Go nuts for life

Dietitian and Nuts for Life program manager says: ‘Bring back the Waldorf Salad – lettuce, apple, walnuts and dressing.’ We asked why.‘Well, nuts are among the superheros of the modern day diet just as they were in Paleolithic times’ says Lisa. ‘They are a source of good fats, healthy protein and fibre, particularly soluble fibre, which improves blood glucose levels, helps insulin work more effectively, and lowers LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels in people with diabetes. But you do have to be sensible about quantities (a serving is a handful (30–50 g/1–1¾ oz) and say no thanks to the tempting salted kinds.

Studies show:
Enjoying a handful of nuts 5–7 times a week can halve your risk of developing heart disease. Even people who eat nuts once a week have less heart disease than those who don’t eat any nuts. How come? It’s possible the unique combination of healthy fats, fibre, antioxidants, arginine and plant sterols all working together give nuts their heart healthy benefits.

The arginine in nuts helps insulin work more effectively. It can also improve the overall health of blood vessels, helping prevent complications of diabetes.

The fibre and protein found in nuts can help satisfy the appetite for longer helping you cut back on picking when you get the munchies. Substitute a snack of nuts or a trail mix of nuts, seeds and dried fruit for biscuits, cakes, pastries and fried snack foods.’

Get more nuts into your day by:
Sprinkling almonds or cashews through a stir fry.

Roasting chestnuts or pine nuts and tossing them through a salad.

Chopping walnuts or Brazils and add them to a dipping sauce.

Crumbling pecans into yoghurt and serving with fruit or sprinkling chopped, roasted hazelnuts or almonds over low fat ice cream.

Crumbling macadamias or pistachios over grilled fish.

Adding roasted pine nuts to pasta dishes.

Blending pistachios or macadamias with fresh herbs, parmesan and a little olive oil for pesto.

For more information on nuts and health visit www.nutsforlife.com.au or contact admin@nutsforlife.com.au

Hara hachi bu – eat only until you are 80% full

‘Far off in the East China Sea, between the main islands of Japan and Taiwan, is an archipelago of 161 beautiful, lush green islands known as Okinawa. The beaches are a dazzling powdery white; the waters are crystal turquoise, and the pristine subtropical rainforests house a huge variety of exotic flora and fauna. But while Okinawa has all the makings of a tropical paradise, it is in fact something more special – Okinawa is more like a “real-life Shangri-la” why? Because the islands are home to the longest lived population in the world.’ – The Okinawa Diet Plan

The traditional Okinawa diet, with its emphasis on vegetables, whole grains, fruits, legumes (soy foods) and fish with limited amounts of lean meats serves as a model for healthy eating and healthy aging that not only reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease but also helps to minimise free radical production. Free radicals are cell-damaging molecules that are generated mainly by our bodies' metabolism when we create energy from food.

Dr Bradley Willcox talked to GI News about the secrets of healthy aging in Okinawa. 'The Okinawan cultural habit of calorie control called hara hachi bu, which means eat only until you are 80% full, plays a role in as well as their habit of eating an antioxidant-rich, plant-based diet,' he said.

'Stopping at 80% capacity is actually a very good strategy to avoid obesity without going hungry because the stomach's stretch receptors take about 20 minutes to tell the body how full it really is and 20 minutes after stopping you will really feel full.

In Okinawa, heart disease rates are 80% lower, and stroke rates lower than in the US and other Western countries. Cholesterol levels are typically under 180 mg/dL (4.6 mmol/L), homocysteine levels are low and blood pressure at goal levels. Rates of many cancers are 50–80% lower – especially breast, colon, ovarian and prostate cancer. Hip fractures are 20% lower than mainland Japanese and 40% lower than in the US. Dementia is much rarer.

However, Okinawans who adopt Western eating styles have similar rates of heart disease as in the US. Young Okinawans, eating more processed foods, have a higher risk of heart disease than their elderly relatives. A study of 100,000 Okinawans who moved to Brazil and adopted local eating habits, showed a life expectancy 17 years lower than in Okinawa.'

So what's the Okinawan secret?Consciously controlled portion sizes through the practice of hara hachi bu: eat until you are 80% full.

A low-calorie, mostly plant-based diet with plenty of fish and soy foods, a great variety of vegetables as well as moderate amounts of the monounsaturated fats and omega-3’s. Include high fibre whole grains and starches.

Regular, life-long physical activity. Dancing, martial arts, walking and gardening are common forms of exercise.

Staying lean and fit. The combination of diet and activity keeps body fat low (ie, BMI 18-22).

Measuring Glycemic Index

To determine a food's GI rating, measured portions of the food containing 10 - 50 grams of carbohydrate are fed to 10 healthy people after an overnight fast. Finger-prick blood samples are taken at 15-30 minute intervals over the next two hours. These blood samples are used to construct a blood sugar response curve for the two hour period. The area under the curve (AUC) is calculated to reflect the total rise in blood glucose levels after eating the test food. The GI rating (%) is calculated by dividing the AUC for the test food by the AUC for the reference food (same amount of glucose) and multiplying by 100 (see Figure 1). The use of a standard food is essential for reducing the confounding influence of differences in the physical characteristics of the subjects. The average of the GI ratings from all ten subjects is published as the GI of that food.

The GI of foods has important implications for the food industry. Some foods on the Australian market already show their GI rating on the nutrition information panel. Terms such as complex carbohydrates and sugars, which commonly appear on food labels, are now recognised as having little nutritional or physiological significance. The WHO/FAO recommend that these terms be removed and replaced with the total carbohydrate content of the food and its GI value.

However, the GI rating of a food must be tested physiologically and only a few centres around the world currently provide a legitimate testing service. The Human Nutrition Unit at the University of Sydney has been at the forefront of glycemic index research for over two decades and has tested hundreds of foods as an integral part of its program. Jennie Brand Miller is the senior author of International Tables of Glycemic Index published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1995 and 2002.