Food for Thought
Forget about low-fast this, carb-free that, and diets that require rocket science-level math to compute portion sizes and caloric intake. There’s an easy way to eat your way to health and fitness. The diet and weight loss industry is booming. Everywhere you turn, there’s one gimmick or another guaranteed to melt the pounds away. From billboards away. From billboards and magazine ads to TV commercials and web spam, you can’t escape the promises of the latest and greatest. Trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t is enough to drive you crazy. So we took all that diet gobbledygook apart and made things simple for you. Here’s what you need to know about healthy eating.
Understanding Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are your body’s primary source of energy. As they are digested and released into the bloodstream as glucose, they signal cells in the pancreas to produce insulin, which escorts glucose into the cells, where it is metabolized into energy. According to conventional wisdom, carbohydrates are lumped into two main categories: simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are so named because they contain only one or two simple sugars, such as sucrose or fructose, Starchy carbohydrates, comprised of long chains of sugars, are considered complex. The old school of thought figures simple carbs are bad and should only be eaten in limited quantities, while complex carbs are given carte blanche since, in theory, they have less of an impact on blood sugar levels.
Turns out, it’s much more complicated than this. We now know that the effect carbohydrate foods have on blood sugar goes far beyond the old simple-complex carbohydrates such as potatoes and rice rapidly drive up blood sugar levels like “simple” carbs, while the blood sugar effects of “complex” grains are dependent on factors such as particle size. For example, whole oats behave quite differently than instant oatmeal. This is why a preferred method of evaluating carbohydrate foods based on the glycemic index (GI) had evolved. Glycemic Index vs. Glycemic load
The GI measures the degree to which carbohydrate containing foods trigger a rise in blood sugar levels. (Proteins and fat have little effect on blood sugar.) Foods with a low GI provoke smaller, more sustained elevations and provide a nice, steady supply of glucose and energy. Foods with a high GI, however, prompt rapid blood sugar spikes, followed by equally dramatic plummets. If you’ve ever experienced a “food coma” a few hours after a carb-heavy meal, you now know why. Building on this knowledge, Walter Willett, MD, professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues took the concept of the GI and expanded it into something more practical: the glycemic load (GI). Simply put, GL take into account quality and quantity. It us determined by both the GI of any given food, plus the amount of available, or net, carbohydrates {fiber excluded ) in a standard serving. The GI has revealed a few surprises: Some foods with a high GI actually have minimal effects on blood sugar levels when eaten in normal quantities, while others with a low GI are potentially problematic. For example, a large carrot and a cup of spaghetti have similar GIs. Yet that carrot contains only 5 grams of available carbs (it’s mostly water), while the spaghetti contains 38 grams, giving them GL s of 2 and 16, respectively. Therefore, they have dramatically different effects on blood sugar. Carrots, watermelon pineapple, and other fruits with a high GI once thought to be inappropriate fore those minding their glucose levels turn out to be acceptable, while the GL confirms the need to go easy on pasta, breads, and other starchy, carbohydrate-dense foods.
The Benefits of a Low GI/GL Diet
Hundreds of studies on the effects of a low GI or diet have been conducted, most of them focused on diabetes. One typical study, a meta-analysis of clinical trials involving more that 350 diabetic patients, revealed that a low GL diet improved both long and short term management of blood sugar levels. But eating low GL carbs has other benefits as well. A large, multi, multi year study by Harvard researchers found that overweight women who eat a high GL diet were twice as likely to develop coronary heart disease as their thinner counterparts who consumed low GI foods High GL diets area also linked to increased risk of diabetes, gallbladder disease, and elevations in triglycerides, cholesterol, and C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation implicated in a number of disease). The GI/GL may also play a key role in weight loss. To date, 15 published studies demonstrate that when people eat foods with a low GI, they feel full longer and end up eating less.
Lighten Your Load
The final message: Strive to lighten your glycemic load. That means lots of salads, green vegetables, beans, and legumes. Go east on breads, and for sweet treats opt for fruit and occasional desserts made with a sugar substitute. Of course, the glycemic load is not the only consideration in a healthful diet. White sugar has a low GL, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for anything. And don’t let the GL lull you into overeating: You still need to be mindful of calories and portion control. In addition to healthy carbs a healthy diet program me should also include modest amounts of healthy fast and moderate portions of protein with each meal. This aids in blood sugar control for diabetic patients and also helps with weight loss. One study conducted at the University of lllinois conformed that a protein-rich diet, in conjunction with exercise, is more effective at reducing body fat than a diet low in calories alone. A nice piece of grilled chicken or banana leaf wrapped steamed pomfret accompanied by a hearty salad, is an easy way to get a tasty serving of healthy fats, plenty of protein, and lots of low GL carbs Food Glycemic Index (GL) Serving Glycemic Load (GL) Peanuts 14 15 gm 2 Carrots 47 1 large 2 Peas 48 ½ cup 3 Watermelon 72 1 cup 4 Apples 38 1 medium 6 Kidney Beans 28 1 cup 7 Popcorn 72 2 cup 7 Honey 55 1 tablespoon 9 Whit Bread 70 1 slice 10 Ice cream 61 1 cup 10 Corn 60 ½ cup 11 Oatmeal 58 1 cup 12 Pizza 30 2 slice 13 Low-Fat Yoghurt 33 1 cup 16 Spaghetti 42 1 cup 16 Raisins 62 1 small box 20 French Fries 75 1/3 cup 22 Vanilla Cake with Frosting 42 1 small slice 24 Backed Potato 85 1 medium 28 Potato chips 54 150 gm 30 Macaroni and Cheese 64 1 serving 30 Snickers Bar 55 1 bar 35
Sweet ‘N’ Sour South
South Indian cuisine is generally considered healthier and a good deal leaner than its makhan and meat-land Northern counterpart. That reputation however hangs on what (and how much) is going into the pot. Toss a generous dollop of ghee onto your upma and this humble snack turns into a hear attack on a plate worthy of Murg Mussalam. Take a look at how the following treats stack up. 350 Kcals
LIME RICE (4 servings) Ingredients 120 mg cooked rice; 1T* refined oil; 1 big lemon, 20 peanuts; 6 cashews; 30 gm grated coconut (optional); turmeric powder, coriander leaves, mustard seeds, green chillies, curry leaves, salt 281 Kcals
VEGETABLE UPMA (4 servings) Ingredients 250 gm semolina; 1T oil; 125 gm mixed vegetables peas, carrots, capsicum; 1 large onion; 1 tomato; cinnamon, clove, mustard, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, curry leaves, coriander leaves, juice ½ lemon 258 Kcals
OBATTU (4 servings) Ingredients Filling –100 gm channa dal; 200 gm jaggery; cardamom, Dough 250 gm refined flour; 4 T oil (no additional oil is added while cooking); water, turmeric powder, salt 423 Kcals
PAYASAM (4 servings) Ingredients 200 gm vermicelli; ½ ltr toned milk/skim milk + 1T skim milk powder; 100 gm sugar/sugar substitute; 1T ghee; 20 pistachios; 20 cashews; 20 raisins; cardamom
NOTE: All vales are for per serving; * 1 T = 1 tablespoon
