Glycemic Index Cooking
Glycemic index cooking with healthy low GI ingredients.. GI is a numerical scale used to indicate how fast a particular food can raise our blood glucose level.
Starch is a complex carbohydrate found in plants, composed of many glucose molecules in chains. Although it has a complex structure, it doesn’t always get digested slower than simple sugar.
Starches in foods like pasta, breads and muffins absorb water during cooking, starch molecules swell and rupture and this is known as gelatinization. Gelatinized starch is easily digested by the body:
• Bread is a high glycemic food because the highly processed flour is easily gelatinized.
• Al dente pasta is lower in GI than overcooked pasta as the al dente absorbed less water during cooking and is less gelatinized.
• It is surprising to find out that most sugars other than glucose have low to medium glycemic indexes. Fructose in fruits has a GI of 23 and lactose has a GI of 46. That`s why many fruits and dairy products are low in glycemic index. Honey is also much lower in GI than glucose as it is a mix of a varierty of sugars. Please also note that brown sugar is not the less refined version of white sugar like many believe.
Low Glycemic Index Cooking – Eating Tips:
• In general, the less processed a food is, the lower its GI. Choose whole rather than refined grains, whole fruit rather than fruit juice- calories in fresh fruit is much lower, steel-cut oats rather than instant oatmeal and stone-ground rather than plain cornmeal. When buying whole-grain bread choose stone-ground, sprouted or cracked-wheat types; the grain kernels should be visible.
• Keep your glycemic index cooking as fresh, natural and raw possible. There is no need to eat your veggies raw but it makes sense to steam them lightly, leaving them crisp and crunchy rather than overcooking and killing all the nutrients and making them fiberless and higher in GI.
• Acids in fruits and fermented foods like yogurt lower the GI in these as they slow the digestion.
• Adding vinegar or lemon juice to a meal may also help significantly lower the GI.
• Don`t put bread and butter on your table. Bread is high in GI and butter high in saturated fats.
• Be easy on processed foods as they tend to be lower in fiber and GI.
• Replace potatoes with pasta and basmati or brown rice.
• Choose grainy breads to processed white bread.
• Adding a bit of protein to your carbohydrate based meal will help your stomach digest slowly. Some chicken or low fat cottage cheese on your pasta and a thin layer of peanut butter on your toast will lower the GI.
• Include a bit of healthy unsaturated fats in your glycemic index cooking as they also help slow the digestion and lower the GI: Use healthy low fat spreads, drizzle olive oil on your meals, sprinkle nuts on your salad.
• Sprinkle cinnamon on your porridge and add some dried fruits and nuts rather than sugar. Some people even take cinnamon supplements to lose weight! Check out amazing cinnamon health benefits!
Lactose Free Diet
Wheat Free Diet Plan
Gluten Free Diet
Healthy Budget Cooking
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