Low GI & Omega 3 Rich Recipes

The right sort of fat is not only good for you, but essential for health

An easy trap to fall into when initially eating low GI is to consume a lot of saturated fats unwittingly. By reducing carbs and increasing protein intake, the amount of saturated fats will increase.  Unless there is a conscious effort to avoid these, it can be very easy to both put on weight and develop a cholesterol problem. Individuals with Diabetes are at greater risk of developing high cholesterol, and together these increase the risk of heart disease. The following link to the American Heart Association’s explains the higher incidence of cholesterol problems among diabetics.

Many ready to serve low GI foods rely on the fat content to offset the sugar absorption. The Australian Developers of Low GI Index at Sydney University explain that stomach emptying is slowed by fat in foods, thereby overall lowering GI (which is an index of the time sugars take to reach the bloodstream). Fat should not however be avoided altogether. Fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K are crucial for health and wellbeing. Without fats in our diet, we could not absorb these essential vitamins which are required for healthy skin, heart, bones and blood clotting. Those who have pancreatic insufficiency due to surgery or cystic fibrosis in addition to taking supplements for the digestion of food need to take these vitamins regularly. With a balanced diet, the rest of us will absorb plenty of these vitamins without taking supplements as long as we are eating enough fat.

The good news is, we need fat! There are however healthier fats, and if we eat fats higher in Omega 3 Fatty Acids, and avoid saturated and trans fats, it has been shown to benefit with weight loss, lowering cholesterol, and even improving mood! A regular Omega 3 supplement along with a regular intake of foods containing “the good fats” has been shown to be beneficial to those with high cholesterol, heart disease and depression.

So how much fat is recommended in Australian NHMRC Dietary Guidelines ? One gram of fat has nine calories, and the values below are calculated from recommended energy levels for adults published on the above linked website.

• The Average Sedentary 80kg male requires approximately 12 MJ/ 2800 per day of energy, 30% of which should be fats, and less than 10% saturated fats, or approximately 90g of the good fats and less than 30g of saturated fats.
• The Average Sedentary 70kg female requires about 10MJ/ 2300 calories per day of energy, 30% of which should be fats and less than 10% saturated fats, or approximately 75g of fat overall and less than 25g of saturated fats.
• By reducing saturated fats and keeping a steady moderate intake of healthy fats, weight loss can be achieved while avoiding missing out on essential vitamins.

Getting back to lowering the GI of foods with fat content, here are some tips: (quantities of fat content sourced from food nutrition tables published online at www.weightloss.com.au)

• Add nuts such as almonds, walnuts, dry roasted cashews to your recipes – as a rough guide, 25g of nuts contains around 12g of fat, 2g of which is saturated.
• Eat at least two serves of oily fish such as sardines, tuna, anchovies, and salmon per week. – a drained can of tuna contains around 15g of fat per 100g, 2 of which are saturated
• Add linseed, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin kernels to foods
• Eat multigrain sourdough breads preferentially
• Choose cheeses that are lower in fats such as low fat cottage cheese, low fat ricotta, or bocconcini – cottage cheese contains about 3g of fat per 100g, ricotta about 11g per 100g, reduced fat ricotta 8g per 100g and bocconcini 15g per 100g.
• Avocado is an excellent source of Omega 3 fats and forms a good replacement for butter in savory sandwiches, as well as being a great addition to many salads – half an avocado or approx 100g contains about 23g of fat, 5g of which is saturated
• Eggs – 100g of egg contains 10g of fat, 3g saturated.

For the average 80kg male with a low level of activity, half an avocado, 20-30g of nuts, an egg, a generous spread of ricotta cheese, and a can of tuna would just about meet the daily fat requirements. If you are more active, you will need more, and should check your fat intake needs according to 30% of your recommended total caloric intake as published in the Australian Dietary Guidelines . In other words, when cooking all your food at home, it is actually important to think about adding enough of these sources of good fat into your diet while at the same time removing butter, margarine, deep fried foods, processed foods high in saturated and trans fats, take away food, chips, shop bought cakes, and high fat cheeses, cream and full fat ice-cream altogether from your diet, and sticking to leaner cuts of meat. 500g of beef mince or lean steak contains somewhere between 40-60g of fat, about half of which is saturated fats. Reducing protein intake from red meat to the required daily intake (about 1mg per kg of your lean body mass), which in most people is less than 100g per day will help reduce the saturated fat consumption from this source.

If you would like to get a more detailed guide of fat contents in 4500 foods, refer to the following nutrition tables published at www.weightloss.com.au.