What is Glycemic?
BG avg. 122 DL\mg (getting there. My goal is below 105 on average)
Weight: 157.4 (I’ll weigh-in every Tuesday)
Exercise: light. (I was getting ready for a competition. yes an excuse.)
In simple terms glycemic is the affect Carbohydrates have on the body. Things that are low glycemic have less of an overall affect then those that are high glycemic. Refined white sugar is High Glycemic. Which means it will quickly increase a persons Serum Glucose levels. Under normal circumstances the body senses this and either produces more insulin or triggers the liver to store it as fat. Diabetics are not normal. So we should avoid high glycemic foods or any food that does not allow out BG levels to get back with-in a normal range 2 hours after we eat.
Is this what they mean net Net Carbs?
Well yes and no. Food producers can get away with “Net Carbs” because they do not use refined sugar. They use Sugar Alcohols instead. These are listed as Manitol, Sorbitol, or Maltitol. Essentually if it ends in “tol” it’s a Sugar Alcohol. These are large molecule sugars. The body needs to break them down into simple carbohydrates first so there affects are over a longer period. So the affect is not immediate and a persons BG levels may or may not reflex the consumption of Sugar Alcohols.
Net affect of carbohydrates are also affect my the amount of fiber and fat is in a food. Fiber has a greater affect then, but but will lower the Glycemic rating of a food. We all know that whole grains are higher in fiber. While it is not total accurate it is safe to reduce the amount of carbohydrates by the amount of fiber. If you look at the label for Wonder’s Whole Wheat bread you will see that the Carbohydrates are 15g and Fiber is 3gs. This would mean the net carbohydrates are 12g. Fats are not a one to one relationship, but they will further reduce the 12 grams to maybe 11 grams. Plus there is a limit to effect fat has on carbohydrates. So eating more fat will not reduce the carbohydrates any further.
How do I know if it high or low and what is Glycemic Load?
Well there is a publish list of most foods. This list can be purchased from The Glycemic Index plus they have an online database. Glycemic Load is based on the index value and portion size. Obviously eating a whole donut would have a greater load then just taking a bite and tossing the rest to Fido (BTW Dogs can be diabetic too). The real trick here is to consume foods that are below a glycemic index of 55 and consume less of the foods that are above 55. By less I mean smaller portions. Nobody says you have to cut out eating that baked Russet potato; however, instead of eating all of it you should eat half. Instead of eating a cup of mashed potatoes eat a half cup. Better yet eat a cup of sweet potatoes. Yes they have more carbohydrates then white potatoes, but they have a lessor Glycemic Load. This is due to the type of carbohydrate found in a sweet potato. Sweet potatoes contain complex carbohydrates whereas white potatoes contain more of a simple carbohydrate.
One other thing can have an impact on the Glycemic Index and Load. The way a food is prepared. Microwaves are nice when you are in a hurry, but in foods that straddle the low to high fence they should be avoided. Because Microwaves essentially boil a food from the inside out they can increase a foods Glycemic Index dramatically. For instance a baked russet has an index of 58. A microwaved russet has an index of 78. Over cooking starchy foods should be avoided for the same reason. Food should be cooked El Dante. Which literally means to tooth or cooked enough that you can easily bite through it. Mushy rice, beans, or potatoes are not good. Rice grains should be cooked till they are tender, but don’t stick together. If they water you are boiling your potatoes or beans in starts to thicken you went too far. Baked foods are best. Deep Fried is better then shallow fried. Stir-fried is even better. If you need to add oil to a food use Olive oil or Cannola oil. Avoid added sugar, especially if it’s refined sugar.
I like sweet foods?
OK I do too. There is hope. There is a sugar product on the market that has had 3 of it hydrogen atoms replaced with three chlorine atoms. OHHH YUCK. Nope. The end result changes Sucrose to Sucralose. It is just as sweet as it Carbohydrate loaded cousin, but contains ZERO carbohydrates. Anything you can do with Sugar you can do with Sucralose. Spoonful to Spoonful they sweeten the same way. What is this miracle product? Splenda!!
Yes I have heard all the stories about cramps and bad taste. I once sat there intently listen to a colleague tell me that with-in minutes of eating anything containing Splenda she would get unbearable cramps. She was telling me this while eating ribs I had cooked and praising their goodness. I simply did not have the heart to tell her the Sugar I used in the sauce was Splenda. Nor did she develop any cramps. Another friend of my was telling me that Splenda left a metallic taste in his mouth. He was telling me this while drinking Sweet Tea I had made. Yep you guess it Sweet = Splenda and no metallic taste.
Not sure how much weight being FDA approved carries anymore, but it is the only artificial sweetener on the market that is FDA approved. Lets face it when you are cooking do you really want a sweetener that turns into Formaldehyde in your food. Sodium Saccharin never did taste sweet to me. So go ahead reach of the yellow packet it won’t hurt you.
For those of you following these blog pages (I hope their are those following the pages) I will be off line for the next couple of days. I will be in Tryon, NC at the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival trying to win some money. I will return Sunday.