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Looks like my Gestational Diabetes is making a return visit, so I need to get back into a low GI diet. But for the life of me I can't remember what I ate last time. All that is coming to mind is Basmati rice but I really don't want to spend the next 12 weeks having rice for every meal!
Please give me some ideas for low GI living. I am also in a small town with a limited supermarket so don't have access to anything 'fancy' like low GI wraps etc which makes it a bit harder.
TIA
Good low-GI carbs include things like:
Doongara Clever & basmati rice
mung bean vermicelli
Use pasta but cook it so it's a teeny bit harder (al dente) than usual
Sweet potatoes (instead of regular potatoes) or if you do have potatoes pick small new potatoes
Multi grain bread - the grainier the better
beans - baked peas, chick peas, lentils, etc
Porridge for breakfast (rolled oats not quick oats)
Vinegar and oil help slow down the rate at which the tummy empties too
Just remember when you add a really good low GI food to a meal - like non-starchy veggies, or beans - it lowers the GI of the whole meal.
There is a fabulous website here. Here are their main tips:
◦Use breakfast cereals based on oats, barley and bran
◦Use breads with wholegrains, stone-ground flour, sour dough
◦Reduce the amount of potatoes you eat
◦Enjoy all other types of fruit and vegetables
◦Use Basmati or Doongara rice
◦Enjoy pasta, noodles, quinoa
◦Eat plenty of salad vegetables with a vinaigrette dressing
Pasta Salad - Use the vegeroni, spinach or wholegrain pasta spirals and boil it up. Just before it is done cooking add some green beans (you can also add asparagus, brocolli or other low gi vegies that you have around). Take it off the heat and add some 4 bean mix (the tinned stuff) and dress with lemon juice. You can also add avacado if you have them and like them but it is not necessary.
You can also eat lean meat with one high carb vegetable (such as potato, corn, sweet potato or pumpkin) and the rest have to be lower carb veg like green beans, asparagus, carrot, cauliflower, peas etc that are steamed or boiled.
Meat ideas:
- You can make chicken parmagiana by crumbing chicken that you have butterflied and battered out in corn flake crumbs (you can buy these from the supermarket or crush your own in the food processor). Spray both sides of chicken with olive oil spray and bake in a moderate oven until cooked through. Top with some tomato based pasta sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and return to oven until cheese has melted.
- Meatballs/risolls for a variety of different things can be made with low fat mince, multigrain bread that you food process into bread crumbs, egg, tomato paste, basil, diced onion, grated carrot and zuchinni, cheese (if you like). I tend to make meatballs from a variety of the the ingredients above depending on what I have. I always use the multigrain bread and include a moistening agent, but you can experiment with different ingredients for different flavours and textures. I always oven bake my meatballs. You can do a whole range of thing with meatballs - you can add risoni to the mix and top with pasta sauce a bit of cheese, bake till cooked through and serve with some low gi veg. You can mix them up in a pasta sauce and serve with pasta and a side salad, meatballs are very versitile and can be quite healthy.
Low GI dessert - use a green apple and remove the core with an apple corer, stuff with dried fruit or frozen berries or fresh berries. Put 1/4 teaspoon of butter on top of the apple and bake in an oven at 180*C until soft. Serve with natural yoghurt . . . yum :)
Red curry lentils - Saute a brown onion in some oil, add a tablespoon of red curry paste and cook until aromatic. Add 2 cans of brown lentils that have been drained and rinsed. Add a cup of chicken stock and simmer over a low heat for 10 - 15 mins. Add some green beans and cook until tender. Remove from heat and squeeze through a tablespoon or two of lime juice (if you don't have lime, I have used lemon juice and it still tastes okay). Serve with brown rice and some natural unsweetened yoghurt (or a tablespoon of low fat sour cream).
I had GD in my last pg too so I had some good recipes working for me and can't for the life of me remember any more than this at the moment. I found that I had to avoid things containing white flour at all costs as that seemed to affect my BSL worse than small amounts of sugar.
Anyway HTH :)
Thanks guys. Last time pasta was a huge no-no, as were noodles of any kind.
Lentils and I disagree at the best of times lol, but there are some good ideas in there that I can use.
Seems it will be much harder with a toddler, last time if I was uninspired I could just have wholegrain toast for tea.
you still can arte - just give him something else or really healthy toppings for W...
i hope it doesnt get as bad this time - and if it does - well you only have 3 months to go...
There was a little book I snapped up for only around $7 or so from big W. Its called Whats the GI? by Catherine Proctor. It divides things into
Low GI - good choice
Low GI - bad choice as high in fat/ sodium or sugar
Meduim GI - eat in moderation
High GI - has an impact on BSI
For example, as you mentioned noodles,
Low GI - good choice
-fresh rice noodles
-glass noodles
-mung beans
-soba noodles
Low GI - bad choice as high in fat/ sodium or sugar
-2 min noodles
Meduim GI - eat in moderation
-Udon rice noodles
High GI - has an impact on BSI
-egg noodles
-hokkien noodles