PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY
CAN WE CUT OUR AVERAGE DIETARY GI AND GL? In July GI News, I made the point that: “We now know that glycemic load is the most powerful predictor of blood glucose and insulin levels. You can lower GL by substituting low GI foods for high GI foods, or by consuming less carbohydrate, or by …
PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY
A POTTED HISTORY OF CARBOHYDRATE AND DIABETES People have been trying to work out the optimal diet for people with diabetes for hundreds of years. Until recently, most offerings have been restrictive and unpalatable. Fad diets are nothing new. In the early 1900s, they included: the “oat-cure,” the “milk diet,” the “rice-cure,” and “potato therapy,” …
PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY
A GRAIN OF SALT For nearly four decades, dietary guidelines around the world have advised us to avoid consuming too much salt, or words to that effect. The salt they are talking about is sodium chloride, which has been used by humans for millennia, and is still the most common source of sodium today accounting …
PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY
DON’T LET YOUR LIFE BE FRUITLESS Infants prefer sweet tastes from day one and this preference continues into early childhood. Human breast milk contains the highest concentration of sugars of all mammalian milks and sweet tasting vegetables (e.g., pureed or well-mashed pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, etc) and fruits (typically pureed) are some of the first …
PERSPECTIVES WITH DR ALAN BARCLAY
SUGAR DIABETES? There is a wide-held belief that people who consume too much added refined sugar will develop diabetes. Similarly, there is a common belief that people with diabetes need to limit or avoid added sugar to manage their condition. To help address these common diabetes myths, two globally recognised experts on sugars (Dr Mike …
Perspectives with Dr Alan Barclay
Optimise Physical Performance with Low GI Carbs. For high intensity exercise that requires quick bursts of speed, like football, netball, basketball, marathons, etc., carbohydrate, or more specifically glucose, is the preferred fuel for your muscles. Consequently, eating enough carbohydrate at the right time in your training schedule, and before the event, has long been one …
Perspectives with Dr Alan Barclay
Australia’s Dietary Fibre Paradox. Bowel cancer, or colorectal cancer (CRC) to use its more scientific name, is one of the most common cancers in Australian men and women with 62 out of every 100,000 people diagnosed each year. It is also a leading cause of cancer in the USA (44 diagnosed per 100,000 people) and …
Update with Dr Alan Barclay
Reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke by balancing sodium and potassium. Dietary guidelines from around the world recommend that people eat less, or limit, added salt and salty foods. They are talking about sodium chloride, the most common salt added to foods, which has been consumed by humans for many thousands of years. …
Update with Dr Alan Barclay
Sweet nothings? Artificial or non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) have been around for over a century, helping people to enjoy sweet foods and drinks without the unwanted calories or carbohydrate that can contribute to weight gain on the one hand and raise blood glucose levels on the other when consumed in excess. Few would argue that NNS …
Update with Dr Alan Barclay
Dr Alan Barclay Families share more than their genes As we describe in food for thought this issue, the road to type 2 diabetes can run in the family. One of the main reasons is genetic – you are genetically very similar to your biological parents and siblings. Your height, amount of muscle, the size …
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