Day 20 of our 30-day nutrition challenge is to swap one item for a similar item which has a lower glycaemic index rating to have:
- More sustainable energy & concentration
- Reduced the risk of Diabetes type 2 and heart disease
- Less cravings for sweet foods
- Reduced body fat from reduced snacking
- Increased dietary variety
The glycemic index is a ranking (0-100) of how carbohydrates affect blood glucose levels. A low GI rating means the food releases it’s glucose more slowly causing a slower rise in blood glucose and therefore beneficial for Diabetics, and reducing your risk of Diabetes type 2 and heart disease.
A search facility where you can type in foods to identify their glycaemic rating can be found here, and you can also watch our Glycaemic Index webinar and tune into our Bitesize Nutrition podcast.
You might like to switch:
- White potato to sweet potato
- White rice to white basmati rice
- Banana for an apple
- White for wholemeal roti
- White bread for granary/seeded bread
However, not all low GI foods are healthy – chocolate is low GI but that’s because the fat content slows the absorption of glucose.
And if you want a energy boost before exercise then high glycemic index foods are OK. Listen to Bitesize Nutrition podcast with Dr Adam Collins discussing gender, food & exercise for more details on what to eat around exercise depending on your gender.
It’s also worth knowing that although it is a good guide to improve energy and reduce risk of Diabetes type 2 and heart disease it isn’t perfect – the calculations are based on 50g of the food item but in real life we don’t eat 50g we eat varying amounts. So a more appropriate rating would be Glycaemic Load.
You can have cake!
Obviously, life is about living and enjoying food. So yes cakes, biscuits etc are going to be enjoyed. If you’d like to lower the glycemic effect of sweet foods it’s best to eat them with either fibre, fat or protein.
Fibre
Food which contain fibre e.g. whole grains, fruit/vegetables with skin slows down the absorption of glucose e.g. new potatoes are better then mash potato, an orange is better than squeezed orange juice.
Fat
Fat lowers the GI of food e.g. chocolate example given above. Crisps are also lower GI than potatoes because they have been cooked in fat, but again doesn’t make them healthier – it just reduces the affect on blood glucose. The crisps will still have more calories.
Protein
Protein also lowers the GI rating, and protein is an easy addition to a meal or snack to positively affect blood glucose balance e.g. glass of milk with biscuit.
How much is OK?
It’s not just about the GI rating, the amount of carbohydrate also matters. Pasta is lower GI than watermelon yet it has more carbohydrates so checking portion size is also important.
If you’d like to find out more tips to improve your health check out our webinars and our Bitesize Nutrition podcasts. If you’re not into podcasts (yet!) listen free without registration on your phone or PC by clicking on the podcast link in this paragraph, or you can find Bitesize Nutrition on iTunes and Spotify.
Don’t forget to let us know what you think using #nutritionchallenge30
A reminder:
- The information in this article is for educational purposes and should not replace medical advice.
- The information is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition.
- If you have a diagnosed medical condition, you should consult a doctor before making any major changes to your diet, and;
- Some supplements may interact with medications and you should check with your GP before commencing any supplement programme.
