high carb diets

[Zuzu]

I found this on yahoo...
I thought it was interesting.

Kathy

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050408/hl_nm/diets_cancer_dc

[Pailani]

That's interesting. I have a book out from the library right now, the glycemic index diet, so I can see what the GI counts are for different foods. I wonder if cooking foods raise their count? I read that cooked carrots are very high but raw carrots aren't. Maybe that's one reason a raw diet is so much better? Because cooking food raises its glycemic index rating?

[DotfromOz]

I wonder if cooking foods raise their count? I read that cooked carrots are very high but raw carrots aren't. Maybe that's one reason a raw diet is so much better? Because cooking food raises its glycemic index rating?

Cooking some foods raises their GI, but that's not universally the case as I recall from the reading I've done. I'm no chemist, to be sure, but I believe that I read somewhere back in my hi-pro, lo-carb diet days that the reason why cooked carrots have a higher GI rating than raw is that heat begins the breakdown of fiber and causes the sugars to concentrate which results in more of the sugar being absorbed. Raw carrots have a lower GI rating partially because the amount of fiber they contain moves some of the sugars through the human digestive tract unabsorbed.

I think this was the reasoning given, but I admit that I don't recall precisely and possibly not accurately.

[Pailani]

I found one interesting quote in the book I mentioned, The G.I. Diet by Rick Gallop. I don't recommend the diet, he suggests using a lot of nonfat dairy products, meat, and relying on artificial sweeteners. But this was interesting and might be of use to raw fooders, from page 46:

"Here's a note on cooking and its impact on the Glycemic Index value of foods: We cook food not only to improve taste and flavor, but also to make it more digestible. In essence, cooking is the first step in the digestion of foods, as it starts the process of breaking down food that your digestive system completes. Not surprisingly then, cooking generally increases the G.I. of foods, particularly high-starch foods such as pastas, potatoes, and rice. So you should slightly undercook foods. They should be 'al dente,' as the Italians say, with some firmness to the bite."