Wednesday May 10, 2006
Low GI food
FOOD SAFETY
By CHIA JOO SUAN
ARE pumpkin, sweet corn, and carrot suitable for people with diabetes? Could you include a list of other foods not suitable for diabetics?
AS A GUIDE, people with diabetes are advised to consume more foods with low glycemic index (GI), i.e. values below 55, and consume foods with higher GI values in moderation. Food with low GI will not raise blood sugar rapidly. Food with GI of 56 to 69 is classified as medium and those above 70 as high GI food.
However, GI values may vary depending on type of food, maturity and cooking methods. For example, GI of carrots ranging from 42 to 101 have been reported. Sweet corn stays at the lower end of a 37 to 78 range, and pumpkin, 75. Some diabetics are comfortable eating these foods because they contain a great amount of dietary fibre and have lower glycemic load values.
The GI values for rice range from 54 to 132 and, potatoes, from 67 to 158. Generally, parboiled, high fibre, long grain and brown rice have lower GI; white and low amylose sticky rice have high GI values. Boiled potatoes have lower GI than baked potatoes.
In addition, the glucose response to a particular food may depend on the individual. Therefore, it may be a good idea to monitor carefully your own blood glucose level after eating foods you have doubts about to determine if they have a high or low GI for you.
Equally important is to reduce the intake of saturated animal fat and trans fat from hard margarine, and have a high-fibre diet with plenty of cereals, beans, fruits and vegetables. This, together with regular exercise, works best for most people.
Revised International Table of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values by David Mendosa, the following groupings are listed:
Food with GI below 55: Soya beans, dried peas, pearled barley, grapefruit, mung beans, mung bean noodles, kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, rye, pear, apple, navy beans, yam or taro and most vegetables.
Foods with medium GI: rice noodle, orange, grapes, banana (46-62), papaya, mango and parboiled.
High GI foods: wholemeal wheat flour 71, pumpkin 75, sweet potato 77, oat bran 78, sweet corn 78, brown rice 79, popcorn 79, white rice 83-102, raisins 91, beet 91, pineapple 94, glutinous rice 98, white bread 101, watermelon 103, French fries 107, broad beans 113.
I would like to know whether bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) is safe for use in tenderising meat.
SODIUM bicarbonate also known as baking soda, bicarb or carbonate of soda is a safe chemical used in foods of many kinds.
Baking soda is a main ingredient of baking powder. It generates carbon dioxide and acts as a leavening agent for improving texture of dough and batters. Baking soda is also used as a meat tenderiser. It seals the surface, keeping the meat from drying out as it cooks.
Some cooks add a little of the chemical to the water when blanching vegetables to preserve the fresh green colour. Added to the water to soak beans reduces cooking time.
Adding baking soda to any food that you are cooking will destroy the B vitamins, especially thiamine.
Some people can taste the difference between meats that have been treated with the chemical the taste is compromised and the meat becomes less tasty after losing the vitamin.
Alkaline water, or kan sui, (or air abu soda in Malay) is often recommended in recipes which call for soaking dried cuttlefish. Adding alkaline water will hasten the softening process and tenderise the cuttlefish.
Alkaline water is a permitted food additive that is used in making kan sui rice pudding and wantan noodles. Leafy vegetables, such as mustard leaves (sawi), served together with wantan noodles, maintain a bright green colour and are more tender in texture. That is because the vegetable was blanched in water that had been used to cook wantan noodles, and so contains alkaline water.
Is it safe to eat food that has alkaline water added to it regularly?
The active ingredient in alkaline water is sodium carbonate, commonly known as soda ash or washing soda. Alkaline water is commonly used to improve the texture of fresh noodles such as yellow and wantan noodles. It also helps to prolong the shelf life of the products.
Adding excessive amounts of the additive in foods can cause an astringent taste and darker yellow colouring. Prolonged soaking of cuttlefish in alkaline water may result in nutrient loss.
People with weak digestive systems may find food with added alkaline water difficult to digest. In our body, sodium carbonate and other carbonates are found in the blood stream and eventually eliminated as carbon dioxide.
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