, or until crisp.

—From Low GI Eating Made Easy (available in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US and Canada)

Low GI Food of the Month

Pure Maple Syrup: The Real Thing
With sugar maple sap about to flow in northern US and Canada, it seems timely to look at this deliciously natural sweetener. The sugars in fruit and honey have provided carbohydrate energy in human diets for millions of years. Sweetness is not a learned taste: everyone could be said to be born with a ‘sweet tooth’. We don’t know why this is so, but it may be related to our brain’s dependence on glucose as its sole source of fuel. What we do know is that our hunter-gatherer ancestors relished honey and other concentrated sources of sugars such as honey ants, dried fruit and maple syrup tapped straight from the tree.



Pure maple syrup (GI 54) was one of the first foods that was glycemic index tested (by Profs David Jenkins and Tom Wolever at the University of Toronto). As demand outstrips supply, it is probably the most expensive sweetener on your supermarket shelf. Made by boiling and concentrating the sap from maple trees, it takes approximately 40 gallons (about 150 litres) of maple sap to make one gallon (about 3½ litres) of pure maple syrup. So beware and be aware and check that label to make sure you are buying ‘Pure Maple Syrup’ as the gap in the market unfortunately is filled by those high GI, corn syrup toppings that have been blended with as little as 3 per cent maple syrup. Not the real thing at all!

Use a little maple syrup instead of sugar or honey in your tea or coffee; to sweeten your porridge oats or low GI breakfast cereal; to drizzle over buckwheat pancakes or a scoop of low-fat vanilla ice-cream. You can also use it to glaze meats such as ham, chicken or pork or vegetables such as sweet potato, yams, parsnips, squash or pumpkin. Or instead of sugar in many recipes from baked beans to rice puddings or muffins. One very simple way is to use maple syrup instead of sugar or honey is in marinades or in dressings.

Balsamic Vinaigrette with Maple Syrup
Try this vinaigrette tossed with a roasted vegetable salad (eggplant/aubergines, zucchini/courgettes, capsicum/peppers, leeks and pumpkin) or add a pasta shapes to make a meal of it. The dressing is also delicious made with a nutty oil such as walnut or macadamia oil. Makes about 1/3 cup (65 ml) dressing, enough for a salad for 4 people.

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper, several twists
a pinch of salt (optional)

Combine all the ingredients in a screwtop jar and shake well.

Per serving (4 teaspoons)
Energy 368 kJ; Fat 9.1g (Saturated 1.3g); Carbohydrate 1.3g; Dietary fibre 0.2g

Low GI Recipe of the Month

Chinese Combination Soup for One
You can buy boiled wontons, lean barbecued pork and Chinese chicken stock in Chinese markets and Asian produce stores. Frozen wontons are also available in larger supermarkets. In this recipe, you can use any other Asian greens or vegetables such as handful of raw bean sprouts, baby corn, champignon mushrooms instead of the choy sum. For a seafood combination soup replace the pork slices with 2 or 3 prawns, 2 or 3 cubes diced white fish and 2 or 3 small pieces of squid or calamari and make it with a seafood stock.
Preparation time: 10 minutes

4 boiled wontons
40 g (small handful) egg noodles, blanched and drained
½ bunch choy sum, washed, leaves separated and blanched
3 slices of lean barbecued pork
2 cups (500 ml) hot Chinese chicken stock (or regular chicken stock)

To serve
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots (spring onions)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
½ teaspoon finely chopped red chilli

Place the wontons, egg noodles, choy sum and pork in a single-serve large Chinese bowl. Ladle the hot stock over. Garnish with the shallots, coriander and chilli.

Per serve
KJ/Cal 1860/445; Protein 36 g; Fat 10 g (saturated 4 g); Carbohydrate 50 g; Fibre 4 g; GI Low

To make a traditional Chinese stock
Place 1 chicken, skin removed and cleaned under cold water, 4 large slices of ginger, ½ bunch shallots (spring onions), washed and roughly chopped, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 carrot, roughly chopped (optional), and 2 litres of cold water in a large stock pot. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. Skim off any residue. Freeze in 500 ml (2-cup) containers and use as required.


Linda Cumines

This recipe is from Linda Cumines who has been in private practice as an Accredited Practising Dietitian for the past 23 years. This has given her an extensive knowledge of how people respond to diet trends. Linda is a fourth generation Australia-born Chinese who finds great satisfaction in helping people to eat well. Linda is committed towards encouraging every one of us to enjoy eating, and eating healthily.

Your Success Stories

Leigh Hatcher has been an Australian TV and radio journalist and newsreader for 32 years. One day in the summer of 1998 his life turned upside down. A simple virus took him into the wilderness of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for more than two years—until he found low GI. Here he tells his story.
"It began simply and suddenly. I was in the middle of our annual holiday at a great Aussie beach and after a marvellous morning in the surf, I laid down for my daily 10-15 minute ‘power nap’. For once I woke up 2 hours later, feeling as if I’d been run over by a truck.

By the end of that week, still feeling below par, I was sent off for some blood tests which showed I’d contracted a viral hepatitis. I was told to take two weeks off work and I’d be fine.

However, I kept returning to the doctor for weeks – months, struggling to describe a body and brain that were both running on empty. It seemed like something toxic was flowing through my veins. I was overwhelmed by crushing fatigue and weakness.

Within six months, I lost my high profile job as a frontline TV reporter and news reader. After a year of increasingly rarefied tests which came back ‘normal’ – (normal was the last thing I was feeling!) – I was diagnosed as suffering ‘Chronic Fatigue Syndrome’.

I remained in this ‘wilderness’ for another year until a doctor friend discovered some research which said that for a proportion of CFS sufferers, it’s worth looking at their metabolism. I went for a 5 hour glucose tolerance test, where both glucose and insulin were tested and just for once ‘abnormal’ readings came back – in the ‘pre-diabetic’ range.

A dietitian put me on a low GI diet, with graded activity, then graded exercise, with a prediction that I’d notice an improvement in my health in two weeks! A fortnight later I returned to see her and announced – ‘You’ve given me a life again!’

Today, five years later, I’m still on the low GI diet, swimming 5 kilometres a week again and continue to revel in good health. I’m not back to 100% - probably 90-95%.

Low GI is not the ‘key’ for every CFS sufferer, but it has transformed my life and the lives of numbers of sufferers I’ve known. Coupled with exercise and a decent amount of sleep – it’s given me a life again."


Leigh Hatcher

—Leigh Hatcher has written about his journey through the wilderness of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in I’m Not Crazy, I’m Just A Little Unwell. See his website at www.notcrazy.net

Books, DVDs, Websites: What’s New?

Now Available—The New Glucose Revolution
now available in the US and Canada in a hardcover direct mail edition published by Rodale. This expanded edition includes:

• Scientific evidence to support the health benefits of choosing low-GI foods
• Strategies for making the transition to a low-GI diet
• 50 delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes, all with low to moderate GI ratings
• Glycemic index values for approximately 800 foods
• Targeted guidelines for using the glycemic index to lose weight, protect against diabetes and heart disease, and enhance mental and physical performance
• Answers to the most common questions about the glycemic index

For more information visit www.rodalestore.com



The Low GI Diet Cookbook is now available in the UK at all good book stores or online at Amazon..



Low GI Eating Made Easy is now available in the US at all good book stores or online at Amazon.

Feedback—Your FAQs Answered

My husband and I are following the 12-week Action Plan in The Low GI Diet. However, I am currently breastfeeding and I wonder whether you need to eat a little more than usual to allow for lactation or pregnancy?
Increased energy intake is recommended during pregnancy and lactation. The greatest requirement is for lactation—add 2000 kJ (500kcal) to daily requirements. In early pregnancy there is no greater need but by the 3rd trimester an extra 2000 kJ (500kcal) are recommended daily. This is based on a normal/healthy pre-existing body weight. If you are already overweight then you wouldn't need to increase by so much.
Estimations of energy requirement should always be taken as a guide only. Differences between people can be enormous. Often it is more realistic to use appetite as a guide to whether you are eating enough.



The increased calories can come from any source (carbohydrate, protein or fat) but it is safest to increase calories from carbohydrate or protein if you are unsure about amounts, because these nutrients have the greatest effect on satiety.

I haven't been able to find a reference as to what GI number a person should shoot for when trying to diet. Is there a formula, such as "take goal weight, multiply by age, divide by activity level?
The simple answer is no, there’s no formula. You don’t need to add up the GI each day. In fact there’s no counting at all as there is with calories/kilojoules. The basic technique for eating the low GI way is simply ‘This For That’: swapping the high GI carbs in your diet with low GI foods. This could mean eating muesli at breakfast instead of wheat flakes, low GI bread instead of normal white or wholemeal bread, or a sparkling apple juice in place of a soft drink. So, what you need ‘to shoot for’ is identifying the high GI carbs in your current diet and swapping them for some quality low GI carbs. Dietitian Kaye Foster-Powell says in Low GI Eating Made Easy: ‘We have found that many people who substitute low for high GI foods in their everyday meals and snacks reduce the overall GI of their diet, gain better blood glucose control and lose weight.


Kaye Foster-Powell

If you are looking for some guidelines, here’s how she answers the ‘what do I eat’ question. Every day you need to:

• Eat at least three meals—don’t skip meals. Eat snacks too if you are hungry.
• Eat fruit at least twice—fresh, cooked, dried, juices.
• Eat vegetables at least twice—cooked, raw, salads, soups, juices and snacks.
• Eat a cereal at least once—such as bread, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles, rice and other grains in a wholegrain or low GI form
• Accumulate 60 minutes of physical activity (including incidental activity and planned exercise).
• Every week you need to:
• Eat beans, peas and/or lentils—at least twice. This includes baked beans, chickpeas, red kidney beans, butter beans, split peas and foods made from them such as hommous and dhal.
• Eat fish and seafood at least once, preferably twice, each week—fresh, smoked, frozen or canned.
• Eat nuts regularly—just a tiny handful.

I’m confused. What’s the difference between GI and GL? Should I use GI or GL and does it really matter?
Your blood glucose rises and falls when you eat a food or meal containing carbohydrate. How high it rises and how long it remains high depends on the quality of the carbohydrate (its glycemic index value or GI) as well as the quantity of carbohydrate in your meal. Researchers at Harvard University came up with a term that combines these two factors—glycemic load (GL). Some people think that GL should be used instead of GI when comparing foods because it reflects the glycemic impact of both the quantity and quality of carbohydrate in a food. But more often than not, it’s low GI not low GL that predicts good health outcomes. So which one should you use?

We are often asked this question. Our advice is to stick with the GI rather than GL—the reason being that following the low glycemic load (GL) route can lead you straight to a low carb diet: ie fatty meats and butter, for example have a low GL. .
But if you eat plenty of low GI foods, you’ll find that you are automatically reducing the GL of your diet and at the same time you’ll feel fuller for longer with these satisfying carbohydrate-containing foods, as well as improve many health parameters.

We also emphasise that there’s no need to get overly technical about this. Think of the GI as a tool allowing you to choose one food over another in the same food group—the best bread to choose, the best cereal to choose etc.—and don’t get bogged down with figures. A low GI diet is about eating a wide variety of healthy foods that fuel our bodies best—on the whole these are the less processed and wholesome foods that will provide carbs in a slow release form.
The take-home message:

• Slow carbs, not low carbs
• Use GI to identify the best carbohydrate choices.
• Take care with portion size with carb-rich foods to limit the overall GL of your diet.

How do you figure out the GL numbers?
Glycemic load is calculated simply by multiplying the GI of a food by the amount of carbohydrate in the portion (in grams) you are eating and dividing by 100. Here’s how
Glycemic load = (GI x carbohydrate per serving) ÷ 100
Let’s say you wanted to have an apple for a snack. Apples have a GI of 40 and 1 medium apple contains 15 grams of carbohydrate.
So, the glycemic load of your apple snack is (40 x 15) ÷ 100 = 6.
If you were very hungry and tucked into 2 apples you be eating 30 grams of carbs and the GL of your snack would be 12. The GI doesn’t change, but you are eating more carbs because you are eating 2 apples.



Does Low Carb automatically mean low GI?
Not at all. Here’s why. Low carb is just about quantity; it simply means that a food or meal does not contain much carbohydrate at all. It says nothing about the quality of the carbs in the food or meal on your plate. You could be eating a low carb meal but the carbs have a medium or high GI. Low GI on the other hand is all about quality.


Photo: Ian Hofstetter, www.ianhofstetter.com.au The Low GI Diet Cookbook

Whether you are a moderate or high carb eater, low GI carbs (wholegrain breads, legumes /pulses, many fruits and vegetables) will have significant health benefits—promoting weight control, reducing your blood and insulin levels throughout the day, and increasing your sense of feeling full and satisfied after eating. We suggest that you make the most of quality carbs and reap the add-on health benefits such as:

• Vitamin E from wholegrain cereals
• Vitamin C, beta-carotene and potassium from fruits and vegetables
• Vitamin B6 from bananas and wholegrain cereals
• Pantothenic acid, zinc, iron and magnesium from wholegrains and legumes
• Anti-oxidants and phytochemicals from all plant foods
• And fibre which comes from all of the above and doesn’t come from any animal food

Dispelling Some Myths About … Diabetes

Myth: Sugar causes diabetes.
Fact: There is an absolute consensus that sugar in food does not cause diabetes. Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes) is an auto-immune condition triggered by unknown environmental factors such as viruses. Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes) is strongly inherited, but lifestyle factors such as a lack of exercise or being overweight increase the risk of developing it. Because diabetes treatment in the past involved strict avoidance of sugar, many people, wrongly, believed that sugar was in some way implicated in the cause of the disease. But while sugar is off the hook, high GI foods are not. Studies at Harvard University indicate that high GI diets that produce high blood glucose levels increase the risk of developing both diabetes and heart disease.

Myth: Sugar is the worst thing for people with diabetes.
Fact: For a long time strict avoidance of sugar was the mainstay of diabetes diets. Health-care professionals were taught that simple sugars were solely responsible for high blood glucose levels. But research shows that moderate consumption of refined sugar (around 40 grams/1½ oz or 2–3 tablespoons) a day doesn’t compromise blood glucose control. This means people with diabetes can choose foods that contain refined sugar or even use small amounts of table sugar.

What should you do? Try to spread your sugar budget over a variety of nutrient-rich foods that sugar makes more palatable. Remember, sugar is concealed in many foods—a can of soft drink contains about 40 grams of sugar—your entire daily allowance! Most foods containing sugar do not raise blood glucose levels any more than most starchy foods. Kelloggs Cocopops™ (GI of 77) contains 39 per cent sugar while Rice Bubbles™ (GI of 87) contains very little sugar. Many foods with large amounts of sugar have GI values close to 60—lower than white bread. Sugar can be a source of enjoyment and help you limit your intake of high fat foods, but the blood glucose response to a food is hard to predict. Use GI tables and your own blood glucose monitoring as a guide.
—Source: The New Glucose Revolution

© ® & ™ The University of Sydney, Australia

GI News—January 2006

In This Issue:

• Why Nutrition Changes
• Tesco Tests
• Getting Satisfaction
  
• What Kids Want
  
  
• What’s Cooking? And How?
  
• Pulses (Legumes) Help Fight Diabetes
• Fresh Plum and Ricotta Strudel
  
  
• Success Stories—Sarah and Felix
• Nutrition for Life
• I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I am trying to eat a healthy low GI diet, but find it hard to say no to occasional treat foods like potato chips (crisps) and chocolate. Which is better for my blood glucose?
• I am about to introduce my baby to solids and have been advised to start with rice cereal. What is the current guidance on GI for babies and young children?
• Is there a GI Plan for nursing mothers?
  

If you have posted a question in our newsletter, be assured that the GI Group will answer this as soon as possible. We welcome your views about our articles and other reader’s suggestions. Please POST your comments on the site.

We receive a great deal of FEEDBACK from readers and visitors to our website about how a low GI diet has made a real difference to their lives along with some inspiring weight loss and blood glucose control stories. If you feel you have a SUCCESS STORY that will inspire or help others and you are prepared to give permission for it to be published in GI News, please send it to us HERE.

Want to search the GI News Archive for a particular topic, food or recipe? Make the most of our search feature with Google. Simply enter the term in the space provided and press SEARCH.

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We would like to wish all our readers a happy and HEALTHFUL NEW YEAR.

‘A side salad tossed with a vinaigrette dressing with your meal,
especially a high GI meal,
will help you keep your blood glucose levels under control.’

Jennie Brand-Miller

GI News Editor: Philippa Sandall
GI News Graphics & Web Design: Scott Dickinson

Food for Thought

Why Nutrition Changes
By Catherine Saxelby

People often ask me why we nutritionists keep changing our minds! One year, carbohydrate is wonderful, the next year it’s not. One year, fat is a no-no, the next year, it’s only saturated fat the we should worry about, the other fats are ‘good’ fats that are OK to eat and enjoy. Protein was ‘forgotten’ for some years, now it’s back and considered important for satiety and weight loss. And the same happens with foods. Eggs make a good example. They were off the acceptable list for many years due to their high cholesterol. Anyone with a high cholesterol was advised to limit them to only 2 a week. Now it’s OK to eat an egg a day if you wish. As long as you don’t drown it in butter or cream! The body regulates the cholesterol it makes in response to what you eat. But it can’t cope with the saturated fat that’s already a big problem in our daily diets.

However I rationalise and justify these paradigm shifts, there’s no doubt that nutrition changes. It evolves, it twists and turns, it often swings back to an earlier position. This is confusing for consumers but hardly surprising for a new science that is blended from biochemistry, physiology, medicine, food science and the culinary arts. As new terms and new discoveries keep popping up, there are shifts in thinking on many issues.

Just 5 years ago, we dietitians were still talking ‘simple’ and ‘complex’ carbohydrates. How naive was that thinking?! Thanks to the GI research, we now have a better understanding of what happens to foods like bread, potato, rice and pasta once we’ve ingested them. Some are fast, some are slow. It’s got nothing to do with simple or complex – it’s much more complex than that.

So should you NOT take on board the latest advice? Even though nutrition changes at the edges, the basics remain similar and I often remind people of those ‘golden rules’ or ’10 commandments’ as I like to call them. For a healthy diet:

• Aim to eat plenty of vegetables and fruit (note the order)
• Cut back on sugar
• Cut back on salt
• Choose whole grains
• Go easy on fat
• Steer clear of overly-processed and refined foods
• Aim for more fresh and home-prepared meals
• Be moderate with alcohol
• Eat a little of what you like, and (last but not least)
• Moderation in most things

Sound familiar? It’s probably your Grandma would have told you.
—Catherine Saxelby is a dietitian and author of Nutrition for Life (Hardie Grant $29.95). For regular updates on nutrition as it happens, you can join her popular Foodwatch Club at www.foodwatch.com.au


Catherine Saxelby

GI News Briefs

Tesco Tests


The results of GI testing of 140 foods commercially available in the UK for the supermarket giant Tesco are published for the first time in the British Journal of Nutrition. The testing, conducted by the Oxford Brookes team led by Prof. Jeya K. Henry, found that the majority of GI values of UK foods compared well with published values of foods in the International Table of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values (2002). However, there were a few exceptions such as fruit loaf (higher) and bran flakes (lower), highlighting the importance of testing foods in their country of consumption wherever possible. The number of ready-to-eat meals (24) in the list make this report a welcome addition to the GI database. Most of the mixed meals had a low GI. Cottage pie, shepherds pie and sausage and mash which all include plenty of mashed potato had medium GI values. In his conclusion Henry emphasises that ‘it is important to test the GI of composite meals, instead of trying to calculate the GI from GI tables.’
—British Journal of Nutrition (2005), 94, 922–930

Comment from Professor Jennie Brand-Miller: The decision making behind the common cut-offs for high and low GI (70 or higher, 55 or lower) was based on the scatter of GI values among single foods. These cut-offs are probably not appropriate for mixed meals. If the future holds more testing of composite meals, then the cut-offs need to be redefined, specifically for mixed meals, taking into account the observed range. It’s important to remember that the GI was introduced to rank the glycemic nature of the carbohydrate in individual foods. The purpose was to exchange one carbohydrate source with another in a mixed meal situation. That application remains valid and shifts the focus away from lowering glycemia at all costs (not a good idea), towards overall nutritionally balanced meals.

Getting Satisfaction
Feeling satisfied isn’t what you normally expect on a diet. Hunger is a pretty big challenge—which is why overly restrictive diets are so hard to stick to. Few of us have the long-term grit to ignore that gnawing feeling in the gut. However, more than 25 studies around the world have already confirmed that low GI foods are more filling, delay hunger pangs for longer, and/or reduce energy intake for the remainder of the day compared with their high GI counterparts.



Now a new Weight Watchers International Germany study in a real life setting led by F. Bellisle of Nutrition, Hotel-Dieu Paris adds weight to the evidence. Sixty-five women were recruited as they started the Weight Watchers points program. One group of 30 followed the regular program for 12 weeks. The other group of 35 followed a modified program, with special emphasis on low GI foods. Over the 12 weeks the researchers asked the women to rate hunger and desire to eat (they used visual analogue scales on one day per week, several times a day: before and after each meal or snack, and in between). The women in the low GI group consistently revealed a lower intensity of hunger and desire to eat, especially during the afternoon! The researchers conclude that: ‘The subjective benefits of the low glycemic index diet may be a worthwhile contribution to the motivation of dieters, even though they did not predict improvement in objective outcome measures.’
—Obesity Reviews 2005; 6 (Suppl 1)



In a more academic setting, CSIRO diet gurus Manny Noakes and Peter Clifton with J Bowen also report that the GI affects acute satiety in a small cross over study with 19 obese men. The men were given four liquid ‘breakfast’ preloads (80% energy from whey, calcium, lactose or glucose). For the next three hours subjective appetite ratings and plasma glucose, insulin, amino acids, cholecystokinin (CCK), ghrelin and gastric emptying were measured. At a buffet lunch that followed the researchers then assessed how much the men ate. They found that energy intake, appetite ratings and ghrelin were greater three hours after the high GI ‘preload’ compared with the low GI and protein preloads.
—CSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition.

What Kids Want
Thanks to vigorous low fat campaigns, many kids have been consuming more carbs and less fat in recent years. But the result hasn’t quite been what the health professionals expected. The highly processed high GI convenience foods and soft drinks has increased the glycemic load in children’s diet and can be linked to the increase in child obesity and risk of metabolic syndrome. Anette E Buyken and her colleagues at the Research Institute of Child Nutrition in Dortmund looked at the diets of healthy German school children aged 7–8 to see how much the GI and GL of diets in 2002 had changed from 1990 and 1996. They also looked at the kinds of carbs the kids were eating to see how much (if at all) they had changed.



They found that compared with 1990, the 2002 children’s diet was slightly higher in GI (56.5 vs 55.1) and GL (17.5 vs 16.7). According to Buyken ‘the most important finding is that the ‘tolerated food groups’ comprising sweets, sweetened soft drinks, cakes and cookies, and salty snacks had the largest impact on the overall dietary GL, even exceeding the impact of bread and rolls. We had expected bread and rolls, the most important carbohydrate source in Germany, to contribute the most to the dietary GL. Another interesting finding is the small impact of potatoes on the overall dietary GL in all three time periods.’ They also found that generally speaking the children in the lowest GI tertile, but not those in the lowest GL tertile, had a better dietary nutrient profile and made more favourable food choices.

She concludes that: ‘partial replacement of high-GI ‘tolerated food groups’ for foods with a low dietary GI, especially fruits and vegetables, may help to reverse the observed slight increases in the GI and GL since 1990, and to enhance the overall dietary quality in children.’
—British Journal of Nutrition (2005), 796–803

GI Values Update

What’s Cooking? And How?
Critics like to complain about the fact that the GI of a food can change with the way you cook it or prepare the food and the overall GI of a meal can vary depending on what you serve. But if they gave this a bit of thought, they would see that this is a plus (in more ways than one) and not a minus. It actually increases the number of foods we can eat and recipes we can enjoy that will keep our blood and insulin levels on an even keel. Not only that, food is more nutritious and delicious cooked and prepared the ‘low GI’ way (you haven’t boiled away all the goodness) or served with healthful ingredients that will help lower the overall GI of a meal (a jacket potato topped with baked beans, corn or chickpeas).

Let’s start with the ever-popular potato. As we said in last month’s GI News, boiled, mashed, steamed or fried, just about everybody loves potatoes. Unfortunately, a low GI variety of potato is hard to come by and it’s going to take a while for every variety of potato to be tested! The good news for potato lovers is that a potato salad made the day before, tossed with a vinaigrette dressing and kept in the fridge will have a much lower GI than potatoes served steaming hot from the pot. There are a couple of simple reasons for this. The cold storage increases the potatoes’ resistant starch content by more than a third and the acid in the vinaigrette whether you make it with lemon juice, lime juice or vinegar will slow stomach emptying. ‘That's good news about eating acidic potato salad for us genetic potato lovers (i.e., Germans),’ said one of our regular readers. ‘One of our national dishes is (what is called in English) German Potato Salad. It's made ahead of time with vinegar, carrots, garlic and bacon bits, and is available in many standard U.S. supermarkets.’ Another great ingredient to toss into a potato salad are crispy green beans just cooked al dente. But don’t go overboard, keep the portion size moderate!


photo: Scott Dickinson

What about pasta? Pasta in any shape or form has a relative low GI (30 to 60) but it needs to be cooked al dente (‘firm to the bite’). And this is the best way to eat pasta—it’s not meant to be soft. It should be slightly firm and offer some resistance when you are chewing it. Overcooking boosts the GI. Although most manufacturers specify a cooking time on the packet, don’t take their word for it. Start testing about 2–3 minutes before the indicated cooking time is up. But watch that glucose load. While al dente pasta is a low GI choice, eating too much will have a marked effect on your blood glucose. But a cup of al dente pasta combined with plenty of mixed vegetables and herbs can turn into three cups of a pasta-based meal and fits easily into any adult’s daily diet.



To lower the GI of a meal or recipe, simply add vinegar or lemon or lime juice to dressings, marinades or sauces. The effect appears to be related to the acidity, because other organic acids (such as lactic acid and propionic acid) also have a blood-glucose-lowering effect, but the degree of reduction varies with the type of acid. Essentially, the acidity in food puts the brake on stomach emptying, slowing the delivery of food to the small intestine. Digestion of the carbohydrate in the food is therefore slowed and the final result is that blood-glucose levels are significantly lower. And as we reported last month, Swedish researchers have found that vinegar may also help dieters eat less and reduce cravings brought on by sugar spikes after meals. The more vinegar consumed (up to 2–3 tablespoons before a meal), the more satisfied people felt.

Low GI Food of the Month

Pulses (Legumes) Help Fight Diabetes
By Rosie Schwartz
Using your bean is definitely one of the smartest nutritional moves you can make. In the battle against diabetes, pulses (beans, chickpeas and lentils) appear to offer a wide range of weapons. Firstly, because of their effects on weight control, they provide a front line defence. Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is one of the major strategies in halting the epidemic of diabetes. Increasing body weights and sedentary living are partnering to drive up the odds of developing diabetes in all age groups.


Rosie Schwartz

Adding pulses to the menu may not only reduce the risk of diabetes due to their effects on girth control, but they also work against the disease in other ways. The type of fibre as well as the starch they contain leads to a slow rate of digestion and therefore more gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin readings, making them a boon for both diabetes prevention and blood sugar control in those who have the disease. While eating bean quotas may help those with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar readings without taking medication, research shows that for those with type 1 or insulin-dependent diabetes, consuming pulses may lessen the amount of insulin required to control blood sugar levels. This slow rise in blood sugar gives pulses the distinction of being a low GI food.

Yet even though many people are aware of the health perks of consuming pulses, they're not what you would call a regular visitor at the dinner table in most homes. Here are some tips for palate-pleasing pulses, keeping in mind that they partner wonderfully with seasonings from every cuisine and can be part of any course of any meal.

• Pureed pulses, seasoned with a variety of herbs and spices, make for wonderful dips and spreads. Keep cans of chickpeas or beans on hand for a snack in a flash. Rinse and drain them and give them a whirl in the food processor with cumin, garlic, tahina (sesame seed paste) or olive oil and lemon juice for a speedy hummus or bean dip for vegetables.
• Add pulses to pasta sauces for a change of pace. And for youngsters, or even adults who aren't yet fans of beans or lentils, puree a small amount with some of the sauce and then add the mixture back into the entire sauce. Over time, as tastes adjust, puree smaller quantities of the pulses, keeping them intact.
• Add pulses to homemade or prepared vegetable soups before serving. Simmer for at least a few minutes.
• Add white or red kidney beans or chickpeas to a mixed salad or toss with tuna, sliced red onion and tomatoes and an olive oil and vinegar dressing for a taste of the Mediterranean.

—Source: National Post (www.nationalpost.com). Reproduced with permission of the author and the National Post.



Rosie Schwartz is a Toronto-based consulting dietitian in private practice and is author of The Enlightened Eater's Whole Foods Guide: Harvest the Power of Phyto Foods (Viking Canada).

Low GI Recipe of the Month

Fresh Plum and Ricotta Strudel
Plums and other blue-red fruit such as cherries, blueberries and cranberries, are rich in a particular type of antioxidants known as anthocyanins. Here’s a low-fat version of the strudel Catherine Saxelby makes using plums instead of apples. From Eating for the Healthy Heart and also reproduced in The Low GI Diet Cookbook.


Photo: Ian Hofstetter, The Low GI Diet Cookbook

Serves 6
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

30 g (1 oz) monounsaturated or polyunsaturated margarine
½ cup (40 g) fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs (about 3 slices)
1/3 cup (80 g) brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
425 g (15 oz) can plums, drained well (or 6 fresh plums about 250 g/9 0z)
6 sheets filo pastry
olive oil spray
125 g (4½ oz) reduced fat ricotta cheese

1. Melt the margarine in saucepan over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and sugar (reserving 2 teaspoons of sugar) and cook for 15 minutes stirring well to break up any lumps. Remove from heat. Stir in the cinnamon. Allow to cool.
2. Halve the plums, removing stones and slice the flesh thinly.
3. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Lightly grease a baking tray. Lay two sheets of filo pastry on top of one another spraying the upper most sheet with oil. Sprinkle with one-third of the crumb mixture and top with two more sheets. Spray top layer with oil and add another one-third of the crumb mixture. Top with the remaining two sheets and sprinkle with final third of the crumbs.
4. Spread ricotta along edge of pastry. Arrange plums on top of ricotta. Sprinkle with reserved 2 teaspoons of sugar. Roll up pastry as for a Swiss roll, tucking in the edges. Transfer to a lightly oiled baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to moderate (180°C/350°F) and bake a further 20 minutes until crisp and brown. Serve warm with low-fat vanilla ice cream

Per serving
Low GI, kilojoules 865/calories 205, fat 6 g (saturated 2 g), protein 5 g, carbohydrate 30 g, fibre 3 g, sodium 260 mg

Your Success Stories

Sarah
‘I want to share with you about how applying the “GI factor” to what I eat has changed my life! I was always slim until I reached about 15, then over a period of three years I put on more and more weight. I do not really know why this was, maybe pressure from school, personal problems. When I started university, I became conscious of my weight and attempted to lose weight through various means and methods for about 5 years. Sometimes, it was a planned diet such as the ‘Greenlane’ eating plan, but more often than not it was trying to control or lessen the amount of kilojoules (calories) I was taking in and increasing my exercise. Seems, sensible, but in hindsight I can see that following the traditional ‘food pyramid’ I was eating a lot of low calorie but high GI products. For example, I would have one salad sandwich or bread roll for lunch and then a muffin for afternoon tea, toasted bread for breakfast etc. Sometimes, I did manage to lose quite a bit of weight but then I would ALWAYS yoyo back up to my original weight or more. Everyday, I battled with the scales and it almost became and obsession, I could not figure out where I was going wrong. Also—I was always hungry! I associated diets with being hungry.'

'Anyway, after doing Atkins (successfully losing weight but then putting it back on) a friend recommended the GI book. I read it and started applying the principles (e.g. I ate Bran cereal instead of white bread in the morning, pasta instead of a sandwich, fruit for a snack instead of a muffin). Slowly, but surely (and with a bit of exercise) the weight fell off to the point where I lost more than 10 kg—and got down to about 52 kg (I am short). Even better, I was not suffering from the same energy drain, constant hunger etc. Now, sometimes I eat—just because it is dinnertime—but not because I am hungry! My self esteem has picked up as a result etc. too. I bought a GI cookbook and have tried out a few recipes. The best thing is, this is not a fad but a way of eating that I will always stick too.’

Felix
‘Well, my story goes a bit like this. Back in late 2003, at age 41, although my general health appeared OK, I began to notice that my weight was inexplicably starting to drop, and I was starting to drink a lot of water and felt the need to urinate quite a lot. By early 2004 things had worsened considerably. Basically I began to feel very unwell. Dizzy, extreme lethargy, blurry vision and the weight loss continued. Although I realised that something was clearly wrong with my health and yes I was worried, I was extremely reluctant to visit my GP! In the end, urged by family, I did and the blood tests that followed showed a very high blood sugar level of 23. Yes I was diabetic Type 2.’

‘It was all rather a shock, and I was immediately placed on the usual diabetic medication, and I began to learn all about type 2 diabetes in the hope of managing my condition. Not long after, a Ham Radio friend, (thank you Ron), told me about the ‘GI’. I had vaguely heard of the term, but knew nothing really about it. Searching around on the net I found this excellent web site and my knowledge of the GI began to grow. I went out and bought some of the books and began eating in accordance with low GI principles. It has been a most interesting road of discovery ever since. During my growing up years, my mother, although well intentioned, had been feeding us some of the worst possible foods in terms of high GI, things like plenty of white bread, white rice potatoes and these were essentially the staples of our diet. And yes at first sight, they are nutritious foods.’

‘In retrospect, it is now obvious to me that I was borderline diabetic for some years prior to being officially diagnosed. Looking back now I realise I had all the symptoms. Back to early 2004, my initial success with low GI eating was quite spectacular. My blood sugar levels were rapidly brought back until control, to the point where I was able to give the medication away completely by mid 2004. I preached the low GI message wherever I went. I even did a well received radio studio interview on ABC radio in Townsville preaching the virtues of low GI eating only a month or so after commencing to eat the ‘low GI’ way. The best thing was that I had never felt better.’

‘Perhaps the one thing that clearly shows the value of low GI eating, is the fact that prior to official diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, I had already begun a regular exercise program, mainly walking, in the hope of improving my general fitness. However that didn't prevent the appearance of type 2 diabetes with all the worst symptoms! I still do the same kind of regular exercise, the only thing different now is strict adherence to low GI eating! Need I say more? My mother is a convert to GI eating and likewise, she has seen clear health benefits. My father, well, he still likes his refined white bread, but he mostly eats the ‘right stuff’ in terms of low GI.’

‘For me anyway, the road to good diabetes control and good health has been quite an adventure, and admittedly there have been some low points where I've done the wrong thing and paid the price, but as long as I do the ‘right thing’, all is fine. In all honesty, it isn't that hard to stick to the ‘straight and narrow’. Temptation is always there. But all I have to do, is remember what happens when I do the ‘wrong thing’ (extreme dizziness, confusion, hallucinations and being basically feeling very ill), and the temptation simply disappears, and they are just the short term effects of a very rapid blood sugar rise! My only regret to all this is the fact that I didn't know about the GI twenty years ago! Still, I can say that despite the effects of time, I can say without any doubt at all, that my general health now is better than it's ever been, thanks to low GI eating. Long may it continue.’

Books, DVDs, Websites: What’s New?

Nutrition for Life
Catherine Saxelby

Want to know more about our food, food habits and nutrition? Then Nutrition for Life is for you. Catherine Saxelby has that very rare talent of being able to explain complex information in simple, consumer friendly terms. She is one of Australia’s most trusted nutritionists and food commentators who understands the demands of today’s busy world when it comes to food choices, shopping, meal preparation and eating out. First published in 1986, Nutrition for Life was an instant success. Over a quarter of a million copies later, this new edition has been fully revised and updated to reflect current thinking.



Find out about super foods; probiotics; weight and body shape; vitamins and supplements; special diets for health problems such as IBS, insomnia, diabetes, cholesterol, arthritis and coeliac disease; additives and food labels, and many of today’s most hotly debated topics such as:

• GI
• the obesity epidemic
• genetic modification
• food ‘scares’ such as mercury in fish
• increases in food allergies
• organic foods

Also included is the ever-popular Nutrition Glossary of over 200 terms.
‘Twenty years on, Nutrition for Life is as essential today as it was back in 1986.’
—Peter Williams, Senior Lecturer, Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Wollongong
Published by Hardie Grant Books
RRP $29.95

The Low GI Diet Cookbook is now available in the US and Canada at all good bookstores or online at Amazon.



Low GI Eating Made Easy now available in the UK at all leading bookstores and online at Amazon.

Feedback—Your FAQs Answered

‘I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I am trying to eat a healthy low GI diet, but find it hard to say no to occasional treat foods like crisps and chocolate. Which is better for my blood glucose?’



Most people with diabetes would see the chocolate bar as taboo, but by measuring the blood glucose rise after different foods scientists have proved this to be unfounded. Potato crisps and chocolate have an almost identical effect on blood glucose. Why? The carbohydrate in chocolate is sucrose, which is 50 per cent fructose (which has little effect on blood glucose levels) and 50 per cent glucose (high GI), giving it a medium GI overall. In potato crisps the carbohydrate is cooked (swollen) starch, which is readily digested to yield 100 per cent glucose molecules. So fully cooked starch will have twice the impact on blood glucose levels as the same quantity of sugar.

‘I have been following a low GI diet for years to combat hypoglycemia and I've been very happy with the results (more even energy levels, easy weight maintenance). I am about to introduce my baby to solids and have been advised to start with rice cereal. I worry about giving Baby rice cereal as her first food especially since I (and most of my family) are so GI sensitive. What is the current guidance on GI for babies and young children?’



In The New Glucose Revolution Guide to Healthy Kids, Dr Heather Gilbertson, a specialist dietitian educator with many years experience in management with children with diabetes says:

‘The aim of anyone involved in feeding kids is a happy healthy child and a diet that lays the foundation for a healthy future. There are many nourishing foods with a low GI that are suitable for any age beyond infancy. By incorporating more low GI foods as part of a well balanced diet for children along with encouraging regular physical activity you are laying the groundwork for a long and healthy life. In terms of nutrition, children are not simply little adults. One big difference is that they are growing all the time (from birth to puberty, for example, a child’s skeleton increases sevenfold!). At different ages children have very specific energy and nutrient needs. High fibre diets, which are bulky and filling, and very low fat diets are not suitable for young children because they make it too difficult for them to eat enough food to meet their energy and nutrient needs. The current Australian dietary guidelines (which are similar to such guidelines for children around the world) include the following points:

• Encouraging breastfeeding
• Offering children a wide variety of nutritious foods to eat especially foods containing calcium and iron
• Giving children plenty of breads, cereals, vegetables (including legumes) to eat
• Aiming to include only a moderate amount of sugars or foods containing added sugars in children’s diets

However, infants have special needs. Occasionally, some infants are born with an endocrine disorder which causes problems with hypoglycemia (low blood glucose level). This is when the blood glucose levels often fall below the normal level and needs to be monitored and managed carefully.

Dr Gilbertson told GI News ‘Introduction of rice cereal for infants with hypoglycemia should not cause any problems. I would generally recommend mixing it with expressed breast milk to modify the GI effect. Rice cereal is an important introductory food for babies as it is iron fortified. Infants need additional iron intake at six months of age to meet their requirements. The main key to management of infant hypoglycemia is to ensure the baby has a regular intake of carbohydrate throughout the day (frequent feeds/meals and snacks) and avoids long periods of fast. Foods high in added or natural sugars (fruit juices) should also be avoided as these may aggravate the hypoglycemia. Deliberately avoiding or limiting the carbohydrate-containing foods will also cause the blood glucose levels to drop low in an infant with a diagnosed hypoglycemic disorder. Mum also needs to encourage baby to try a wide range of tastes and textures of the fruit and vegetable variety (focusing on either low GI or combination of low with high to modify the effect). As the child gets older, Mum can introduce the dairy foods that of course all have a low GI and other breads and cereals. Any parent who has a child with a hypoglycaemic endocrine disorder should seek out individual professional nutritional advice from their local pediatric dietitian or contact their local APD (Accredited Practicing Dietitian) (www.daa.asn.au)'.

‘Is there a GI Plan for nursing mothers?’



We thought that GI Group member, Joanna McMillan-Price, co-author of The Low GI Diet and The Low GI Diet Cookbook, and a new Mum breastfeeding and trying to get back into shape would be the best person to answer this.

‘A low GI diet is ideal for while you are breastfeeding,’ says Joanna. ‘Breastfeeding requires a lot of energy and theoretically this additional energy comes from the body fat we laid down during pregnancy. Of course in reality it doesn't all get used up and most of us have to make a concerted effort to work off the baby weight. To do this though it is important that you don't go on a low calorie diet or any sort of extreme measure such as the low carb diets popular in the press. Since breastfeeding tends to increase your appetite (the body's way of ensuring you have the energy required to produce milk) this is good news as staying on such a diet would be a nightmare! This is what makes the low GI approach so successful—forget about trying to count calories or even your portions of food. First and for most focus on the sorts of foods you are eating. Low GI foods are the wholegrains, fresh fruit and vegetables and legumes. By eating these foods as the mainstay of your meals you can trust your appetite and eat to satisfaction while you are breastfeeding. Also get back to some exercise—even if it’s just a daily walk with the pram. You should then find that the weight slowly starts to shift—realistically give yourself at least that first six months to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight.’

© ® & ™ The University of Sydney, Australia

GI News—December 2005

In This Issue:

• Energy to Burn for the Festive Season
• Children’s Growth Rate May Predict Future Problems
• You Can Enjoy a Pre-dinner Drink
  
• Potato Salad Anyone?
• A Matter of Endurance
• Vegans Lost Weight without Feeling Hungry

• Snack Bars
• Pears
• Garlic Prawns, Red Capsicum and Coriander (Cilantro) Pasta
  
  
• Susie, ‘43, but feeling like 29!’
• 2006 Shopper’s Guide to GI Values
• We use a lot sprouted breads and cannot find them in your database or books. Can you give us some information on how or if this affects GI numbers?
• Create an RSS News Feed for GI News

NEW FEATURE—YOUR SUCCESS STORIES: We receive a great deal of feedback from readers and visitors to our website about how a low GI diet has made a real difference to their lives along with some inspiring weight loss and blood glucose control stories. So, this month we are introducing a new feature: ‘Your Success Stories’ to share these stories with you. Each month from now on we will run one ‘success’ story in GI News. The stories will then be archived at glycemicindex.com for ready reference. If you feel you have a story that will inspire or help others and you are prepared to give permission for it to be published in GI News, please send it to us HERE with your name and a contact email address. We would like to thank Susie for volunteering to be our first contributor.

Your QUESTIONS answered. If you have posted a question in our newsletter, be assured that the GI Group will answer this as soon as possible. We welcome views about our articles and readers’ suggestions.

To PRINT ONE ARTICLE (ie. the recipe from the newsletter), simply click on the recipe or article name in the right-hand column under PREVIOUS POSTS. You will arrive at the page you have chosen. Select PRINT and you will find that you can print just the information you want.

To receive our FREE e-newsletter each month, click the SUBSCRIBE link in the right-hand column and send us an email. Your email address will be kept strictly confidential and you can unsubscribe at any time.

‘Aim for at least one smart low GI carb per meal.’

Jennie Brand-Miller

Food for Thought

Energy to Burn for the Festive Season
For the right fuel, fitness and stamina to make it through the non-stop demands of the festive season, try these energy-boosting tips.

Make breakfast a priority Fire up your engine with low GI carbs. A good breakfast recharges your brain, speeds up your metabolism after an overnight fast, and reduces those feelings of stress.

Don't skip meals Take a break to refuel at lunch time to maintain energy levels right through the afternoon. Hold back on the high GI carbs to minimise that post-lunch energy dip. And take time over one main meal every day to make sure you aren’t missing out on the vital vegetables you need.

Build your meals around low GI carbs For day-long (and night-long) energy, fuel your body with low GI carbs. Whether it’s a home-cooked meal or you are eating out, pick the 1, 2, 3 meal planner:
1. Start with a low GI carb
2. Add some lean protein
3. Plus a generous serving of vegetables



Pace yourself Eating and drinking in moderation will help you pace yourself on the social merry-go-round. If you are planning a big night out, don’t starve yourself beforehand. All that does is reduce your metabolic rate. Have a light breakfast and lunch, and before you head off to the party tuck into a quick and easy low GI snack such as a sandwich made with grainy bread and a glass of low fat milk or a tub of low-fat yoghurt and a dollop of fruit.

Be discerning with drinks Make water your first choice. Ask for some routinely, chances are you’ll drink it if it’s in front of you. Go easy on the sugary drinks (they tend to bypass satiety mechanisms) and drink no more than one to three glasses of alcohol.

Move it Cut stress in its tracks. Exercise helps to relieve stress (it releases the ‘feel good’ chemicals that negate energy and stress) and keeps your body strong. Get on your bike or into your joggers and get that heart rate pumping for at least 20 minutes a day.

Sleep tight Sleep sustains you when you are out and about night after night. Get seven or eight hours of sleep a night if you can. Plan for it. Make a date with yourself in your diary to catch up on some sleep.

GI News Briefs

Children’s Growth Rate May Predict Future Problems
Rapid weight gain after two years of age may be creating insulin resistant adults according to a study by Prof David Barker and his colleagues from Oregon Health and Science University (US), and the University of Southampton (UK) reported in the 27 October 2005 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. ‘Our research shows that it is the rate of weight gain, not the degree of fatness at any one time, which is the main predictor of future problems,’ said Barker. According to Barker, slow early development and under-nutrition in the womb may program a ‘thrifty’ metabolism, which includes insulin resistance that becomes inappropriate with adequate or excess nutrition in childhood.

The researchers looked at detailed height and weight records for 8,760 people who were born in Finland between 1934 and 1944. The group’s growth had been closely tracked from birth to age 11. When the researchers then checked out hospital records, they found that 357 men, and 87 women from the group had been treated for or died from coronary heart disease. On average, those who had a coronary event had been small babies and tiny two-year-olds and thereafter put on weight rapidly to catch up to the average size of their age group by 11. The risk of coronary events was more strongly related to the rate (tempo) of childhood gain in body mass index (BMI) than to the BMI attained at any particular age. The researchers worked closely with Prof Johan Eriksson in Finland whose team examined 2003 of the group alive today, checking their glucose, insulin and cholesterol levels. The smallest babies and 2-year-olds tended to have higher blood pressure and levels of fasting blood sugar and insulin as adults.

The researchers say that the findings are likely a result of the impact of early weight gain on long-term insulin processing. Barker thinks the risk from this change in size is connected to body composition. ‘All children gain muscle as they grow. But a child's ratio of muscle to body weight is largely set by age two, barring serious exercise,’ he said. ‘So small children who catch up to average weight adding fat, ending up with a higher fat-to-muscle ratio that predisposes to diabetes and heart vessel disease.’
—New England Journal of Medicine 2005;353:1802–9

You Can Enjoy a Pre-dinner Drink
Many studies have linked moderate alcohol consumption (that’s 1, 2 or 3 drinks a day, depending on your gender and weight) with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The question is ‘why’? Clinical trials have shown that alcoholic beverages, irrespective of type, increase your HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol levels as well as improve insulin sensitivity. There may be other mechanisms operating according to a paper presented at Nutrition Society of Australia. Researchers Kaniz Fatima and Chris Middlemiss from the School of Human Nutrition at the University of Sydney found that a pre-dinner drink (beer, wine and gin were used in the study) tends to reduce the blood-sugar response to the next meal. In three separate studies, 38 healthy, young, lean people drank two standard glasses of beer, or wine, or gin and tonic or water about an hour before eating then their blood glucose and insulin levels were measured. The researchers found the alcohol seemed to produce a ‘priming’ effect, kicking off the metabolism process and keeping blood-sugar levels low. ‘Realistic amounts of beer, wine or gin reduce postprandial glycemia but not insulinemia’ say the researchers in their conclusion. ‘This effect applies to drinks consumed alone in lieu of a starchy snack, or simultaneously with a meal, or as a pre-dinner cocktail.’
—Nutrition Society of Australia, November 2005



Potato Salad Anyone?
Boiled, mashed, steamed or fried, just about everybody loves potatoes. Unfortunately, a low GI variety of potato is hard to come by. The good news for potato lovers is that a potato salad made the day before with a vinegary vinaigrette dressing and kept in the fridge can lower the GI. Margareta Leeman and her colleagues at the University of Lund in Sweden in their report in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition say that compared with freshly boiled potatoes, the GI of boiled cold-stored potatoes with vinaigrette, were reduced by 43 per cent. For the study, 13 healthy volunteers tucked into freshly boiled potatoes; boiled and cold-stored potatoes (8o°C for 24 hours); and boiled and cold-stored potatoes tossed in a vinaigrette dressing. (The dressing was made with 8 grams of olive oil and 28 grams of white vinegar at 6 per cent acetic acid.) All meals contained 50 grams available carbohydrate and were served at breakfast time after an overnight fast. Cold storage increased the potatoes’ resistant starch content from 3.3 to 5.2 per cent.
—European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, (2005) 59, 1266–1271



A Matter of Endurance
Athletes commonly consume high carb foods or drinks after exercise to replace their muscle glycogen stores as rapidly as possible—especially when they are training and competing on consecutive days. Dr Emma Stevenson and the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Research Group at Loughborough University compared the effects of high and low GI carbohydrate recovery diets in the 24 hours following prolonged heavy exercise. Nine active male athletes took part in two trials. On the first day they ran for 90 minutes at 70% VO2 max and then ate either a high or low GI recovery meal which provided them with 8 grams of carbohydrate per body mass. The next day after an overnight fast they ran to exhaustion. ‘The results of the present study show the consumption of a low GI diet in the 24 hours following prolonged running increased endurance capacity the next day beyond that which was achieved following the consumption of a high GI carbohydrate recovery diet. A higher rate of fat oxidation throughout the run to exhaustion in the low GI trial is a possible explanation for this increased endurance capacity,’ concludes the research team. Stevenson told GI News: ‘When the recovery period between exercise sessions is a day or more, low GI carbs may be just as effective for optimal recovery as high GI carbs and they will also promote the burning of fat as fuel as you exercise.’
— International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2005, 15, 333–349



Vegans Lost Weight without Feeling Hungry
A high carb, low fat, vegan diet with no limit on portion size proved as effective as a 1200 cal a day reduced energy diet according to a study reported in the September issue of The American Journal of Medicine. Dr Neal Barnard, President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine with colleagues from Georgetown University Hospital and George Washington University conducted the study involving 59 overweight, postmenopausal women. ‘The study participants enjoyed unlimited servings of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and other healthful foods that enabled them to lose weight without ever feeling hungry,’ said Barnard. Animal products, added oils, avocados, nuts, nut butters and seeds were proscribed. The control group’s diet was based on (US) National Cholesterol Program guidelines. During the 14-week study, there were no limits on portion sizes and the women were asked not to alter their normal exercise patterns. They were given detailed nutrition guidelines for preparing their own meals or eating out and they attended weekly hour-long meetings with a physician and dietitian that included cooking instruction. ‘The low-fat, vegan diet was associated with significant weight reduction along with improvements in measure of glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity … longer-term trials will determine the sustainability of the intervention diet’ concludes the report. For a copy of the paper, contact jeannem@pcrm.org
—The American Journal of Medicine

GI Group says: Competition is fierce in the race between the advocates of high protein versus vegetarian diets for weight loss. It’s clear that there’s more than one good diet. Humans can derive food energy in multiple ways and still be healthy specimens. The trick is to find a healthy diet that you can live with over the long term. For some, that will be high in lean animal proteins, for others it will be high in plant foods. Either way, low GI carbs are the way to go.

GI Values Update

Snack Bars
Healthy snack bars can be convenient and portable snacks for children (think lunch boxes or sport) and adults alike. And they definitely suit today’s busy, time-pressed, eating-on-the-go/in-the-car lifestyle. So, which one to choose? It pays to be fussy and check the nutrition panel as some are very high in fat. To give you an idea what to look for when choosing a snack bar, here’s the GI Symbol Program criteria:
FAT: less than total fat 5 grams per 100g or 5–10 grams per 100 grams if saturated fat is less than 20 per cent of the total fat
SODIUM: less than 400 mg per 100 grams
DIETARY FIBRE: more than 3 grams per 100 grams
CARBOHYDRATE: 35 grams per serve
ENERGY: less than 1500 kJ/357 Cal per 100 grams or les than 500 kJ/119 Cal per serve

Here are some products we know have a low GI that you can find on your supermarket shelves.

In Australia
Sunripe School straps are 100 per cent dried fruit bars
Sunripe School Straps Strawberry GI 40
Sunripe School Straps Wildberry GI 40
Sunripe School Straps Go Fruits GI 40
Sunripe School Straps Blackcurrant Sour Buzz GI 35

In Canada and USA
Solo GI Nutrition bars are specially formulated low GI snack bars. For more information, check out www.solo-gi.com
Solo GI Nutrition Chocolate charger Nutrition Bar GI 28
Solo GI Nutrition Berry Bliss Bar GI 22
Solo GI Nutrition Peanut Power Nutrition Bar GI 27
Solo GI Nutrition Mint Mania Nutrition Bar GI 23

For more details on snack bars, check out the database at www.glycemicindex.com or The New Glucose Revolution 2006 Shopper’s Guide to GI Values.

Granola Bars
For something seriously sustaining, try these low GI granola bars. The recipe is from The New Glucose Revolution.



Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 14–20 minutes
Makes 12 bars

½ cup (75 g) wholemeal (whole-wheat) flour
½ cup (75 g) self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1½ cups (135 g) rolled oats
1 cup (150 g) dried-fruit medley or dried fruit of choice, chopped
¼ cup (35 g) sunflower seed kernels
½ cup (125 ml) apple juice
¼ cup (60 ml) oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 egg whites, lightly beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F)
2. Line a 20 cm x 30 cm (8 in x 2in) baking pan with parchment paper.
3. Sift the flours, baking powder, and spices into a large bowl. Stir in the oats, fruit, and seeds and stir to combine.
4. Add the apple juice, oil, and whole egg; mix well. Gently mix in the egg whites until combined.
5. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan and press firmly with the back of a spoon. Mark the surface into 12 bars using a sharp knife.
6. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
7. Leave to cool in the pan then cut into bars and store in a sealed cookie container.

Per bar
KJ/Cal 590/140, carbohydrate15 g, fat 8 g, fibre 3 g

Low GI Food of the Month

… And a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Juicy, sweet pears (GI 38) are one of the world’s most loved fruits—they’ve been immortalised in poetry, paintings and a Christmas carol! They are renowned as a non-allergenic food, thus a favourite when introducing babies to solid foods. An excellent source of fibre and rich in vitamin C and potassium, fresh pears have a low GI because most of their sugar is fructose.


Photo: Ian Hofstetter, The Low GI Diet Cookbook

Canned pears in ‘natural juice’ also have a low GI (44) because the fructose remains in high concentration during processing. Single-serve tubs and cans are also available. Again, look for those in natural juice. Although they are often hard when you buy them, pears will ripen at room temperature in a few days. Pack a pear for lunch or to snack on during the day—there’s no need to peel as the skin is a good source of fibre.

• Dip pear slices in lemon juice and serve with cheese and walnuts.
• Toss in salads—try pear, avocado, rocket or radicchio and walnuts.
• Poach or bake pears in a light citrus syrup, champagne and orange juice with a vanilla bean or in red wine with a touch of cardamom.
• Simmer four pears, peeled and quartered in 4 cups (1 litre/1 quart) water with a cinnamon stick, 3 or 4 cloves and a strip or two of lemon rind for 20 minutes and serve with grilled, bakes or barbecued pork fillet.
• Top a bowl of porridge with grilled pear slices and a drizzle of honey or some brown sugar.

—from Low GI Eating Made Easy

Low GI Recipe of the Month

Garlic Prawns, Red Capsicum and Coriander (Cilantro) Pasta
Lisa Lintner’s delicious recipe is a real crowd pleaser when entertaining family and friends—and it is a good source of omega-3 fats.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 8 minutes plus 10 minutes to marinate the prawns
Cooking time: 11 minutes

250 g/12 oz spinach fettuccine
500 g/1 lb green king prawns (giant tiger prawns), shelled and deveined (leaving heads and tails on if desired)
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1⁄4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large red or yellow peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
1⁄2 bunch fresh coriander (cilantro), coarsely chopped

1. Heat a large pot of salted water.
2. Preheat the grill to moderately high.
3. Toss the prawns with the sliced garlic and olive oil in a large bowl, and marinate for 10 minutes.
4. When water boils, add the pasta and cooked uncovered for about 11 minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. Grill the marinated prawns for 2 minutes, coating them with the marinade, until cooked.
6. Grind salt and freshly ground black pepper over the prawns.
7. Drain the pasta and toss in 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
8. On a large serving platter combine the pasta, prawns, capsicum (pepper) strips and chopped coriander (cilantro).
9. Serve hot with crusty low GI bread.

Per serving
kJ/Cal 1367/326 , protein 23 g, fat 11 g, carbohydrate 44 g, fibre 3 g


Photo: Jennifer Soo, The New Glucose Revolution Life Plan

The recipes for The New Glucose Revolution Life Plan were specially created by Lisa Lintner who runs the Lisa Lintner Cooking School in Sydney (Australia)—specialising in creating low GI recipes with seasonal and locally sourced produce. The classes incorporate practical skills with tips for including low GI foods daily. Contact Lisa on 0412 800 880 or at lisalintner@bigpond.com for class programs and individual coaching.

The New Glucose Revolution Life Plan is published in:
Australia: Hachette Livre Australia (www.hachette.com.au/ngr.html)
New Zealand: (Hachette Livre New Zealand)
UK: Hodder Mobius
USA and Canada: Marlowe & Company

What's New?

Your Success Stories
Susie ‘43, but feeling like 29 now!’
June 2005: ‘I'd like to let you know that I purchased The Low GI Diet book three months ago, because I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. I didn't know where to start or how to begin to plan my meals. With the help of your fabulous book I have managed to lose 1 stone (14 lb/6.3 kg) in weight. And of course the book has taken a lot of thinking out of planning meals. My husband also thinks its great and loves the recipes.’
October 2005: ‘I thought I'd give you an update as I emailed you in June, just to let know that I have now lost a total of 4 stone (56 lb/25.4 kg) in weight and am feeling so much better for it. I am at my target weight and have been for about two months now.'
November 2005: ‘I don't mind at all being your first true story, people like me needed a book like yours and it works. I did not feel like I was on a “diet” as such because I felt as though I was always eating. It took a bit of getting use to at first because I'm not a veggie person at all, but found using Balsamic vinegar with salads helped. And I did cheat with main meals by having gravy as I don't like dry food or veggies but I ate them. I guess if I had religiously stuck to the book I would probably be down to 9–9½ stone (126–133 lb/56.7–60 kg). But my weight has gone from nearly 14½ stone (203 lb/92 kg) to 10 stone (140 lb/63 kg). And I feel you needed to be told that your book worked for me. The other thing is I did do more exercise than the book said.’



Books, DVDs, Websites: What’s New?
Shopper’s Guide to GI Values 2006
This handy shopper’s guide to the GI values of around 600 foods will help you put those low GI food choices into your shopping trolley and onto your plate. To make an absolutely fair comparison, all foods included in the guide have been tested following an internationally standardised method. However, the authors remind readers that the GI is just one tool in the toolbox and should not be used in isolation. The overall nutritional value of the food needs to be considered, too. The authors remind readers that not all low GI foods are a good choice; some are too high in saturated fat and sodium for everyday eating. Foods that are high in saturated fat, for example are indicated.

The authors recommend that you use the GI tables to:

• identify the best carbohydrate choices
• find the GI of your favourite foods
• compare carb-rich foods within a category (two types of bread or breakfast cereal for example)
• improve your diet by finding a low GI substitute for high GI foods
• put together a low GI meal
• help you calculate the GL of a meal or serving if it is more or less than our specified nominal portion size

To give you the full picture of the glycemic impact of foods, the tables also include the glycemic load (GL) of average sized portions. Glycemic load is the product of GI and the amount of carbohydrate in a serving of food. Use the GL tables to find foods with a high GI but low carbohydrate content per serving. Remember: the GL values listed in the tables are ONLY for the specified nominal portion size. If you eat more (or less) of that food you will need to calculate another GL value.

If you can’t find the GI value for a food you regularly eat, the authors suggest that you check out www.glycemicindex.com—an international database of the latest published GI values that have been tested by a reliable laboratory. Alternatively, contact the manufacturer and encourage them to have the food tested by an accredited laboratory or to publish the values of their products.



The Shopper’s Guide to GI Values is published in:
Australia: Hachette Livre Australia (www.hachette.com.au/ngr.html)
New Zealand: (Hachette Livre New Zealand)
USA and Canada: Marlowe & Company (in store January 2006)

CORRECTION
Catherine Saxelby’s healthy eating and nutrition website is www.foodwatch.com.au

Feedback—Your FAQs Answered

We use a lot sprouted breads and cannot find them in your database or books. Can you give us some information on how or if this affects GI numbers?

The only sprouted bread we can find that has been GI tested is Silver Hills Bakery’s Balanced bread (GI ±57) that was tested by Glycemic Index Laboratories in Toronto. Ron Donatelli who is involved in research and development at Silver Hills Bakery says: ‘We don’t used refined flour. With sprouted grain breads the entire grain is used making it a true “Whole Food” rather than refined flour where most all of the bran, germ and endosperm is stripped away for shelf life and stability. At Silver Hills Bakery we sprout the whole organic grain and mash it up in its entirety.’ Ron says that the bread is ‘soon to be available in the Pacific Northwest in most major grocery chains.' Check their website for details: www.silverhillsbakery.com
‘Bread made from sprouted grains might well have a lower blood-glucose raising ability than bread made from normal flour’ says Jennie Brand-Miller and her co-authors in What Makes My Blood Glucose Go Up and Down? ‘Why’s that? When grains begin to sprout, carbohydrates stored in the grain are used as the fuel source for the new shoot. Chances are that the more readily available carbs stored in the wheat grain will be used up first, thereby reducing the amount of carbs in the final product. Furthermore, if the whole kernel form of the wheat grain is retained in the finished product, it will have the desired effect of lowering the blood glucose level. Physically limiting access of digestive enzymes to the starchy endosperm helps to reduce the rate of starch digestion.’
(Source: What Makes My Blood Glucose Go Up and Down?
USA: Marlowe & Company; UK: Vermilion; Taiwan: The Eurasian Publishing Group; Australia/New Zealand: Hachette Livre Australia)

Create an RSS News Feed for GI News
For those of you using Firefox [http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/start/] for your web browsing, there is a fantastic and free extension that can be added to the browser for creating easy access to what is known as ‘Really Simple Syndication’ or an RSS feed for short. RSS is a web standard for the delivery of news and other frequently updated content provided by websites. The extension that we recommend is called ‘Sage’. Sage not only gives you fast access to updates from our GI Newsletter as they occur on the first of every month but any of your favourite sites that support RSS can be added too. What’s more, Sage presents a summary of the new information in your browser window graphically.

To get started, you’ll need to download and install Sage [http://sage.mozdev.org/install/] while using Firefox. Once installed, quit Firefox and then restart to activate Sage. In the Tools menu, select Sage or just use the key-command Alt-S. A new Sage tab and column will appear on the left side of the browser window. Right-click in the top left frame and select New Bookmark. Give it a name (GI Newsletter for example) in the Name field and then paste the following address into the Location field:

http://feed.ginews.blogspot.com/atom.xml

That’s it! Now click on the new entry you created and a whole list of GI news entries will be generated in the lower left window frame. If you click on any of these entries, the corresponding story will appear in your browser window. Sage will automatically keep the list updated as new stories appear from GI News and any of your other favourite news sites.

Note: users of Mac OS 10.4 already have a similar feature built into the Safari web browser. Click on the blue RSS button in the right-hand side of the address bar when you are on the GI news site.

© ® & ™ The University of Sydney, Australia