Friday

Have you forgotten your New Year Resolutions already, and do the summer holidays seem like years away?

Sugar is receiving a lot of press at the moment.

(If you have access to, or , look for a fascinating talk By Dr Robert Lustig  a leading endocrinologist and author of “Fat Chance”.  Also see Jeremy Paxman on the BBC news talking to a Coca Cola representative.)
Sugar causes all sorts of damage not least pushing up cholesterol levels, cardiovascular damage and diabetes. The glycaemic index or load is a measure of how fast carbohydrates and foods breakdown into sugar in the bloodstream. Insulin moves the sugar to the liver and then turns it into fat to be stored round all the places we don’t want it!
Becoming familiar with the glycaemic index of foods will help your choices.
  • White baguettes are almost the same as pure glucose!
  • Protein foods such as beans, chicken and fish are low in carbohydrate so can slow down the sugar effect of a meal when included. 
  • Leaving the skins on potatoes and choosing wholemeal versions of foods lowers the score.
  • Freshly made natural foods are always best as ready meals and processed snacks are full of hidden salt, fat and sugar.
  • Fructose is a form of sugar to be especially wary of. When found naturally in whole fruit the fibre slows down the release of fructose , but in the form of added fructose or fruit juice it can be very damaging.  Some cardiologists want fructose regulated in the same way as alcohol! Both need to be processed by your liver.
See our GI Index below which will help you make informed choices when choosing what foods to eat.


The GI (Glycaemic Index) of common foods
Many factors can alter the G.I of foods. Overcooking will increase the score as the carbohydrates are more refined, and therefore absorbed more quickly. Watermelon appears high but as there is very little available carbohydrates in a portion its overall Glycemic Load is low.

Sugars
GI
Breads & biscuits
GI
Grains & grain products
GI
Vegetables
GI
Snacks & drinks
GI
Glucose
100
Baguette white
95
Brown rice pasta
92
Parsnips - cooked
97
Lucozade
95
Maltose
100
Rice cake
82
Apple muffin
85
Potato – baked
85
Pretzels
83
Honey
87
Crispbread
81
Bran muffin
84
Potato - instant
80
Jelly beans
80
Sucrose
59
Water biscuit
76
Pastry
84
Pumpkin - boiled
75
Corn chips
72
Fructose
20
Waffle
76
White rice
72
Fries
75
Fanta
68


Wholegrain wheat bread
70
Taco shells
68
Potato, new, boiled
70
Mars Bar
68
Fruits
GI
Bagel
72
Brown rice
66
Beetroot – cooked
64
Squash – diluted
66
Dates
102
White bread
69
Cous cous
65
Sweetcorn
59
Muesli bar (with fruit)
65
Watermelon *
72
Ryvita
69
Basmati rice
58
Sweet potato
54
Muesli bar
61
Pineapple
66
Crumpet
69
Brown basmati
55
Peas
51
Popcorn –low fat
55
Melon
65
Digestive biscuit
59
Buckwheat
54
Carrots
49
Potato crisps
54
Raisins
64
Pitta bread
57
Quinoa
53
Broad beans
27
Orange juice
46
Banana
62
Sourdough rye bread
57
Instant noodles
42


Apple juice
40
Apricots (fresh)
57
Rich tea biscuit
55
Wholemeal spaghetti
42
Cereals

Peanuts
14
Kiwi
52
Oatcake
54
Barley
26
Puffed rice
90


Grapes
52
Wholegrain rye bread
41
Protein foods

Cornflakes
80
Pulses

Orange
46


Chicken- less than
15
Weetabix
75
Baked beans
48
Strawberries
40
Dairy

Fish- less than
15
Shredded wheat
67
Baked beans no sugar
40
Raspberries
40
Tofu ice cream
73
Meats- less than
15
Muesli
66
Butter beans
36
Apple
39
Ice cream –low fat
50
Eggs-less than
15
Kellogg’s Special K
54
Chickpeas
36
Plum
39
Yoghurt
36
Almonds
15
Kellogg’s All Bran
52
Back eye beans
33
Pear
38
Whole milk
35
Walnuts
12
Porridge Oats
49
Haricot beans
31
Apricots (dried)
30
Skimmed milk
32
Macadamia nuts
10
Rice bran
19
Kidney beans
29
Grapefruit
25






Lentils
29
Cherries
25






Soya beans
15


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