What is the GI?Carbohydrates are one of the best sources of energy for our bodies. The simplest form of carbohydrate is glucose, which is:
Surprisingly, most of us don't eat too much carbohydrate, but all too often we eat the wrong kind, because not all carbohydrates are created equal. This is where the glycemic index or GI comes in. It's about recognising the 'smart carbs' - the low GI ones - and making sure we include them in our main meals and snacks. The GI is simply a dietary tool that helps us differentiate between the various carbohydrate foods we eat and how our bodies use them.
Research has shown that if we eat too many high GI foods and not enough low ones, we are at risk of developing significant health problems.
For more on the GI, visit: www.glycemicindex.com Good sources of carbohydrateCarbohydrate foods come mainly from plants - cereal grains, legumes, fruit and starchy vegetables. Some dairy foods like milk and yoghurt also contain carbohydrate. Common sources of carbohydrate include:
The health benefits of low GI eatingThe scientific evidence supporting the health benefits of a healthy low GI diet is overwhelming. We know from over 25 years of research from around the world that healthy low GI diets:
Low GI eating really is for everybody, every day, every meal. Health organisations support for the GIKnowing the GI of foods is of particular value to people with diabetes who need to manage their blood glucose levels carefully. Perhaps unsurprisingly, diabetes organisations such as Diabetes Australia, Canadian Diabetes Association, European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the South African Diabetes Association encourage an understanding and use of GI in meal planning. However, lowering the GI of diet can also lead to better health for everybody through improved heart health and helping to manage appetite. Health and nutrition authorities from around the world recommend that everyone use the GI as a tool when looking for healthy food choices:
Using the GI is easyIt's all about balance. To achieve any of the health benefits of low GI eating, you need to make sure that you include plenty of low GI 'smart' carbs as part of a healthy balanced diet. How? Step 1. Swap high GI foods for low GI ones in the same food group. There are plenty to choose from. The foods you choose should also be low in saturated fat, moderate in sodium (salt) and high in fibre. Foods that meet all of these requirements carry the GI Symbol.
Step 2. Consume at least one serving of a low GI carbohydrate food at each meal and choose low GI carbohydrate foods for your snacks. Step 3. Keep your eyes on that serving size. Be conscious of the quantity of carbohydrates you eat. Eating too much food, even healthy choices, will most likely pile on the pounds/kilos. And get moving. Make sure you include at least 30 minutes of planned exercise like walking, swimming or riding a bike in your daily routine, plus 30 minutes of incidental exercise like using the stairs instead of the lift or going over to talk to a colleague instead of sending an email. Some things to keep in mind about the GIThe GI only applies to carbohydrate-rich foods It is not possible to obtain a GI value for foods which contain almost no carbohydrate. These foods include meats, fish, chicken, eggs, cheese, most nuts, oils, cream, butter and most vegetables. The GI is not intended to be used in isolation The GI of a food does not make it good or bad for you. High GI foods such as most potatoes and wholemeal breads still make valuable nutritional contributions to your diet. And low GI foods such as pastry that are high in fat (usually saturated fat) are no better for you because of their low GI. The nutritional benefits of different foods are many and varied, and we suggest you base your diet on a wide variety of foods that are low in salt and saturated fat, high in fibre and have a low GI. You don’t need to avoid all high GI foods There is no need to eat only low GI foods. While you will benefit from eating low GI carbs at each meal, this doesn't have to mean excluding all others. A meal that includes a high GI food such as a typical potato and a low GI food such as sweet corn will result in a lower GI overall. You don’t need to add up the GI each day The GI value of a food can be altered by the way it is processed or cooked, so we don’t believe it is possible to calculate a precise GI value for recipes or to predict the GI of a menu for the whole day. That’s why we prefer simply to categorise foods as low, medium or high GI in most circumstances. We have also seen the benefits people gain by simply substituting low GI foods for high GI foods in their everyday meals and snacks without more complicated dietary changes. Are foods containing sugar excluded? Not all sugars are the same. Many foods naturally high in sugars are very nutritious like fruit, milk and yoghurt. Unfortunately food labels don’t help you distinguish between the low or high GI sugars or tell you whether the sugars are naturally occurring or added. It's more useful to focus on a food’s overall GI (rather than the sugars), and if you need to watch your blood glucose levels, also look at total carbohydrate. Therefore nutritious foods high in sugar are not excluded. 10 tips for reducing the GI of your diet1. Pile half your dinner plate high with vegetables or salad Aim to eat at least five serves of vegetables (this doesn’t include the starchy ones like potatoes, sweet potatoes or sweet corn) every day, preferably of three or more different colours. 2. Cut back on most potatoes If you are a big potato eater and can't bear the thought of giving them up, you don't have to. Just cut back on the quantity. Choose a lower GI potato such as Almera, Nicola or Marfona or have one or two baby new potatoes with a small cob of corn or make a cannellini bean (they are white beans) and potato mash replacing half the potato with cannellini beans. Don't be afraid of trying other starchy vegetables like sweet potato, yams or taro - steamed, roasted or mashed. 3. Swap your bread Instead of high GI white and wholemeal breads, choose a really grainy bread where you can actually see the grains, granary bread, stone-ground wholemeal bread, real sourdough bread, soy and linseed bread, pumpernickel, fruit loaf or bread made from chickpea or other legume-based flours. 4. Replace those high GI crunchy breakfast flakes These refined breakfast cereals spike your blood glucose and insulin levels. Replace them with smart carbs like natural muesli or traditional (not instant) porridge oats or one of the lower GI processed breakfast cereals that will trickle fuel into your engine. 5. Make your starchy staples the low GI ones Look for the low GI rice's, serve your pasta al dente, choose less processed foods such as large flake or rolled oats for porridge or muesli and intact grains such as barley, buckwheat, bulgur, quinoa, whole kernel rye, or whole wheat kernels and opt for lower GI starchy vegetables. 6. Learn to love legumes (pulses) Include legumes like beans, lentils and chickpeas in your meals two or three times a week, more often if you are vegetarian. Add chickpeas to a stir-fry, red kidney beans to a chilli, a 4-bean salad to that barbecue menu, and beans or lentils to a casserole or soup. 7. Develop the art of combining No need to cut out all high GI carbs. The trick is to combine them with those low GI tricklers to achieve a moderate overall GI. How? Lentils with rice (think of that delicious classic Italian soup), rice with beans and chilli (go Mexican), tabbouli tucked into pita bread (with falafels of course and a dash of hummous), baked beans on toast or piled on a jacket-baked potato for classic comfort food. 8. Incorporate a lean protein source with every meal Eat lean meat, skinless chicken, fish and seafood, eggs, milk, yoghurt or cheese, or legumes and tofu if you are vegetarian. The protein portion should make up around a quarter of the plate/meal. 9. Tickle your taste buds Try vinaigrette (using vinegar or lemon juice with a dash of extra virgin olive oil) with salads, yoghurt with cereal, lemon juice on vegetables like asparagus, or sourdough bread. These foods contain acids, which slow stomach emptying and lower your blood glucose response to the carbs in the meal. 10. Go low GI when snacking If it is healthy and low GI, keep it handy. Grab fresh fruit, dried fruit, or fruit and nut mix, low fat milk and yoghurt (or soy alternatives), fruit bread etc for snacks. Limit (this means don't buy them every week) high GI refined flour products whether home baked or from the supermarket such as cookies, cakes, pastries, crumpets, crackers, biscuits, irrespective of their fat and sugar content. These really are the 'keep for the occasional treat' foods. Keep your eye on the serve size. Remember portion caution with carb-rich foods such as rice, al dente pasta and noodles, potatoes etc. Eating a huge amount of these foods, even of the low GI variety, will have a marked effect on your blood glucose. A cup of cooked noodles or al dente pasta or rice plus plenty of mixed non-starchy vegetables and a little lean protein can turn into 3 cups of a very satisfying meal. How low should you go?Because a low GI food is defined as 55 or less, people have made the reasonable assumption that a whole diet that averages less than 55 is 'low enough'. In fact the AVERAGE Australian and American diet already has a GI of 56 to 58 because we all eat low GI fruits and dairy products and of course table sugar (GI 65). So to reduce the risk of chronic disease, a low GI eating pattern/diet must have a much lower number. What we now know from research is that the GI of the diet of people in the lowest quintile (20% of the population) is about 45. Since this reduces the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and people can achieve it in real life, it's a reasonable definition of a low GI diet (ie, 45 or less). How do you achieve this? Simply substitute low for high GI foods in your everyday meals and snacks. Breakfast in particular is your opportunity to go for low GI 'Gold' by selecting a low GI breakfast cereal. Don't assume that just adding milk makes it a low GI meal! |
