Posts Tagged ‘carbohydrate’

What is Glycaemic Index?

Monday, October 1st, 2012

What is Glycaemic Index (GI)?

Glycaemic Index is a measure of how high your blood sugar gets after eating a food. It was originally designed to help people with diabetes to make better food choices but research has found that it might be useful in helping people to get to and stay at a healthy weight.

 

How does GI help with weight?

High blood sugar from high GI foods cause increases in the amount of insulin your body makes. Insulin helps to lower blood sugar levels after a meal but it also is important in helping your body to store other nutrients including fat. High levels of insulin encourage your body to store fat, rather than burn it. This means that when blood sugar increases it can encourage your body to store fat.

 

When you eat low GI foods your blood sugar level stays lower (but not too low) and so insulin stays lower and this can encourage your body to burn fat. Low GI foods are also more satisfying and help keep your metabolism running faster. This is why they are important for helping anyone to lose weight or to keep off weight they have already lost.

 

Which foods are low and which are high GI?

Only foods with carbohydrate can raise blood sugar levels. Any foods with no carbohydrate are low GI foods. Foods with no carbohydrate include meat, chicken, fish and eggs.

 

High GI Foods

Low GI Foods

 

•   Most breads – brown or white

•   Potatoes

•   Cooked fruit

•   Some root vegetables e.g. parsnips

•  Foods high in sugar e.g. soft drinks, sweets, biscuits, cakes, etc

•   Popcorn

•   Crisps

 

  

•   Porridge, high fibre breakfast cereals

•   Bread made with 50% oats or more

•   Pasta – brown or white

•   Brown rice and Basmati Rice

•   Pulses – beans, peas and lentils

•   Fresh fruit, fruit smoothies

•   Meat, poultry, fish, eggs

•   Dairy products

•   Most vegetables and salads

 

 

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Back to School – Healthy Packed Lunch Ideas

Monday, August 20th, 2012

We all know how difficult it can be to come up with different, healthy and fun lunch box ideas – and that is why we end up packing up the same lunches over and over again! Packed lunches, just like any other meal, should have a balance of ingredients to fit in with healthy eating guidelines.

To help avoid packed lunch boredom, Nutritional Concepts has some simple ideas to make sure your child’s packed lunch packs a few surprises as well as a healthy, nourishing meal in the middle of the day:

  • Offer a variety of foods throughout the week. Just like adults, kids can get bored with having sandwiches everyday for lunch. Why not try using the same fillings, but add excitement by changing the bread e.g. pitta bread, bagels or tortilla wraps.
  • Make sure food looks good as well as tasting good by adding different colours and textures. Forget about your typical lettuce and tomato salad. Instead try a pasta salad or potato salad. Cook and drain the pasta or potatoes and mix with a little mayonnaise or olive oil, then add some cut up vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. If you like you can also include some sliced turkey, chicken or ham. If you decide to pack a traditional sandwich, try cutting the bread with fun shapes using a cookie cutter.
  • Sometimes kids, especially younger ones, don’t like to eat a whole sandwich or bowl of food. Instead you can try preparing cut up cubes of cheese, grapes, baby tomatoes, carrot sticks and mini crackers. Finger foods are really very appealing for all ages!
  • Always include a drink in the lunch box to make sure they don’t become dehydrated during the afternoon. Water, fruit juice and milk are all healthy choices.
  • Make sweet stuff, such as chocolate, biscuits and cakes an occasional treat rather than everyday items.

Overall, as well as something to drink, a healthy packed lunch should contain:

  • One portion of vegetables or salad and one portion of fruit (fresh, canned or dried can all count).
  • One portion of a milk or dairy item such as milk, cheese, yoghurt or a yoghurt drink.
  • One portion of meat, chicken, fish, eggs, peanut butter, beans or other protein source.
  • One portion of a starchy food, such as bread, pasta, rice, noodles or potatoes.

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Runner’s Diet

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Whether you have taken up running to lose weight, to improve fitness or to relieve stress, you will find that there are many benefits. When it comes to running, it is important to fill your body with a good quality diet that can help sustain your energy levels. It is important to eat a balanced diet that includes carbohydrate, protein and fat.

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrate foods help you maintain your energy during a run and they should be eaten both before and after. The highest quality carbohydrates are rich in fibre which helps to keep you feeling full. Carbohydrates to choose from include whole wheat pasta, potatoes, wholegrain rice and bread.

Protein

Protein is essential for muscle and satisfies hunger by providing a feeling of fullness. Quality sources of protein include skinless turkey and chicken, fish fillet, egg whites, low fat cheese, low fat yoghurt and skimmed/semi-skimmed milk.

Fat

While most runners are looking to cut out fat, it is important to remember that you need to include some fat in your diet. However, the fat should be of the healthy variety such as olive oil, unsalted nuts, avocados, sunflower seeds, light mayonnaise and fat-free salad dressings are good fat sources for runners.

 

In terms of an eating routine, it is better to eat smaller portions more often than larger portions three times a day. Also, remember to drink water regularly. Even if work or taking care of the kids makes breakfast a difficult time to sit down and eat, don’t go hungry. At the very least, eat some fruit on the move.

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Fibre in your Diet

Monday, February 14th, 2011

Fibre is found in foods which originate from plants, such as cereals, grains, seeds, pulses, fruit and vegetables. To increase the amount of fibre you eat, you need to have more of these types of food as part of your diet.

There are two types of fibre: soluble and insoluble.  Most foods contain a mixture of both.

It is a good idea to try to eat more fibre because most people in Ireland don’t have enough fibre in their diets. Insoluble fibre helps prevent constipation, and soluble fibre may help to reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood.

Wholegrain varieties of starchy foods, such as wholemeal bread, wholegrain breakfast cereals, brown rice and wholegrain pasta, are particularly good sources of insoluble fibre.

Brussels sprouts, potatoes, cabbage, and carrots are all good sources of fibre, and so are beans and pulses, such as red kidney beans, baked beans, broad beans, butter beans, green beans, chickpeas, green lentils and black-eyed beans. Dried fruit – such as figs, apricots, prunes and dates – are also a good choice. Or try eating pears, apples, cranberries, avocados, pomegranates and blackberries.

When you have plenty of fibre in your diet, you need to make sure that you drink plenty of fluids – at least six to eight glasses a day. It is especially important to have plenty of water if you are constipated because fluids will help to keep things moving! If you get constipated a lot, talk to your GP.

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Good Sources of Energy for Sport

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Carbohydrate is the most important fuel for energy, so you should eat lots of foods that are rich in starchy carbohydrates.

Many different foods contain carbohydrate. The richest sources of carbohydrate are bread, rice, pasta, cereals and potatoes, but other foods also contain useful amounts, such as: fruit, vegetables, beans, pulses, yoghurt and milk.

Carbohydrate is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen, and if you get tired during your sport or activity, this might be because your glycogen stores are running low.

The more you exercise, the more carbohydrate you need. The actual amount you need depends upon the type of exercise you’re doing, the intensity, duration and frequency of the exercise, and your fitness level.

The bigger the glycogen stores in your muscles, the longer you can perform. So this is particularly important if you do an endurance sport such as marathon running or long distance cycling.

After exercise, your muscles can refuel their glycogen stores twice as fast as normal, so it’s important to eat foods containing carbohydrate soon after you have finished exercising.

 

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Healthy Eating for Sport

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Eating a healthy balanced diet will provide you with all the nutrients you need to take part in your favourite sport or activity.

This means eating a wide variety of foods, see below for how to get the balance right.

If you take part in a sport regularly, perhaps you’re a member of a club or team, or a regular at your local gym, then the best way to get the most out of your sport is to:

  • drink plenty of fluids
  • eat plenty of fruit and vegetables
  • eat plenty of starchy foods (carbohydrate) to keep you going during exercise such as rice, bread, pasta (try to choose wholegrain varieties when you can) and potatoes.
  • eat some protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs and pulses
  • have some milk and dairy foods
  • just eat a small amount of foods high in fat, salt and sugar
  • eat enough food for your level of activity. If you eat too little then you won’t be able to keep up your exercise levels

It is important to eat a variety of these foods to make sure we get all the nutrients our bodies need.

Timing of meals around workouts is just as important as what you eat if you want to keep your energy levels up. For the first two hours after exercise, muscles can refuel their glycogen stores twice as fast as normal so it’s important to eat carbohydrate-containing foods as soon as possible after a workout or exercise session.

See my next blog for more on starchy foods for exercise.

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