Food for Thought

Should you be eating that, it’s full of sugar? 
Last month one of our readers (a self confessed, long-time follower of the Montignac diet) was outraged that we had published a recipe that included sugar (by which she specifically means sucrose). Montignac does use sugar in his recipes – his sugar of choice is fructose (GI 19), not one with a lot of fans these days.

First of all, we like to provide readers with a range of recipes in each issue of GI News to appeal to a variety of tastes and to suit a variety of occasions. We also give a nutrient analysis with our recipes so people can make an informed choice. And we carefully control for portion size, especially with sweet treats.

Secondly, one of the happy spin-offs of over 30 years of glycemic index research has shown that most sugars in foods produce quite moderate blood glucose responses, lower than most refined starches. Why? Well sugars (including sucrose/table sugar GI 65) are a mixture of molecules, some of which have only a negligible effect on blood glucose levels. In addition, many scientific studies now very clearly show that a moderate amount of added sugar (for example 30–50 grams a day) does not lead to poor blood glucose control nor weight gain in people with diabetes. Keep in mind, however, that this moderate amount includes all sources of added refined sugar consumed that day – the sugar on your breakfast cereal (or already in your cereal), soft drinks, desserts, cookies, cake, snack foods, and the sugar in a cup of tea or coffee.

However, we are very aware that there’s a ‘sugar-free’ boom well underway fuelled by massive misinformation and fad diet solutions. It’s also become a significant profit centre for the food industry now busily adapting foods to make them ‘sugar-free’ or low sugar because it knows (through market research) that many consumers are convinced sugar is THE problem nutrient. Get rid of sugar and all will be well. Apparently. Certainly the technology is there – most sugars can be relatively easily replaced by oligosaccharides and starches – perhaps with a touch of aspartame, sucralose or stevia to boost sweetness. However, it is unlikely the net result will be of any nutritional benefit, as these oligosaccharides and starches are typically as refined and devoid of nutrients (other than calories) than the sugars they replaced – and they have a higher GI. Based on the events of the past few decades, we believe it’s highly likely that these sugar-free foods will continue to contribute to the global obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic just like their low-fat and low-carb predecessors. History sadly has a tendency of repeating itself.



The real problem is the one-nutrient-at-a-time, fad diet approach. We don’t eat one nutrient at a time – we eat tasty meals that contain a wide variety of foods. This is why most people find it hard to stick to fad ‘quit this food’ diets. It doesn't fit in with their lifestyle – there are too many pressures and opportunities to enjoy a wide variety of flavoursome foods with family and friends. What's the solution?

Nutrients are by definition essential. It’s how we eat them (and how many of them we put on our plates) that ultimately counts. We think it is time to stop the individual nutrient blame game and focus on enjoying an overall low GI healthy eating pattern built around vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, lean meats/fish, minimally refined grains, yoghurt and other fermented dairy products, and oils (olive/peanut). And of course being more active.

And, when you want a little sweetness in your life, opt for nutritious foods that will provide more than calories – porridge with brown sugar, a dollop of jam on grainy toast, muesli with fruit yoghurt, a baked apple with a crumble filling. And enjoy a treat occasionally too, such as a couple of squares of good quality dark chocolate or one (1) of Anneka's gluten-free mandarin and roasted almond cakes.

GI News—September 2013

• Why cheese doesn't have a GI value; 
• Nicole Senior checks out almonds - that great all rounder;  
• Make the most of almonds with recipes from Michael Moore and Anneka Manning;  
• Obesity and diabetes: the gene factor; 
• Obesity and diabetes on the up, downunder;  
• New GI values for Yoplait Petit Miam.  

GI News 
Editor: Philippa Sandall
Web management and design: Alan Barclay, PhD
Contact email (for questions or permission to reproduce stories from this newsletter): info@gisymbol.com for technical problems or faults please contact smb.ginewstech@sydney.edu.au

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What’s New?

Obesity and diabetes: The gene factor. 
Using careful definitions and measurements of body fatness, Professor Lesley Campbell and Dr Arthur Jenkins have shown that obesity that runs in families of people with type 2 diabetes is due to a large number of rare variants in many different genes. Their study was published in PLOS ONE.


Professor Lesley Campbell

Over the past 25 years, Campbell’s research has looked at people who are genetically at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and are overweight or obese before they get diabetes. Genes, she stresses, bring out underlying predispositions and there are fairly predictable interactions between genes and environment. She explains: ‘The reason we see so many people getting fat is that they carry strong hunger genes while the environment is maxed; it’s an obesogenic environment that rewards eating. People no longer have to go fishing, or hunting and gathering in order to eat. They just go to McDonald's, or KFC, or the freezer. The point is that people don’t have to expend any energy to get an abundance of food, often high in fat or sugar. We have shown in previous studies that people with diabetes in the family tend to be hungry more often, are able to eat more at a sitting, and will generally opt to eat high calorie foods. This does not mean they are greedy, it just means that their bodies are genetically driven to eat more. The same genes would serve these people well in times of food scarcity or famine. They would survive, while their leaner neighbours would perish.’

Obesity and diabetes: is the association as causal as we think asks Prof Garry Egger? 
‘The statistic that approximately 70–80 per cent of type 2 diabetes patients are overweight or obese led to the conclusion that there is a causal relationship between obesity and diabetes. However, the lock and key conclusions regarding the causality of diabetes are becoming questionable. It seems to be more complex than obesity alone, potentially influenced by a range of lifestyle factors. While the following facts are not conclusions in themselves, they imply that being overweight is not the sole cause of type 2 diabetes.

• Approximately 1 in 3 people with obesity have consistently shown to not have any risk factors for the dysmetabolism needed for diabetes. 
• Approximately 1 in 4 people with a healthy body weight display all the metabolic risks for diabetes, risks that would be typically expected in individuals with obesity. 
• According to the “obesity paradox”, overweight individuals are less susceptible to mortality from type 2 diabetes and other metabolic ailments than lean individuals.
•  A better understanding of adipocyte (‘fat cell’) physiology implies that triglyceride storage in adipocytes is healthy until excessive energy abnormally ‘outpours’ into the liver, muscles and blood. 

Extending upon the final point, in the body, fat storage increases via two processes, the first being hypertrophy, meaning expansion within the adipocyte, and the second being hyperplasia, in which new adipocytes are formed due to established cells being “full”. Undetermined genetic factors seem to reduce adipocyte hypertrophy. Once this hypertrophy has reached its limit, ectopic fat (for instance, as in fatty liver) occurs due to the “outpour”. Ectopic fat is toxic and results in oxidative stress and metaflammation, a low-grade form of systemic inflammation that correlates with a metabolic cascade resulting in insulin resistance.

What does this imply for diabetes management? There is the likelihood that weight loss is less of a priority than improving eating habits, exercising and sleeping more and managing stress. Mounting evidence is finding exercise to be one of the most effective individual changes, with recent research demonstrating that high intensity resistance exercise decrease IR-associated visceral fat.’
– Prof Garry Egger was a keynote speaker at the AustralAsian Academy of Anti-Ageing Medicine Conferenceheld in Melbourne, 24-25 August.  

Dementia risk and BGLs.  
Higher blood glucose levels are associated with higher dementia risk, even among people who do not have diabetes according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Reporting on more than 2,000 Group Health patients age 65 and older in the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study, the researchers found that blood glucose levels averaged over a five-year period were associated with rising risks for developing dementia. ‘The most interesting finding was that every incrementally higher glucose level was associated with a higher risk of dementia in people who did not have diabetes,’ said lead author Dr Paul K. Crane.

Organic labels and ‘health halo’ bias.   
A study by Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab researchers shows that an organic label can influence perceptions of taste, calories and value. The researchers recruited 115 people to take part in the study. Participants were asked to rate the taste and caloric content of 2 yoghurts, 2 cookies and 2 potato chip portions and say how much they would be willing to pay for them. One item from each food pair was labelled ‘organic’, while the other was labelled ‘regular’. In fact all were organic and the products were identical. What were the findings? The participants estimated the cookies and yoghurt had significantly fewer calories when labelled ‘organic’ and were willing to pay up to 23.4% more for them. They also reported that the ‘organic’ yogurt tasted ‘lower in fat’ and the ‘organic’ cookies and chips were more nutritious. In addition, ‘organic’, chips were perceived as being more appetizing and organic yogurt more flavourful. ‘Regular’ cookies however were reported to taste better than ‘organic’ – is this because people often believe healthy foods are not tasty?

Nicole's Taste of Health

Almond amore.  
I love almonds (and nuts in general actually) but I’m not the only one as these crunchy little numbers have been a delicacy throughout history. They originated in China before spreading throughout Europe. And speaking of loving almonds, the ancient Romans would give newlyweds almonds as a fertility charm. Even now sugar-coated almonds are given as bomboniere (gifts) to guests at Italian weddings and symbolise health, wealth, happiness and long life as well as fertility. I always thought the tooth-cracking coating spoiled a perfectly good almond but the sugar itself is also symbolic of wishing guests a sweet life.

Despite their charming reputation in times past, almonds – like all nuts – have been tarred by the fat-phobia brush, deeming them too naughty to enjoy because of their high oil content. However in the case of almonds and nuts in general, nutrition science is the bearer of glad tidings. The type of fat in almonds is ‘good’ fat, meaning it is mostly unsaturated and therefore good for health. And to make this story’s ending even happier, the good fats are combined with a super-healthy combination of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals (particularly vitamin E, magnesium and potassium), and beneficial phytochemicals.

Almonds contain little carbohydrate so they can’t be tested for GI, however eating them with high GI foods will lower the GI of the meal or snack, which is great news and adds further to their charm. Even more exciting is the research indicating that not all of the calories (kilojoules) are fully absorbed from eating almonds, probably due to their physical structure that prevents some of the oil from being absorbed. While this does not represent a get-out-of-jail-free card for overeating, it does suggest we can relax a bit about the numbers and focus on eating almonds regularly for their many health benefits. To name a few, almonds have been shown to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, improve insulin sensitivity and enhance satiety (feeling of fullness), all of which support sensible snacking and metabolic health.

Dietary surveys show most of us don’t eat enough nuts to obtain these health benefits but how much do we need? The scientific evidence suggests we aim for one to two handfuls (30–60g) a day of nuts which gives us plenty of opportunity to enjoy a variety of nuts including almonds. Eat them anyway you like - raw or roasted - but leave the chocolate-coated ones to special occasions and buy your almonds unsalted, and of course you get more fibre and phytochemicals eating the skin.

You can roast your own almonds quite simply (see Anneka's recipe). They’re great to eat on their own but they add wonderful flavour and crunch to stir-fries and salads, they provide real ‘oomph’ to trail mix and they’re so versatile as to be delicious in desserts too. Witness the delight of friand made with almond meal, or the gorgeous crunch of slivered almonds in a crumble. You can blanch your own almonds for making sweet treats by placing raw almonds in a bowl of boiling water for one minute, rinse under cold water, drain, dry and peel the skin off. These pale and naked beauties can be crushed, sliced or pulverised in a blender or food processor to make almond meal which you can then add to fruit smoothies or cookies, or use to make cakes and muffins.

And after all that effort it’s good to know you can freeze any unused almond meal for another day. Of course if you’re really keen you can make marzipan – the famously indulgent confection used to make sweets, hideous miniature faux fruits (sorry if you like them but I think they’re awful) or rolled out to make white icing for celebration cakes.

And after all that sweet talk you’re probably looking for a dietary ‘detox’. You may have heard the hype about activated almonds being the ultimate health food, but what are they? Essentially activated almonds are soaked overnight, rinsed and slow roasted on a low heat for several hours. Enthusiasts say this process deactivates enzyme inhibitors in the outer layer making the almonds more digestible and their nutrients more available. Looking at the science it becomes clear this is more a good story to justify charging a lot more money for them. Enjoy them by all means but I think I’ll stick to the regular lazy almonds.

Gosh, what a great all-rounder: taste, versatility, health, history and symbolism. I think I’ll go and have a handful now, and I’m definitely making Anneka’s cake!



Nicole Senior is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist, author, speaker, consultant, and commentator with an interest in how we can learn to love good food that's good for us.

In the GI News Kitchen

Here's how you can cut back on the food bills and enjoy fresh, easily, seasonal, satisfying and delicious low or moderate GI meals that don’t compromise on quality and flavour one little bit with our Money Saving Meals including chef Michael Moore’s Chilled apple, pear & quinoa porridge with raw almonds from Blood Sugar: the Family reprinted courtesy New Holland Publishers.

Chilled apple, pear and quinoa porridge with raw almonds. 
A little goes a long way says chef Michael Moore’s suggesting you add (or substitute) seasonal berries or the fruit of your choice. Serves: 4

1 1/3 cups skim milk
½ cup water
120g (4oz) quinoa (a slightly heaped ½ cup), rinsed
½ cup plain yoghurt
1 tbsp agave nectar/syrup
1 red apple, washed
1 green pear, washed
Pinch ground ginger
Pinch ground cinnamon
60g (2oz) raw almonds, skin on, chopped or finely sliced



Place the milk, water and quinoa in a small saucepan, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally for approximately 15 minutes until soft then allow to cool.
Place the cooked quinoa in a mixing bowl and stir in the yoghurt and agave nectar.
Grate the apple and pear into the bowl with a coarse cheese grater, including the juices. Mix together well. Add the spices to taste and adjust consistency with a splash of milk to your taste. Spoon into small serving bowls and sprinkle with chopped almonds.

Per serve 
1270 kJ/300 calories; 12g protein; 11g fat (includes 2g saturated fat); 38g available carbs; 5g fibre

Family Baking, Anneka Manning, author of Bake Eat Love. Learn to Bake in 3 Simple Steps and founder of Sydney’s BakeClub,  shares her delicious ‘better-for-you’ recipes for snacks, desserts and treats the whole family will love. Through both her writing and cooking school, Anneka teaches home cooks to bake in practical and approachable yet inspiring ways that assure success in the kitchen.

 

Gluten-free mandarin roasted almond cakes.
These cakes are a play on the original (and wonderful) Middle Eastern orange cake from the one-and-only Claudia Roden. Making use of seasonal mandarins (while they are still around), ground roasted almonds and with the addition of polenta this version is also flourless and gluten-free. The ground roasted almonds give this can a lovely ‘toasted’ flavour but you can substitute pre-ground almond meal if you prefer.
Makes: 12
Prep: 20 minutes (+ 30 minutes simmering and 15 minutes cooling time)
Bake: 15-18 minutes

2 large mandarins (about 110g/3½oz each)
Melted butter or olive oil spray, to grease
½ cup instant polenta
80g natural almonds, roasted, finely ground (see Baker’s tip)
½ tsp baking powder
3 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup raw caster sugar
2 tsp natural vanilla essence or extract
icing sugar, to dust (optional)



Put the mandarins in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until very soft when tested with a skewer. You may need to place a small saucer over the mandarins to keep them submerged. Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180°C. Brush a 12-hole 80ml (1/3 cup) muffin tin with the melted butter to grease.
Combine the polenta, roasted almond meal, and baking powder in a medium bowl and mix well to combine evenly.
Quarter the mandarins and remove and discard any centre core or seeds. Puree in a food processor or blender until smooth.
Put the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl and use an electric mixer with a whisk attachment to whisk until very thick and pale and a ribbon trail forms when the whisk is lifted. Add the mandarin puree and use a spatula or large metal spoon to fold in until just combined. Add the polenta mixture and fold together until evenly combined.
Divide the mixture evenly among the muffin holes (pouring the mixture from a jug or using a ladle works well).
Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until the cakes are firm to the touch on the top and cooked when tested with a skewer. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Use a palette knife to ease the cakes out of the tin and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature dusted with a little icing sugar if you wish.

Baker’s tip

• To roast and grind the almonds, spread on an oven tray and place in an oven preheated to 180°C/350°F for 8-10 minutes or until aromatic. Cool on the tray before processing in a food processor until finely ground.

Per piece
560 kJ/ 130 calories; 3.5g protein; 5g fat (includes 1g saturated fat); 18.5g available carbs; 1g fibre

American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI from her Italian kitchen. For more information, check out Johanna's website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is photosbysergio.com.



Grilled shrimp over rucola salad. 
This dish is short on work but long on flavor.  Simple, fresh, unadulterated whole foods, marinated, grilled, then placed on a bed of fresh greens (I always use organic).  Add a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio and some sourdough crostini and you have a perfect meal – Italian style! Serves: 4 (2 skewers each)

20oz (600g) uncooked large shrimps (prawns), shelled and deveined
10oz (300g) baby bella mushroom caps
10oz (300g) large grape tomatoes
6oz (180g) rucola (arugula/rocket), washed and drained

For the marinade
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
juice half lemon (about 1½ tbsp)
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 shallot, finely chopped
¼ tsp salt a few twists freshly ground pepper



Place all marinade ingredients in a medium bowl; mix well.  Add the shrimps and stir thoroughly to coat the shrimps evenly.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, stirring a couple of times.
Wash the vegetables, pat dry and set aside.
Heat the grill according to manufacturer’s instructions. Using metal or wooden skewers previously soaked in water, alternately thread the mushrooms, shrimps and tomatoes. Grill the skewers 2 minutes per side, basting with the marinade for the first 2 minutes only.
Divide the rucola among the 4 dinner plates.  Place 2 skewers on each plate and serve.  This dish tastes best when the shrimps and vegetables are removed from the skewers and mixed in with the rucola.

Per serve (assumes 50% marinade consumption) 
250 calories/1040 kilojoules; 30g protein; 10g fat (includes 1.5g saturated fat); 14g available carbs; 2g fibre 

We Are What We Ate

Say cheese, but when? 
The processing of milk and particularly the production of cheese were critical in early agricultural societies as it allowed the preservation of milk in a non-perishable and transportable form and, of primary importance, it made milk a more digestible commodity for early prehistoric farmers.



However, while we do know a fair amount about the human diet, both past and present, we don’t actually know very much about how and where cheese making first happened. Recent research published in Nature provides unequivocal evidence that people in northern Europe were making cheese more than 7000 years.

By analysing fatty acids extracted from unglazed pottery pierced with small holes excavated from archaeological sites in Kuyavia (Poland) dating from around 7000 years ago, the researchers showed that dairy products were processed in these ceramic vessels. Using lipid biomarker and stable isotope analysis, researchers examined preserved fatty acids trapped in the fabric of the pottery and showed that the sieves had indeed been used for processing dairy products.  Milk residues were also detected in non-perforated bowls, which may have been used with the sieves.

By way of contrast, the analyses of non-perforated pottery (cooking pots or bottles) demonstrated that they were not used for processing milk.  The presence of ruminant carcass fats in cooking pots showed that they were likely used to cook meat, while the presence of beeswax in bottles suggests the sealing of the pottery to store water. The analyses thus showed that the people who lived here used different types of pottery in very specific ways – sieves (and maybe bowls) for cheese-making, cooking pots for cooking their meat and waterproofed bottles to store and carry water.

Mélanie Salque, a PhD student from the University of Bristol and one of the authors of the paper said: ‘Before this study, it was not clear that cattle were used for their milk in northern Europe around 7000 years ago.  However, the presence of the sieves in the ceramic assemblage of the sites was thought to be a proof that milk and even cheese was produced at these sites.  Of course, these sieves could have been used for straining all sorts of things, such as curds from whey, meat from stock or honeycombs from honey.  We decided to test the cheese-making hypothesis by analysing the lipids trapped into the ceramic fabric of the sieves.

‘The presence of milk residues in sieves (which look like modern cheese-strainers) constitutes the earliest direct evidence for cheese-making.  So far, early evidence for cheese-making were mostly iconographic, that is to say murals showing milk processing, which dates to several millennia later than the cheese strainers.’

Peter Bogucki one of the co-authors of this new study and proponent of the cheese strainer hypothesis nearly 30 years ago notes that: ‘As well as showing that humans were making cheese 7000 years ago, these results provide evidence of the consumption of low-lactose content milk products in prehistory.  Making cheese allowed them to reduce the lactose content of milk, and we know that at that time, most of the humans were not tolerant to lactose.  Making cheese is a particularly efficient way to exploit the nutritional benefits of milk, without becoming ill because of the lactose.’

GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay

Dr Alan Barclay

Overweight, obesity and diabetes are on the up downunder. 
The latest results from Australia’s largest population health study, AusDiab, show that rates of diabetes continue to increase around the nation. When AusDiab began in 1999–2000, 8.5% of the adult population 25 and over had diabetes; in 2011–12 that number had increased to 12.0%. As is the case in other parts of the world, rates are higher amongst socially disadvantaged groups.

While by no means the only factor, increasing rates of overweight and obesity are likely partially responsible for the upward trend. Results from Australia’s most recent national health survey show that in 2011–12, 69.7% of men and 55.7% of women 18 and over were overweight or obese, and slightly more men (52% of all cases) have diabetes than women (48% of all cases). Overweight and obesity rates have increased from 56.3% of all adults in 1995.

Of greatest concern is the finding that young adults (25–34 years) are gaining more weight around the middle than any other age group – a 6.6cm increase over the 12-year follow-up period. Increased waist circumference is an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes, independent of overall weight gain.



The ingenious use of accelerometers and inclinometers enabled AusDiab researchers to compare self-reported physical activity levels with those measured objectively with scientific instruments. Nearly two-thirds of participants were classified as sufficiently active (50 minutes of moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity per day) based on their self-reported physical activity. However, on average, participants engaged in 32 minutes of accelerometer-assessed moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity per day – a gap of 18 minutes. In other words, people overestimated their moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity by more than 50% each day. Arguably the most sobering finding was that on average, participants engaged in 523 minutes (8 hours and 43 minutes) of inclinometer-assessed sitting time per day.

The AusDiab researchers recommended a concerted effort to improve people’s physical activity levels, and perhaps more importantly to decrease their sitting time, to help reduce the rate of type 2 diabetes in Australia. Standing desks discussed in the April 2012 edition of GI News are a practical example of what can be done to help with this in the workplace environment.

A 10% ‘fat tax’ was also recommended. Australia’s current Goods and Services Tax (GST) already acts as a de-facto ‘fat tax’ in Australia as it is not levied on fresh fruit and vegetables or other core foods – only so-called ‘junk foods’ like soft drinks, chips, confectionery and fast foods attract the 10% GST. Overall, the evidence that a ‘fat tax’ will reduce levels of obesity and associated type 2 diabetes is limited. It is also regressive, affecting people from lower socio-economic groups the most. The evidence for the positive effects on dietary behaviours of tax subsidies for healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables is far stronger, and will conversely benefit people from lower socio-economic groups the most.

While it may sound like doom and gloom, it’s important to note that the increase in diabetes rates over the past 12 years in Australia are in line with AusDiab’s best case scenario – not worst. Australia's population is aging, and the risk of diabetes increases with age. Also, we are helping people with diagnosed diabetes manage their condition better, so they are living for longer with the condition. So at this point in time, an increase in diabetes prevalence may be seen as somewhat inevitable. The fact that prevalence has increased at a relatively modest rate in line with AusDiabs best case scenario indicates that as a community we must be doing something right to reduce the populations risk overall.

The GI Symbol, making healthy low GI choices easy choices



For more information about the GI Symbol Program

Dr Alan W Barclay, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Glycemic Index Foundation (Ltd)
Phone: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Mob: +61 (0)416 111 046
Fax: +61 (0)2 9785 1037Email: alan.barclay@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com

GI Update with Prof Jennie Brand-Miller

Prof Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions. 



Why doesn’t cheese have a GI value? Other dairy foods like milk and yoghurt and even ice cream do. 
The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood glucose levels after eating. Only foods that are sources of carbohydrate can be GI tested. Milk and yoghurt are good sources of carbohydrate (and protein, too). For example, here in Australia a 200g/7oz tub of low fat plain yoghurt contains around 12g each of carbohydrate and protein. The carbohydrate comes from the milk sugar, lactose. (However, if the yogurt is sweetened, then it will contain other sugars in addition to lactose.) Cheese on the other hand is a good source of protein but has almost no carbohydrate because cheese is made from milk solids (curd); the lactose-rich whey has been drained off during the early stages of processing which is why people who are lactose intolerant can enjoy cheese but not milk.

Other foods that contain no carbohydrate, or so little that their GI can’t be measured, are meat, chicken, fish, eggs and nuts (well most nuts). If you come across a website that gives you a GI value for cheese (or meat, chicken, fish and eggs), then you know the testing has certainly not followed the international standard method and was probably done in a test tube (in vitro).

Following the international standard method, the GI value of a food is determined by feeding 10 or more healthy people a portion of the food containing 50 grams of digestible (available) carbohydrate and then measuring the effect on their blood glucose levels over the next two hours. For each person, the area under their two-hour blood glucose response (glucose AUC) for this food is then measured. On another occasion, the same 10 people consume an equal-carbohydrate portion of glucose sugar (the reference food) and their two-hour blood glucose response is also measured. A GI value for the test food is then calculated for each person by dividing their glucose AUC for the test food by their glucose AUC for the reference food. The final GI value for the test food is the average GI value for the 10 people.

Latest GI values from Fiona Atkinson at SUGiRS.  

Yoghurt, naturally low GI. 
Yogurt’s low GI values are thanks (mainly) to the combination of acidity and high protein and of course the fact that lactose, the sugar in milk, has a naturally low GI. Here’s why. Lactose is a disaccharide (double sugar) that needs to be digested into its component sugars before our bodies can absorb it. In our bodies, glucose and galactose, the two component sugars that make up lactose, compete with each other for absorption. Once absorbed, the galactose is mainly metabolised in the liver and produces very little effect on our blood glucose levels. The remaining sugar, glucose, is present in a small enough amount not to cause a spike in blood glucose.

Did you know that even if you are lactose intolerant, you can enjoy yoghurt? This is because the micro-organisms added to milk to make yoghurt are active in digesting lactose during passage through the small intestine, in other words, the ‘bugs’ help do the job of lactose digestion for you.

Yoplait Petit Miam: SUGiRS recently tested Yoplait Petit Miam 100g tubs – a calcium-rich, creamy tasting snack or dessert for babies (they say 1+ years on the label), toddlers and young children with 87 calories (364kJ), 14g available carbs and 3g protein in a tub. No arguments over who got the biggest serving because everyone gets their own little pot of yoghurt.

• Fruit Salad GI 41
• Strawberry & Banana GI 39
• Banana GI 39
• Strawberry GI 43
• Blueberry GI 43
• Mixed Berry GI 43
• Vanilla GI 38

GI testing by an accredited laboratory
North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
20 Victoria Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M5C 298 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com

Australia
Fiona Atkinson
Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com

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GI News—August 2013

• The real deal on agave syrup, coconut sugar and rice syrup; 
• Nicole Senior checks out crispy, crunchy carrots in Taste of Health; 
• Anneka Manning shares her amazing carrot cake recipe in Family Baking; 
• Rice - enjoy it but keep portions moderate and look for lower GI varieties says Dr Alan Barclay; 
• New SunRice Low GI Brown rice has GI Symbol;  
• Foraging for food. 

GI News 
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Food for Thought

Sweet celebrities. 

Chrissy Freer, author of the delicious Supergrains, recently quizzed us about rice syrup as magazine editors keep asking her to use it in recipes for ‘healthy’ baking. ‘Is it actually a ‘healthier’ alternative to sugar or just another fashionable sweetener being touted as sugar free and better for you?’ she asked. Rice syrup just like table (granulated) sugar, honey and maple syrup belongs in the nutritive sweetener camp. ‘Nutritive’ doesn’t mean these sweeteners are ‘nourishing’ in the good for you sense, it means they provide you with (per level teaspoon) around 4–5g carbs and 15–20 calories. Are some ‘healthier’ than others? Well, some do deliver a smidgen more nutrition than just calories – less refined sweeteners like raw sugar, quality honey and pure maple syrup also provide very small amounts of calcium, potassium and magnesium as does the low GI sugar, LogiCane. But they still have those calories so you still have to keep your intake moderate. Here we check out three ‘celebrity’ sweeteners.
  
Agave syrup/nectar is extracted from the agave plant - Mexico’s famous succulent that also gives us aguamiel, pulque, and tequila (from the blue agave). It’s mostly fructose which is why it has a low GI – light standard agave syrup (GI28) is 70–78% fructose; light premium agave syrup (GI22) is 78–85% fructose. It’s about 1½ times sweeter than sugar so you use less, which is just as well as it is on the pricy side. Delicious drizzled over pancakes, porridge, plain yoghurt, French toast. For recipes, check out Michael Moore’s Blood Sugar; The Family – he uses it instead of sugar in baking and desserts to help manage his BGLs.  

Coconut syrup/sugar, a traditional sweetener from South-East Asia comes from the sap of the coconut palm's flowering spikes (inflorescence). It is about 75% sucrose and the rest is glucose and fructose which could make it a useful substitute for cane sugar if you are looking for one and cost doesn’t count. These days it’s widely promoted as a ‘great tasting, mineral rich, low GI (35) cane sugar alternative’. Dr Oz recommends it as a replacement for table sugar saying that: ‘Switching from regular sugar to coconut palm sugar could prevent the blood sugar crashes that make you hungry and then cause you to gain weight.’

We asked SUGiRS Manager Fiona Atkinson about the GI35 for coconut sugar that Dr Oz quoted, as this figure is all over the internet but failed the peer review process to make it into the official international GI database. ‘That’s an old value from the Philippines and it was not tested according to the ISO method,’ she said. ‘We have recently tested coconut sugar for a company, but the results must remain confidential until they give us permission to publish them. I can say that although the GI was certainly not 35, it was low for what is essentially a sucrose-based sugar.’ Because of the high sucrose content, we are guessing it is more likely to be similar to CSR LoGiCane, the low GI sugar which has a GI of 50. Coconut syrup is ‘fab’ on pancakes or drizzled over coconut cake according to food writer Kate McGhie who also uses coconut sugar in Thai cooking and general baking such as muffins and has coconut vinegar in her pantry.  

Brown rice syrup (rice syrup) is the darling of the ‘fructophobe’ quit-sugar/sugar-free lobby and is around 45% maltose, 3% glucose, and 52% maltotriose (a trisaccharide consisting of three glucose molecules joined together). The jar of Pureharvest organic brown rice syrup in front of me is produced according to the manufacturer by: ‘fermenting whole brown rice with special enzymes that break down the natural starch content of the grain. The resulting material is then cooked until it reaches the consistency of syrup’. Their website says: ‘it provides a slower, constant release of energy over a longer time and is recommended for diabetics.’ In fact it hasn’t been GI tested and we think that it’s more likely to be high GI. Why? Well, we know that the GI for maltose is 105. Although the GI of maltotriose is unknown, our guesstimate is, that like maltodextrin, it will be similar to glucose (100). Chrissy has used rice syrup when baking or on toast, waffles or pancakes and in making muesli bars and biscuits. PS: No diabetes organisation we know of recommends it for people with diabetes.

What’s New?

Diet soft drinks – is it the drink or what you eat with it that’s the problem? 
An opinion article published by Cell Press in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism reviews evidence on the negative impact of artificial sweeteners on health, raising red flags about all sweeteners – even those that don't have any calories. ‘It is not uncommon for people to be given messages that artificially-sweetened products are healthy, will help them lose weight or will help prevent weight gain,’ says author Susan E. Swithers of Purdue University. ‘The data to support those claims are not very strong, and although it seems like common sense that diet sodas would not be as problematic as regular sodas, common sense is not always right.’

‘Rather than just focus on soft drinks whether artificially or naturally sweetened,’ says Dr Alan Barclay, ‘let’s look at the whole shebang – people’s dietary patterns: what people who drink soft drinks regularly are eating with them. ‘Generally speaking, we tend to drink soft drinks with certain types of foods like potato chips, pizza, hamburgers, or we mix them with alcohol like bourbon or vodka (and help ourselves to crisps and salty nuts). People are still eating pretty poorly overall and unless they change their dietary patterns they are not going to see any benefits.

The bottom line re diet soft drinks and weight benefits: ‘If you chose an artificially sweetened product to reduce your overall energy intake in the context of a very healthy diet with plenty of fruits, veggies, whole grains etc... you probably would see some overall benefits. But if you’re simply swapping from one to the other and still having deep fried chicken and a large chips, you probably aren't going to see any real belt tightening benefits.’



Exercise, even in small doses, changes the expression of our DNA. 
‘Our study shows the positive effects of exercise, because the epigenetic pattern of genes that affect fat storage in the body changes’, says Charlotte Ling, Associate Professor at Lund University Diabetes Centre. We inherit our genes and they cannot be changed. The genes, however, have methyl groups attached which affect what is known as gene expression – whether the genes are activated or deactivated. The methyl groups can be influenced in various ways, through exercise, diet and lifestyle, in a process known as DNA methylation. This is epigenetics. In this study, the researchers investigated what happened to the methyl groups in the fat cells of 23 slightly overweight, healthy men aged around 35 who had not previously engaged in any physical activity, when they regularly attended spinning and aerobics classes over a six-month period.

‘They were supposed to attend three sessions a week, but they went on average 1.8 times’, says Tina Rönn, Associate Researcher at Lund University. Using technology that analyses 480,000 positions throughout the genome, they could see that epigenetic changes had taken place in 7,000 genes (an individual has 20,000 genes). They then went on to look specifically at the methylation in genes linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity. ‘We found changes in those genes too, which suggests that altered DNA methylation as a result of physical activity could be one of the mechanisms of how these genes affect the risk of disease’, says Rönn, adding that this has never before been studied in fat cells and that they now have a map of the DNA methylome in fat. – A Six Months Exercise Intervention Influences the Genome-wide DNA Methylation Pattern in Human Adipose Tissue, PLOS Genetics, June 2013

What’s new? 
#1 Edible walls: Sydney Design 2013, Powerhouse Museum 3–18 August. Edible walls are about growing things in spaces that have previously been ignored. Bringing together design, technology, sustainability, environment and education, researchers and students from the University of Technology, Sydney will build a series of edible walls at the Powerhouse Museum as part of the Sydney Design 2013 exhibition. Several leading Australian green wall companies will also showcase vertical garden designs that can turn small and otherwise difficult-to-use outdoor spaces into mini vertical fruit and vegetable gardens. PS: We hope the urban foragers don't forage your crop for their table.

#2 Healthy Kids Lunch Boxes BakeClass: Saturday 10 August, 9.30–12.30 – a three-hour workshop where you will discover how easy (and enjoyable) it is to fill lunch boxes with Anneka Manning’s ‘better for you’ sweet and savoury snacks that you will feel good about serving and your kids (and their friends) will enjoy. You can find out more about this workshop here.

#3 Nutritionism (Allen and Unwin/Columbia University Press): From the fear of ‘bad nutrients’ such as fat and cholesterol, to the celebration of supposedly health-enhancing vitamins and omega-3 fats, our understanding of food and health has been dominated by a reductive scientific focus on nutrients according to Dr Gyorgy Scrinis. In this book he argues that this 'nutritionism' has narrowed our appreciation of food quality, while promoting confusion and nutritional anxieties. His alternative? A food quality paradigm based on respecting traditional dietary patterns and reducing technological processing. ‘It may offend nutritionists and will upset the food industry, but it could also herald a delicious revolution in our ability to eat well.’ (Rosemary Stanton)

There’s certainly food for thought in this provocative critique of the science of nutrition. The problem of course in such a comprehensive book is fact checking. We wonder, for example, where he plucked the ‘71’ for the GI of carrots from. Certainly not the GI database. Finding errors and out-of-date information in a topic one knows well (and there are several in his critique of GI) does make one question the reliability of his facts in other areas. And that’s a pity, because we are certainly not fans of the ‘ideology of nutritionism’ here at GI News.

Nicole's Taste of Health

Carrot tops. 
We’ve just planted some winter veg and the crop I’m most looking forward to harvesting is the Dutch carrots. Even though we usually buy carrots nude from the supermarket, I confess I love the look of the green tops – and they’re a great indicator of freshness. And they make harvesting fun too: just grab and pull. One of my favourite ways to eat this sunshine-y root vegetable is roasted whole with a short length of stem still on (just brush with oil and bake). With the water content reduced by the oven, the caramelisation of the natural sugars create a kind of magic in your mouth and one of the many reasons I shall never be a raw foodist! Which reminds me of another favourite way to enjoy them: with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and honey (and a sprinkle of cumin if you like a little spice). (The photo is from The Low GI Family Cookbook, Hachette Australia and Da Capo Lifelong Press.)



Carrots are one of the most popular vegetables in our kitchen and for good reasons. For a start they are very versatile: they are delicious raw or cooked, and can blend in to most dishes whether it is a stir fry, casserole, grill or salad. It’s really no wonder you’ll find them in most people’s refrigerator. I love them in soup at the moment and marvel how well they go with chicken and chickpeas, or in the slow cooker with beef and lentils. There’s another kind of magic that happens when carrots are cooked long and slow and turn to velvet but still hold their shape: so comforting. But of course carrots also shine in summer salads and the trick to a super salad is to slice the carrot in long slender strips or ribbons. You can do strips or batons with a sharp knife but you’ll look like a pro if you use a julienne blade on a V-slicer that produces willowy, regular lengths that look gorgeous and perform a texture tango in your mouth. Another idea is to use a vegetable peeler to slice long ribbons and do the same with zucchini to create a two-colour ribbon salad that only need your favourite chopped herbs and a knockout vinaigrette dressing.

Aside from all this, carrots are really good for you. They even give their name to a family of phytochemicals called carotenoids: carrots are rich in a particular type called beta-carotene that gives them their orange colour. But carrots were purple or dull yellow 5000 years ago in Afghanistan where they are thought to originate, but these ‘heirloom’ varieties are now available again and look simply spectacular on your plate. Being root vegetables, carrots of any colour are high in fibre for digestive health. They also have impressive amounts of vitamin K for healthy bones, vitamin C for immunity and potassium to maintain ideal blood pressure. And if that wasn’t enough, munching on carrots is good for the teeth and gums too because they massage the gums and increase production of saliva which rinses out the mouth and helps to protect against decay.

Raw or cooked, carrots won’t send your blood glucose on a roller coaster ride either. End of story. Why? Well, not only are they low GI (39), they have very few carbs. In fact, to get a hefty portion of carbs from carrots you’d have to crunch through at least 5 cups or 750g (about 1½lb) at a sitting – a pretty awesome achievement even for carrot lovers.

Everybody knows carrot juice (GI 43) is uber-healthy so next time you’re wandering about town and need an energy and hydration hit, try carrot, apple and ginger juice. While you miss the benefits of fibre in juice form, it’s so much better than a soft drink (soda).


Nicole Senior is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist, author, speaker, consultant, and commentator with an interest in how we can learn to love good food that's good for us.

In the GI News Kitchen

Family Baking, Anneka Manning, author of Bake Eat Love. Learn to Bake in 3 Simple Steps and founder of Sydney’s BakeClub, shares her delicious ‘better-for-you’ recipes for snacks, desserts and treats the whole family will love. Through both her writing and cooking school, Anneka teaches home cooks to bake in practical and approachable yet inspiring ways that assure success in the kitchen.

 

Carrot Cake.
This cake is one of those that naturally has an enticing balance of ingredients that complement each other. Loads of grated carrot (which is the secret to this cakes moist nature), cinnamon and nutmeg to lend a hint of spice and walnuts for crunch. Makes about 20 pieces. Prep:15 mins; Cook: 50-55 mins

Sunflower oil, to grease
300g (1 3/4 cups) plain wholemeal spelt flour (See Baker’s Tip)
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
220g (1 cup) raw sugar
100g (3½oz) walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (see Baker’s Tips)
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sunflower oil
500g (about 5 medium) carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 teaspoon icing sugar, to dust

 

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Brush a square 20cm cake tin with oil to grease. Line the base with non-stick baking paper.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl. Add the raw sugar and walnuts and stir to combine.
Put the eggs and oil in a medium bowl and use a fork to whisk until well combined. Stir in the grated carrot. Add to the dry ingredients and use a large metal spoon or spatula to fold together until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan and spoon the surface with the back of a spoon.
Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until cooked when tested in the centre with a skewer.
Stand the cake in the tin for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with the icing sugar and serve cut into slices. This cake will keep in an airtight container in a cool place (but not in the fridge) up to 4 days.

Per piece
1050 kJ/250 calories; 4 g protein; 16 g fat (includes 2 g saturated fat); 22 g available carbs; 3 g fibre

Baker’s Tips 

• The wholemeal spelt flour can be replaced with 150g (1 cup) wholemeal plain flour and 120g (3/4 cup) plain flour. 
• The walnuts can be replaced with pecans. 

American dietitian and author of Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, Johanna Burani, shares favourite recipes with a low or moderate GI from her Italian kitchen. For more information, check out Johanna's website. The photographs are by Sergio Burani. His food, travel and wine photography website is photosbysergio.com.



Roasted summer grape tomatoes.
If vegetables were ever in a parade, tomatoes would be the marching band, color guard and the festival queen! This recipe elevates the humble grape tomato to its rightful position of peerless distinctive taste. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of this recipe; the burst of flavor these tomatoes leave in your mouth is what sweet dreams are made of. I’ve divided the recipe into four generous 1-cup portions – anything less would be a tease. Serves 4.

8 cups grape tomatoes, washed
4 large fresh garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8 sprigs fresh rosemary



Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Place the tomatoes and the garlic in a large baking pan in one layer). Drizzle the oil evenly over them and sprinkle the salt and pepper. Mix.
Roast for 20 minutes, stirring once. Add the rosemary, stir, and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature as a side dish or over pasta or fish or mixed in with eggs. Great on grainy toast.

Per serve 
220kJ/900 calories; 4g protein; 14g fat (includes 2g saturated fat); 19g available carbs; 4g fibre

Here's how you can cut back on the food bills and enjoy fresh-tasting, easily prepared, seasonal, satisfying and delicious low or moderate GI meals that don’t compromise on quality and flavour one little bit with our Money Saving Meals including this Slow-cooked lamb shank and barley soup with gremolata reproduced with permission from Chrissy Freer’s new book, Supergrains (Murdoch Books)

Slow-cooked lamb shank and barley soup with gremolata.
Here at GI News we think this is the perfect hearty winter soup for a family meal with leftovers for lunch (how good is that?). To cut back the fat (I did when testing it this week), trim all the visible fat off the lamb shanks and pancetta. And as my butcher only ever has large lamb shanks, I just used two. It was plenty. I didn’t use any salt and pepper to season as it’s full of flavour with the gremolata (and the little red chilli I couldn’t resist chopping and adding). Serves 6.

2 tbs olive oil
4 small lamb shanks (or 2 larger ones), french trimmed
100g (3½oz) sliced pancetta, rind removed, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, trimmed and diced
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
4 cups chicken stock
400g (14oz) can chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup pearl barley, briefly rinsed
2 fresh bay leaves (or 1 dried)
 
Gremolata
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 garlic clove, crushed



Heat half the oil in a stockpot or large saucepan over medium–high heat. Add lamb and cook, turning, for 4–5 minutes or until well browned. Transfer to a plate and carefully wipe the base of the pan.
Heat the remaining oil in the stockpot. Add the pancetta, carrots, celery and onion and cook, stirring, for 8 minutes or until soft.
Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for 1 minute more, then return the lamb to the stockpot. Add the stock, tomatoes, pearl barley and bay leaves to the stockpot. Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 2 hours or until the meat falls from the bone. Use tongs to transfer the lamb to a plate. Remove the meat from the bones and coarsely shred. Skim and discard any excess fat from the surface of the soup, then add the shredded meat and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper if you wish.
To make the gremolata, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Serve the soup sprinkled with gremolata.
 
Per serve 
1030 kJ/ 245 calories; 16 g protein; 14 g fat (includes 4 g saturated fat); 12 g available carbs; 4 g fibre

We Are What We Ate

A-foraging we will go.
Foraging is back in fashion. Danish chef Rene Redzepi’s passion for foraging and using native ingredients put Noma on the map and triggered a small culinary revolution. Most ‘urban foraging’ is for extras not survival – it’s for flavour foods like herbs and greens or seasonal fare like mushrooms or picking overhanging fruit from other people’s yards ... In this piece reproduced with permission, Dr Alyssa Crittenenden and colleagues talk about the Hadza hunter–gatherers who live in a savanna–woodland habitat in Northern Tanzania and forage to live.

What do they forage for? ‘Approximately 300 individuals, of a total population of 1000, practice a strictly hunting and gathering way of life. Their diet can be conveniently categorized into five main categories: tubers, berries, meat, baobab, and honey. We showed the Hadza photos of these foods and asked them to rank them in order of preference. For both women and men the most preferred food was honey and the least preferred food was tubers. Baobab was ranked third by women and men. There were sex differences on the other two foods: women ranked berries second and meat fourth, while men ranked meat second and berries fourth. In addition, though both sexes ranked honey first, men did so significantly more often.’

 

Who forages for what? ‘Tubers comprise part of the Hadza diet year round and can often be located  three to four feet underground.  They are collected almost exclusively by the women (see Alyssa Crittenden's photo above) who use fire-hardened digging sticks to extract them from the often hard-packed soil. They usually roast some of their tubers when they finish digging and take the remainder (about 3/4 of their haul) back to camp to feed others. Typically the women go foraging in groups of three to eight women plus nurslings and some older children and collect baobab fruit and gather a variety of berries as well as digging for tubers.

Men usually go foraging alone. They hunt only with bow and arrows, poisoned arrows in the case of larger game. They always have their bow and arrows with them, even when they carry an axe to access honey. While on walkabout they often feed themselves on berries and baobab. They take back to camp mainly meat and honey, as well as some baobab. They may eat much of the honey they find but take back to camp about half of their haul on average, and about 9/10 of their meat. Grown men rarely dig tubers.

Children and adolescents are active foragers and are capable of collecting up to 50% of their daily energy requirement above the age of 5 years, depending on the season and availability. Young foragers tend to focus early collection on fruit and tubers, and although boys and girls spend considerable time digging tubers up until the age of 10 or 12 years, boys tend to abandon the group foraging parties at this age and begin solo hunting trips to hone their skills, while girls master the art of tuber digging.’

• Juvenile foraging among the Hadza: Implications for a human life history 
• Tubers as fallback foods and their impact on Hadza hunter-gatherers (Frank W. Marlowe and Julia Berbesque) 

GI Symbol News with Dr Alan Barclay

Dr Alan Barclay

Rice - enjoy it, but don't overdo it and opt for lower GI varieties
The Chinese were the first to cultivate rice more than 8000 years ago, and over the millenia, it has spread all around the world. It is such a success story as a crop that today it is considered to be the staple food for over half the world’s population and is the second most cultivated cereal crop in the world. Perhaps fittingly, rice is one of our main symbols of life and fertility: the tradition of throwing rice at weddings (now more commonly symbolised by confetti) stems from this belief. In many parts of the world, people eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner (in fact it can be around 20% or more of their daily calories), so perhaps unsurprisingly, in a number of languages the word for rice is the same as the word for food: “have you had rice?” in some cultures literally means “have you eaten?”

What about nutrition? Rice is a carbohydrate-rich food and is also a moderate source of protein (not complete, so it needs to be complemented with other sources like beans and lentils, dairy or meat). Brown rice in addition is a good source of fibre, B group vitamins (niacin and thiamin) and a source of minerals like magnesium, zinc and iron. To produce white rice, the bran layer is removed by milling, and this unfortunately reduces the amounts of fibre, vitamins and minerals. Believe it or not, white rice does not contain sufficient thiamine to enable the body to use the carbohydrate as a source of energy, leading to the development of beriberi if the diet doesn’t contain alternative sources. All rice is gluten free, and the current popularity of gluten free diets may be increasing sales of rice – at least in Australia where sales are up by nearly 4% over the past year.

What about your BGLs?  While there are very good reasons to consume brown rice rather than white, managing your blood glucose isn’t necessarily one of them. This is because it is the kind of starch in rice that is the main factor that affects the GI – not the size or colour of the grain – and the starch is found in the endosperm, not the bran. So polishing a grain of rice will not necessarily make it high GI; and brown rice is not necessarily low GI. What we now know is that the low or lower GI rices have a high proportion of amylose – a kind of starch that resists gelatinisation. Over the years, many varieties of rice have been GI tested and low or lower GI varieties are being identified and becoming increasingly available. One such variety is Doongara, a high amylose long grain rice developed and grown in Australia.

• SunRice Low GI White (formerly Doongara Clever) rice (GI53) is a versatile rice suitable for many dishes. Because it is hard to overcook, as it is a more forgiving grain, allowing you to overcook the rice for up to 5 minutes beyond the ideal cook time of 12 minutes, resulting in fluffy rice every time. However, we suggest you stick to the cooking times recommended!
• SunRice Low GI Brown rice (GI54) is a specially developed Doongara long grain rice with a delicious nutty flavour and a chewy texture. It can be used across a wide range of dishes including salads, stir fries, casseroles, curries or as a side dish. 

How much? Remember to keep portions moderate, because even when you choose a low GI rice, eating too much can have a marked effect on your blood glucose. Remember, 1 cup of cooked rice is equivalent to around 45g carbs or 3 exchanges.



Cauliflower and chickpea curry
2 tsp vegetable oil •1 onion, finely chopped • 2 tbs rogan josh curry paste or other medium-hot curry paste • 400g/14oz canned chopped tomatoes • 1½ cups vegetable stock • 1 cauliflower medium size, cut into florets • 400g/14oz can chickpeas, rinsed, drained • ½ bunch coriander, chopped • ½ cup natural yoghurt
To serve: 2 cups cooked SunRice Low GI Brown Rice

In a saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook gently until soft (about 5 minutes). Add curry paste, stir while cooking for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and stock then simmer for 5 minutes. Add cauliflower and chickpeas and simmer until cauliflower is just cooked. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix the yoghurt and coriander. Place in a large bowl and spoon the yoghurt mixture on top. Serve with rice. Serves 4

The GI Symbol, making healthy low GI choices easy choices



For more information about the GI Symbol Program
Dr Alan W Barclay, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Glycemic Index Foundation (Ltd)
Phone: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Mob: +61 (0)416 111 046
Fax: +61 (0)2 9785 1037
Email: alan.barclay@gisymbol.com
Website: www.gisymbol.com

GI Update with Prof Jennie Brand-Miller

Prof Jennie Brand-Miller answers your questions. 



I don’t understand how you can bake sweet foods like cakes or desserts that don’t have sugar in them (I'm not talking about artificial sweeteners here). What makes them sweet? Can you explain? 
I can see why it is a confused and confusing area. We have to go back to carbohydrate 101 for this. Sugar is a carbohydrate. So is starch. They are nature’s reserves created by energy from the sun, carbon dioxide and water. The simplest form of carbohydrate is a single-sugar molecule called a monosaccharide (mono meaning one, saccharide meaning sweet).

•  Glucose is a monosaccharide that occurs in food as glucose itself and also as the building block of starch. Fructose and galactose are also monosaccharides.

If two monosaccharides are joined together, the result is a disaccharide (two single-sugar molecules – di meaning two).

• Sucrose, or table sugar (refined sucrose from sugar cane), is a disaccharide. Every molecule of sucrose yields one molecule of fructose and one molecule of glucose. Thus 10 grams of sucrose (or 2 teaspoons) yields 5 grams of fructose and 5 grams of glucose. Lactose (glucose + galactose), the sugar in milk, and maltose (glucose + glucose) are also disaccharides. 

As the number of monosaccharides in the chain increases, the carbohydrate becomes less sweet. Rice syrup for example which is less sweet than table sugar is 45% maltose (glucose + glucose), 3% glucose, and 52% maltotriose (a trisaccharide consisting of glucose + glucose + glucose molecules). So, you can see that it’s still chemically very much a ‘sugar’ but it is described as being ‘sugar-free’ by sugar-free/quit-sugar diet advocates because it does not contain any fructose. Maltodextrins are oligosaccharides (oligo meaning a few). They taste only a little sweet.

What about GI? Table sugar which as I have said is refined sucrose has a GI of between 60 and 65. Remember, sucrose is a disaccharide (double sugar) composed of one glucose molecule coupled to one fructose molecule. So, when we consume sucrose, only half of what we’ve eaten is actually glucose; the other half is fructose. While the blood glucose response to glucose is high (GI 100), it is very modest to fructose (GI 19), because fructose is absorbed and taken directly to the liver where it is immediately used as the source of energy. This explains why the blood glucose response to 50 grams of sucrose is approximately half that of 50 grams of corn syrup or maltodextrins – where the molecules are all glucose.

GI testing by an accredited laboratory
North America
Dr Alexandra Jenkins
Glycemic Index Laboratories
20 Victoria Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M5C 298 Canada
Phone +1 416 861 0506
Email info@gilabs.com
Web www.gilabs.com

Australia
Fiona Atkinson
Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS)
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences
Sydney University
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9351 6018
Fax: + 61 2 9351 6022
Email sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Web www.glycemicindex.com

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GI News—July 2013

• Our clockwork body - why when we eat matters for our health; 
• New low GI gluten-free foods on supermarket shelves; 
• Going bananas for good health;  
• Better-for-you family baking: Banana Bread and flourless Applesauce Oat Bran Muffins with Pinoli;  
• Understanding the difference between GI, GL and glycemic response;  
• The real health benefits of low GI/GL diets.   

GI News 
Editor: Philippa Sandall
Web management and design: Alan Barclay, PhD
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Food for Thought

Baking boom. 
Home baking is on the rise as many people rediscover the joy of baking better-for-you desserts and snacks packed with wholesome ingredients you can ‘picture in their raw state or growing in nature’ (Michael Pollan’s Food Rule Number 14) along with the pleasure that a home-baked cake, muffin or cookie brings family and friends.

‘Baking brings love alive,’ says food writer Kate McGhie. ‘From the day I first licked the mixing bowl I was hooked,’ she confesses. ‘Growing up in the country, I was immersed in baking for an early age. Plonked as a tot on the large kitchen table I absorbed the knowledge of my Mother and her Mother. There was no holding back. I wanted to bake. Baking is different from cooking. You cook for yourself but with baking you are making something for other people. Before long I realised that the torch of love is lit in the kitchen. It is called baking.’


Anneka Manning's Nutty Oat Biscuits from The Low GI Family Cookbook is one of those recipes where there's lots to do for children who love to help with baking

Don an apron. You don’t have to deny yourself and those you love the pleasure of home baking eating the low GI way. Quite the opposite. Here at GI News we know that enjoying something sweet is instinctual and hard to ignore. After all, honey was a significant part of hunter-gatherer diets and a lot more concentrated back then as a source of sugar than most of the sweet foods we eat today. However, we do recommend you stick (most of the time) with better-for-you baking for desserts and snacks and keep seriously sugary and creamy indulgences for ever-so-very occasional treats.

Here are our tips for great-tasting, better-for-you, lower GI baking the whole family will love. First of all, downsize portions (a little goes a long way) – small pieces for cakes, bars, and slices; little bites for cookies and biscuits; and mini or medium tins for muffins and cupcakes. And when you pull out your favourite cookbooks, opt for recipes that:

• Make the most of wholegrain ingredients such as wholewheat/wholemeal flour, traditional rolled oats, and unprocessed bran to boost fibre and nutritional benefits. 
• Are light handed with added sugar replacing it with fresh or dried fruit or fruit purees for natural sweetness and bonus vitamins. 
• Cut back on (or cut out) butter and incorporate your favourite good fats – poly- or mono-unsaturated oils or spreads such as canola, sunflower, olive oil etc. 

This month, we have included two recipes to get you baking the ‘better-for-you’ way – Anneka Manning’s Banana Bread and Johanna Burani’s flourless Applesauce Oat Bran Muffins with Pinoli. Pinnies on (blokes, too). Enjoy.

What’s New?

Consensus on real health benefits of low GI/GL diets. 
After reviewing all the latest research on glycemic index, glycemic load and glycemic response, an international committee of leading nutrition scientists have released a Scientific Consensus Statement that concludes that carbohydrate quality (GI) matters and that the carbohydrates present in different foods affect post-meal blood glucose (sugar) differently, with important health implications. They also confirmed that there is convincing evidence from a large body of research that low GI/GL diets reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, help control blood glucose in people with diabetes, and may also help with weight management. They recommend including GI and GL in national dietary guidelines and food composition tables, and that packaging labels and symbols on low-GI foods should be considered. They also confirmed low GI measurements complement other ways of characterising carbohydrate foods (such as fiber and whole grain content), and should be considered in the context of an overall healthy diet.

Walter Willett, MD, DrPH, Chairman of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and one of the participating scientists said, ‘Given essentially conclusive evidence that high GI/GL diets contribute to risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, reduction in GI and GL should be a public health priority.’

Star-based food labelling system for Australia. 
A new voluntary front-of-pack food labelling scheme which gives a foods a star rating based on the amount of sugars, saturated fats and salt present in the food has been approved by an intergovernmental forum on food policy. ‘From a communications point of view the star system is a step in the right direction,’ comments nutritionist Bill Shrapnel. ‘However, there are problems with the suggested criteria’ he says, pointing out that:

• Saturated fat content is only useful for assessing fat-rich foods. 
• Using the kilojoule content of a food as a criterion is misguided. It will encourage food manufacturers to lower the fat content of foods, irrespective of the fat type. Removing unsaturated fat from foods will produce harm, not benefit. 
• Sugar content is a poor measure of a food’s nutritional quality. In the case of packaged breakfast cereals, for some reason a priority food for the new system, sugar content is not related to nutrient density, GI, calorie content or anything else likely to affect health. If sugar is a criterion, people will be misled.’ 

Beware the low fat health halo effect. 
A recent study in Appetite that looked at the role of low-fat claims and caloric information on food intake, calorie estimates, and health attributions found that the participants both underestimated the calorie content of low-fat-labelled foods and perceived low-fat-labelled foods as healthier than regular-labelled versions of the same food. They also rated low-fat-labelled candy as significantly better tasting when they had caloric information available. The bottom line: Low-fat labelling may be a more powerful determinant of health attributions than caloric information.

What’s new on the bookshelf?  
#1 Catherine Saxelby's Ancient Grains – whole food recipes for the modern table (Arbon) provides a diverse menu of wholesome, grain-based recipes for the whole family. In her foreword to this attractive cookbook-cum-whole-grains-reference-book, Prof Manny Noakes writes: ‘We have known about the health benefits of less processed grain foods for a long time, but only recently have we had the opportunity to choose from a much wider range of grains. Among the benefits of eating whole grains that seem most appealing is the evidence that they actively assist in weight management. More particularly, whole grains seem to help with fat loss from the abdominal (tummy) region. It is not yet known why this may be the case. Is it due to the presence of fibre, the fibre type or structure, the whole grain itself, the GI of the grain, or the effect of the grain on appetite control? Some or all of these reasons are possible explanations. For weight management, having at least three serves per day of high-fibre, whole-grain, low GI foods is a good starting point.’ And that’s where this book can help. It is packed with over 100 delicious grain-based recipes (many of them low GI) including numerous gluten-free dishes for people with c0eliac disease or a gluten intolerance providing a diverse menu of recipes for all occasions for the whole family.

 

#2 The 70-plus recipes in chef Michael Moore's Blood Sugar: The Family are underpinned by his healthy eating and living philosophy that great food can be local, sustainable, flavoursome and innovative. Michael was diagnosed with diabetes at 35 and later had a stroke, so he is passionate about eating well and making sure you have lots of fresh fruit and veggies. From healthy versions of everyday meals (macaroni cheese, fishcakes, pizza, blueberry muffins) to more exotic fare (salmon tataki, rare beef salad) there's plenty here to enjoy for breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacks in between. It's certainly a book to drool over with gorgeous photographs throughout. Although we don't agree with his demonising foods like potatoes, pasta and rice (they do have a place in a healthy diet), it's good to see a book with imaginative recipes making the most of legumes, quinoa, buckwheat and barley.

Nicole's Taste of Health

Going bananas! 
Ever wondered where this came from? According to Wiki, we can trace it back to monkeys becoming somewhat intoxicated after feasting on fermented bananas that had fallen onto the forest floor and going crazy ... You could call it a natural banana daiquiri! But, it’s not just monkeys who love bananas, fermented or otherwise. They are one of the world's most popular fruits and a lunchbox favourite for kids, provided they aren’t too ripe and squishy, in which case they are perfect for cooking. Talking about going bananas, here in Australia we certainly did after Cyclone Yasi destroyed most of the crop in 2011 and bananas climbed as high as $15 a kilogram (about $3 or $4 per banana).

The banana growers of Australia are one the biggest produce grower groups and are one of only a few to advertise their product on prime time TV up against the usual fast food, confectionery and the like. I’m rather fond of their tag line “make those bodies sing” talking up the benefits to kids, and more recently “nature’s energy snack” where they contrast the ugly side of snacking on “no-nos” with the great nutrition story of “na-nas”.  And they really do compete nicely, thank you, with an economical price, ready-made packaging, portability and great eating.

Many people believe bananas are fattening – probably because they taste so good! They aren't. A medium sized banana only has around 420 kilojoules (100 calories) and really satisfies the appetite. And that creamy, mouth-filling texture is thanks to their low water content and starch-sugar combination. They are fat free. Because bananas taste sweet people often assume they are high GI but in fact they have a low GI (52). Even when they’re over-ripe and much of the starch has converted to sugar, they still fall into the low GI category.


Na-nas are a nutrition powerhouse with a bundle of nutrients along with their sustained energy. That’s why you’ll see professional cyclists (and weekend warriors) with bananas strapped to their handlebars for on-the-run refuelling. Bananas are the go-to source of potassium (my grandma tells me that), and more potassium in the diet is a good thing for helping maintain ideal blood pressure. While bananas may hide in the shadows of more trendy super-fruits, they contain antioxidants too. But they really shine for being a rich source of vitamin B6, providing a third to half the recommended daily amount. The list of good stuff in bananas also includes with B-vitamins, vitamin C and fibre.

When buying bananas, select both ripe and under-ripe fruit: bananas ripen in your fruit bowl so this ensures you have a steady supply. Because bananas emit ethylene gas as they ripen, a good trick is to place fruits you want to ripen – such as hard avocadoes – in a brown paper bag with bananas to bring them along. Keep them cool but not in the fridge which will cause their skin to go brown. Don’t be put off by dark patches on the skin as the fruit is usually still firm underneath. And if by chance they hang around long enough to become over-ripe, pop them in the freezer as they are (in their skin) and take them out as you need them for baking. Alternatively, mash them and freeze in the ice cube tray ready to pop out into a smoothie. Another idea to freeze them on a stick as natural, delicious popsicles – the kids will love ’em. Whatever the time of day, bung in a banana!



Nicole Senior is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist, author, speaker, consultant, and commentator with an interest in how we can learn to love good food that's good for us.