The March issue of the Glycemic Index Newsletter, put out by the good folks at U. Sydney, is out.
Among other interesting news:
- A study showing that diabetic particpants were able to reduce their HbA1C readings by 19% & their Body Mass Index (BMI) by 8% just by lowering the glycemic index of their meals by 25% (15 points) over the 3 to 36 months of the survey. That means they both improved their blood glucose management and lost weight, just by eating the low glycemic way.
- The average GI for older Americans is about 58, & for older Australians is about 56, which seems to be typical for people in developed nations. (Not sure exactly how they measure average GI, but….) Anyway, the GI Group suggests that the least risk for chronic lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart disease, & some cancers comes from eating in the low to mid-40s on the GI.
- There are now two low-GI white breads on the Australian market, both of which care the “Glycemic Index Tested” label.
- The first American product to carry the GI testing label is a sweetener: Sweet Cactus Farms Premium Agave Nectar (GI 19). Be aware that agave nectar is about 90% fructose, which from my reading makes it a problematic choice because of how fructose is metabolized. But it’s another sweetener alternative anyway, & it also means that the U.S. market is beginning to respond to consumer demand for GI labeling.
There are also a low GI recipe of the month, announcements of a couple new GI books, & answers to some frequently asked questions, including about rice & hypoglycemia. And of course you can also read the archives with past issues of the GI newsletter.
For those who don’t know about it, the GI newsletter is also available as an RSS feed, which means that if you subscribe to any feeds from blogs, newspapers, etc. so that you get stories as they come out, you can do it with the GI newsletter too. I used a free web-based service called Bloglines to manage my subscriptions; there are others out there too.
Among other feeds I subscribe to: David Mendosa’s diabetes blog . Today he posted an article about “the Carbohydrate Controversy,” contrasting the traditional American Diabetes Association high carb diet with Dr. Bernstein’s low carb recommendations. He also discusses the glycemic index, which the ADA is beginning to grudgingly accept as possibly perhaps maybe having some benefit. (About time!) Mendosa doesn’t really come down on one side or the other of ADA vs. Bernstein, but he’s been a GI supporter for a long time.
