How does the Glycaemic Index (GI) apply to failsafe foods?
A. The GI measures the rate at which carbohydrate foods are digested and absorbed in the body. Low GI carbohydrate foods are considered to be healthiest because they provide a gradual energy release keeping your blood sugar level – throughout the day. High GI foods provide a quick energy boost. Overall it is best to have a combination. See a list of the GI per serve for failsafe foods below. You can turn a high GI food into a low or moderate GI food by mixing it with a low GI food. However you need to apply some commonsense. Since fats and oils have low GI, in some commercial products, the low GI rating comes from high fat, which is not desirable. Potato crisps are a good example. Saturated fat is now considered to be far worse for people with diabetes than sugar. The moral of the GI story is that it is good to limit your intake of dietary fats, to include low GI carbohydrate foods such as nuts, lentils, beans, oats, pasta and cereal fibre such as bran (from wheat, oats, rice or psylli
