SWEET SENSATIONS

“I just feel like something sweet…” I’m often asked by clients, ‘What’s something sweet I can eat that isn’t too bad for me? They’re looking for something to answer the cries of their dessert stomach or pep them up from the 3pm slump. While fruit is an obvious suggestion (2-3 serves are recommended every day), …

COMMON STARCHY FOODS

When we talk about starch in our diet we’re talking about what most of us recognize as “carbs”. Potato, bread, rice and pasta are all starchy foods, rich in carbohydrate. Popular diet ideology these days says we need to cut out all these foods, but I wonder how realistic this is, especially in the long …

PROBIOTICS IN FOODS

The market for probiotic fortified foods, beverages and dietary supplements has exploded globally in the last decade. Products range from fortified drinks to confectionary containing strains of specific bacteria and/or yeasts that are believed to confer health benefits. Some products combine probiotics with prebiotics and are therefore synbiotics. An example would be yoghurt containing live …

YOUR GI SHOPPING GUIDE

NON-WESTERN BREADS  One food that unites many cultures across the world is bread. Traditionally made fresh every day, bread represents a carbohydrate-rich staple to fuel the brain and body. In keeping with this month’s focus on non-western foods, we take a look at the GI of some different varieties of bread and the cereal grains …

YOUR GI SHOPPING GUIDE

WHICH RICE? Preparing this article on the GI of rice turned out to be way more difficult than I anticipated. There are literally hundreds of studies that have looked at the GI of rice and identified virtually as many GI values! I’ve chosen just a few varieties of rice to profile in this month’s shopping …

YOUR GI SHOPPING GUIDE

HIGH FIBRE FOODS You might be familiar with the dietary recommendation to include high fibre, low GI foods but you would be misled to think that all high fibre foods were low GI. Brown rice and wholemeal bread are two common examples of high fibre, high GI foods. The fibre in these cereal grains is …

YOUR GI SHOPPING GUIDE

MINDFUL CARBS Researchers have been trying to identify foods that are able to slow the decline of our brains as we age and the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Berries, beans and whole grains are just 3 of the 10 foods that have been identified as brain-healthy foods in the MIND diet (a combination of the …

YOUR GI SHOPPING GUIDE

WHICH STARCHY SNACK FOODS?  Spending more time at home means easier access to food, especially unplanned extras, like snacks. Ideally snacks are chosen from core foods – things like a piece of fruit, a handful of nuts, a hard-boiled egg or a slice of wholegrain bread – and make a valuable nutrient contribution to our …

YOUR GI SHOPPING GUIDE

WHICH BREAD?  Baking your own bread is suddenly popular so it’s worth taking a closer look at its GI. If you eat bread most days choosing one with a low GI is critical to keeping the GI of your diet low. Most commercial sandwich breads made with finely milled flour, either wholemeal, whole wheat or …

YOUR GI SHOPPING GUIDE

WHICH CHOCOLATE?  Despite its antioxidant content and low GI, eating a lot of chocolate in one helping is unhealthy, but a little bit – even every day – is not so bad. It’s an incredibly sustaining food because of its high fat content (which accounts for its low GI) and is handy for long distance …