Tips for Low GI Eating

* Choose denser breads containing whole or cracked grains, and those made from stone-ground flours.

* Add barley or lentils to rice to lower the overall GI and reduce the amount of rice you eat.

* Instead of potatoes, use legumes, pasta, low-GI noodles, steamed unpeeled orange sweet potato, basmati rice or Doongara rice (CleverRice™).

* Don't chop or cut foods too finely or puree or mash them (this increases their GI value).

* Add a green salad dressed with vinegar to meals containing starchy foods, such as rice or potatoes (the vinegar helps reduce the meal's GI value).

* Don't cook pasta or rice until it is soft and soggy.

* Serve pasta with lots of salad and a tomato-based sauce, so you can fill up on vegetables and reduce the amount of pasta you eat.

Taken from Healthy Food For Life
Info by Dr Susanna Holt (PhD, dietician)

Healthy Eating Rules

1. Eat low-GI, carbohydrate-rich meals

Eating 4-6 smaller carbohydrate-rich meals and snacks, spread over the day, rather than 2-3 large meals will help control blood glucose. Ask your dietitian for advice about scheduling food intake around medication and activity patterns. Monitoring your blood glucose will also help you find out when and what you should eat, or if you've eaten too much.

2. Limit total fat (particularly saturated fat)

Eating too much saturated fat can cause weight gain, poor blood glucose control and high blood cholesterol, all of which are known to increase the risk of heart disease. Try to use low-fat cooking methods and choose low-fat dairy products, lean meat and poultry, and low-fat spreads.

Limit your intake of fried and fast foods, biscuits, pastries and cakes. Use small amounts of canola or olive oil when cooking and eat oily fish 2-3 times each week to make sure you get enough healthy essential omega-3 fats.

3. Increase fruit and vegetable intake

Aim to eat at least 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables each day. They will help you feel full, and in addition they contain many healthy nutrients, including antioxidants that can help protect tissues from being damaged by excess blood glucose.

4. Limit sugar and sugary food intake

Sugar doesn't cause diabetes and people with well-controlled diabetes don't have to avoid sugar completely but it should be treated with caution, especially if you need to lose weight. Adding a little sugar (or, better still, fresh fruit) to a bowl of porridge or bran cereal won't raise blood sugar very much, but having a soft drink or lollies in between meals will send it soaring. Reduced-sugar products are readily available and provide sweetness without too many calories or raising blood sugar.

5. Limit salt intake

Excess salt raises blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart and kidney disease. Avoid adding salt to meals and look for reduced- or no-added salt versions of canned and packaged foods. Use herbs, spices, lemon juice and vinegar for flavour.

6. Limit alcohol intake

Alcohol is high in calories so avoid it if you are trying to lose weight or have poorly controlled diabetes. Health authorities recommend drinking a maximum of 1-2 standard drinks a day, with alcohol-free days each week.

Choosing low-alcohol beer or diluting wine and spirits with soda water or a diet soft drink are better choices. If you take diabetic medication, you must eat some carbohydrate (such as bread or low-fat crackers) whenever you drink alcohol to reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia.

Taken from Healthy Food For Life
Info by Dr Susanna Holt (PhD, dietician)

Gluten-Free Foods

Fresh milk, butter, cheese, fruit, vegetables, legumes, seeds, red meat, chicken and seafood are all gluten free. Tea, coffee and wine can be consumed, but regular beers must be excluded.

Gluten-Free Flours, Grains & Alternatives

* amaranth
* arrowroot
* buckwheat
* carob
* corn (maize) including maize cornflour (cornstarch)
* guar gum
* legume flours including chickpea flour (besan)
* lentil flour
* lupin
* millet
* nut flours including almond and hazelnut meal
* polenta (cornmeal)
* potato flour (starch)
* psyllium
* quinoa
* rapeseed
* rice including rice bran, rice flour
* sago
* seeds including linseeds (flaxseeds), pepitas (pumpkin seeds), poppy seeds, sesame seeds
* sorghum
* soy flour
* tapioca
* xanthan gum

Taken from Healthy Food For Life
Info by Kim Faulkner- Hogg (BSc, Grad Dip Nutr & Diet)

Diabetic Diets

Thanks to scientific research, diabetic diets are no longer as restricted as they used to be. Many people think that as long as people with diabetes avoid sugar, they can eat anything else. However, just like everyone else, people with diabetes need to consider the quality of their whole diet.

If you have a relatively good control over your diabetes, sugar and other indulgences needn't be completely avoided, but they shouldn't be overeaten. Overeating any food can cause the blood glucose level to remain high for hours, causing problems such as tiredness, nausea and blurry vision. A dietitian will be able to give you advice about how to be flexible with holiday meals.

For example, if you've eaten some snacks before sitting down to a large main meal, eat only a small portion of dessert or eat something that contains less carbohydrate and kilojoules, such as fresh fruit. Alternatively, if you want to eat dessert, eat a smaller first course or main meal.

If you overeat one day, do some exercise to compensate and return to your normal diet as soon as possible.

Don't let the holidays become one long buffet, or rely on convenience and processed foods during the Christmas and New Year season.

These foods are often high in fat, sugar, salt and kilojoules. Instead, buy or make healthier versions of your favourite foods so you don't have to compromise your health just to indulge your tastebuds.

Taken from Healthy Food For Life
Info by Dr Susanna Holt (PhD, dietician)

Coeliac Nutrition

If you suffer from coeliac disease, it is not unusual to gain weight when you start a gluten-free diet because the body is beginning to fully absorb its food.

The first priority when starting the diet is to familiarise yourself with the foods you can have. Once you are feeling more comfortable, you can address any weight issues that arise.

Some people welcome the weight gain, but others do not. Some find that being unable to eat gluten-containing snacks means that they snack less, and this helps to maintain their weight.

Others may need to become aware of the amount of fats and oils contained in food, the portion size of the food they eat and the amount of exercise that they are doing.

Taken from Healthy Food For Life
Info by Kim Faulkner- Hogg (BSc, Grad Dip Nutr & Diet)