The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies (33 page)

Barley
was domesticated even before wheat. It contains more fiber and vitamin E than wheat and adds a nutty flavor to baked oducts such as muffins and biscuits. Pearl barley has the hard outside hull removed and cooks quickly into a soft, fluffy grain with a glycemic index of only 25. Try adding barley flakes to hot cereal for breakfast or mixing them into your favorite granola. (For a satisfying winter meal that features pearl barley, try the Vegetable, Barley, and Turkey Soup recipe in Chapter 18.)

Because barley contains less gluten than wheat, use 50 percent barley flour and 50 percent wheat flour when baking bread.

Bulgur (cracked wheat)
is a quick-cooking form of whole wheat that has been cleansed, parboiled, dried, and ground into particles. Because it's precooked, you need only pour boiling water over it, cover, and let it sit for about ten minutes. It cooks so quickly that adding this delicious, healthy, low-glycemic whole grain to your family's meals is easy. Bulgur has a low glycemic index of 48, and one cup of it has fewer calories yet more than twice the fiber of rice! It's also a good source of manganese and B vitamins.

Use bulgur as a replacement for rice in your favorite pilaf.

Scoping out the best breads

It's a given that the soft, squishy white bread that's often a favorite of children has a higher glycemic index. Whole-grain breads, especially those that incorporate seeds, sprouted grains, or flaxmeal into their ingredients, have a lower glycemic index, but they aren't always popular choices.

When purchasing low-glycemic bread, follow these tips:

Watch for the word
whole
in the first ingredient on the list of ingredients in fine print at the bottom of the nutrition facts label.

Look at the nutrition facts label for the grams of fiber per serving, which is usually one slice of bread. Breads that are higher in fiber typically have a lower glycemic index. (A food with 5 grams or more of fiber per serving is considered a high-fiber food.)

Look for breads that contain rye or buckwheat flours, two grains that have a lower glycemic index number.

Several low-glycemic breads are now on the market. Some are made with sprouted grains that have already started to germinate, which lowers their glycemic effect. Ezekiel 4:9 bread is probably the best-known bread that's made from a variety of sprouted grains as well as legumes. Other breads contain added soy protein or have a higher fiber content than more traditional types of bread.
Resistant starch,
a form of starch that digests much more slowly, can also be added to some commercial bread products.

If you're looking for alternves to soft white bread, which typically has a high glycemic index of 75, look for Food for Life's Original Ezekiel 4:9 Organic Sprouted Whole Grain Bread and Sprouted 100% Whole Grain Flourless Cinnamon Raisin Bread (find them at
www.foodforlife.com
). Also check out Natural Ovens Hunger Filler Bread, which is low-glycemic and loaded with wheat bran, wheat germ, oats, flaxseed, and sesame seeds. Your local bakery may also produce breads made with whole or sprouted grains, so don't hesitate to ask.

If you enjoy baking your own bread, you have numerous options for preparing delicious low-glycemic breads by incorporating lower-glycemic ingredients.
Note:
You'll need to use some whole-wheat flour to provide sufficient gluten to allow the bread to rise. Experiment with rye, buckwheat, or spelt flour, and add in fiber with ground flaxseeds, barley flakes, or steel-cut oats. King Arthur Flour (
www.kingarthurflour.com
) has several different whole-grain, lower-glycemic types of flour, including an Ancient Grains Flour Blend that contains 10 percent quinoa flour. Bob's Red Mill (
www.bobsredmill.com
) is another well-known provider of whole-grain flour for baking, including a 10 Grain Flour that contains whole-grain wheat, rye, oats, barley, and flaxseed. Both Web sites also provide whole-grain bread recipes.

Picking the right pastas

Many people believe that pasta has a high glycemic index. Au contraire! Spaghetti made from white durum wheat, the most prevalent type of pasta available, has a glycemic index of just 44. Macaroni has a similar low glycemic index of 47. So why all the fuss about pasta? The problem is that people confuse the glycemic index with the total amount of carbohydrates in the pasta and the amount of pasta they usually eat.

A recommended serving size of pasta is 1/2 cup of cooked pasta, which is the amount you can hold in one cupped hand. If you were served that amount at an Italian restaurant, you'd most likely demand your money back! Most people eat 2 cups of pasta for a meal. That amount of, say, spaghetti has a glycemic load of 26, whereas the glycemic load of a 1/2-cup serving of spaghetti is only 7. See what a difference the amount of food you eat makes?