GI Values Update

Breakfast Cereals and Beverages
The latest GI values from SUGiRS.

Breakfast cereal
Morning Sun Muesli GI 49

Beverages
Ribena blackcurrant fruit syrup (prepared with water according to the instructions) GI 52
Schweppes lemonade GI 54

In publishing the GI values of two sweetened drinks, Kaye Foster-Powell reminds parents that they are definitely not an everyday beverage. Here’s why.

‘Liquid calories are a little stealthier than most, in that they tend to sneak past the satiety centre in our brain, which would normally help to stop us from overeating,’ she says. ‘This isn’t to say that we should all avoid full-strength soft drinks, but to keep on the healthy diet food-frequency scale, consumption ought to rank as “occasional”(or even “keep for a treat” if you’re trying to lose weight) and definitely not be everyday. If consumption figures are any indication, an increase in sugar-sweetened soft drinks and cordials is contributing to our child obesity problem. Not only have fatter children been found to have higher consumption, but overall, our children are drinking more of these sweetened drinks than we ever did when we were kids. And of course the increase in serving size from the old fashioned 8 oz (240 ml) to the current 600 ml ‘buddy’ doesn’t help. It isn’t only soft drinks and cordials that are the problem either. Too much fruit juice, sweetened or unsweetened, is an easy way for us to gulp down extra calories.’

For more information about GI testing at Sydney University, please contact:
Fiona Atkinson sugirs@mmb.usyd.edu.au
Research Manager, Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Service (SUGiRS).
Human Nutrition Unit, Department of Biochemistry (GO8)
Sydney University, NSW 2006 Australia