Gordon Ramsay Recipes

Glycemic index, who was he? We hear about it and somehow we fear it: we know we have to keep it at bay but usually we do not know how or why. We understand that it has to do with sugars – which are addictive like drugs and are also hidden in the most unsuspecting foods. True. But let's find out more about this famous and unknown glycemic index and the various types of sugar.

We asked for help Michela Carlini, doctor expert in integrated medicine, president of the association Academy of Benedicology.

Premise: blood sugar is the concentration in the blood of glucose, essential nutrient for all cells, which take it from the blood itself.

Let's start from the base: what is the glycemic index?

"It is the ability of a certain food to raise the blood sugar compared to a reference standard that is pure glucose (sugar). The glycemic index (IG) is indicated with a number from 0 to 100: pure glucose has an IG of 100; if a food has an index of 56 it means that raises the blood sugar and consequently the insulin of a value equal to 56 compared to 100 of pure glucose (it is one percentage, 56%, not 56 absolute value). The glycemic index depends on the rate at which a food is absorbed and transformed into glucose. Glucose stimulates the production of insulin, a hormone that allows sugar to penetrate and be used by cells. Excessive secretion of insulin causes an insulin resistance: the cells are no longer able to enter glucose, which therefore remains high in the blood. This is called diabetes. A pathology whose incidence is subject to a dizzying increase in the last few years, especially among children!".

What are the other harmful effects of sugar, in addition to the risk of diabetes?

"Definitely predisposes to dysmetabolic diseases because it turns into fatty acids: obesity, cardiovascular diseases, hepatic steatosis. Moreover it is addictive, causes agitation and irritability (adrenaline release); predisposes to cavity; increases the risk of chronic, autoimmune diseases due to its acidifying power; changes the health of the intestine. Given the rampant sedentariness, we do not 'burn' the sugar we take: it is therefore advisable reduce the consumption of sugars in general. Having a good daily discipline allows exceptions, but assuming foods containing natural sugars of good quality prepared at home or by trusted artisans or from the organic food circuit ".

But what are the foods with the highest glycemic index?

"The carbohydrates – or carbohydrates or saccharides – are the nutritional category contained within the foods whose glycemic index is calculated. Among the simple carbohydrates:

Fructose it is found naturally in food (fruit, honey) where it is accompanied with vitamins that facilitate its disposal and fibers that decrease its absorption. This it does not happen in synthetic fructose, the one produced so to speak by the food industry.

Glucose naturally found in fruit and vegetables, commercially available as glucose-fructose syrup, unhealthy extract from the corn plant, it is everywhere (including the breading of the fish sticks!) and, according to studies by university researchers and neuroscience researchers, it is addictive (we notice it every day!).

Sucrose found in honey (in addition to glucose and fructose). Another source of sucrose is the municipality white sugar, extract from cane and beet, which however it is refined. This procedure is at the origin of two problems: they remain in the final product residues of pollutants used during processing, such as carbon dioxide, lime, sulfur dioxide; vitamins and minerals disappear present instead in the raw product (brown cane sugar, the brown one dark and wet and not classic cane sugar, light brown and in the form of small crystals), which make it richer in nutrition and are also useful for its absorption. In their absence, sucrose 'steals minerals and vitamins from our body' ".

IS advisable to opt, at least in part, for sweeteners?

"No! aspartame, associated with saccharin to cover its bitter taste, is carcinogenic, neurotoxic and its consumption has been associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease. Sweeteners are addictive, not giving satiety and boomerang effect increase hunger to the next meal, without stimulating the production of insulin ".

And what about the natural sugars on the market?

"There are interesting alternatives to white sugar such as coconut sugar and pulverized dried fruit (dates, plums, apricots …). Among the best known we remember:

Barley malt, obtained by cooking in water of the barley previously germinated and then dried. Contains maltose, amino acids, potassium, sodium and magnesium; has a characteristic taste and less sweetening capacity of honey but high glycemic index (more than sucrose). Similar features they have rice and corn syrup, mistakenly called malt.

The agave juice it is extracted from the root of the South American plant, rich in mineral salts and vitamins, has low glycemic index, neutral taste but if it is not of the highest quality may have been subjected to harmful chemical processes.

Stevia it is a plant originally from South America and its dried and pulverized leaves have a high sweetening power. It has no calories, it does not secrete insulin for which it is indicated in patients diabetics. But in the products on the market it is often found in small quantities the plant powder, associated with sweeteners. Another problem that could limit the use of stevia is the licorice aftertaste ".

We have deepened simple carbohydrates; also tells us a word about complex carbohydrates?

"The highest glycemic index belongs to simple carbohydrates, which we talked about. Those complexes involve a 'delayed' glycemic peak compared to simple ones. The foods that are richer are cereals: wheat – and therefore pasta, bread, etc – corn, rice … It is necessary to limit the consumption of cereals and choose those integrals, rich in dietary fibers that limit the absorption of carbohydrates, thus containing the blood sugar – the value of glucose in the blood. Go ahead, without overdoing it, whole wheat pasta, brown rice and parboiled and organic. And we do not underestimate them legume pasta made from lentils, peas etc. They are rich in proteins and with a reduced glycemic index, and today they are present on the market also in large distribution chains, with a good quality-price ratio ".

Stella Rita
February 2018
updated January 2019

Soups, creams and meat sauce: many proposals that will please the little ones (and also you!)

The weaning it started and you seem to propose to your child always the same recipes? Often pediatricians with their rigid schemes recommend one feeding routine which is not very varied, and if mum and dad are not kitchen lovers, the child does not eat new things. So let's try some different recipes together! Choose them obviously based on the progress of weaning your baby and the level of introduction of foods and complex proteins.

The autosvezzamento

Remember then that there is a new current of thought that promotes l'autosvezzamento. What is it? It is also defined "complementary feeding on request"And it is a logic according to which, in order for children to become passionate about food and say no to any ingredient, it is good to offer them a little bit, directly on the high chair, without shaking or passing what is proposed. They will choose themselves and taste what most intrigues them. If you want to know more, check with your pediatrician or area consultant, who will advise you best, or read the book "I wean myself alone! Dialogues on weaning"By Lucio Piermarini, Bonomi Editore.

Broccoli, robiola and rice

The broccoli children do not like it? False! It is indeed proposed in the right way, in one velvety for example, if the baby still does not eat usual foods, paired with potatoes and zucchini, which soften the intense flavor of broccoli. To prepare the cream cleaned and cut two broccoli florets, add half a potato and a quarter of zucchini and bring everything to a boil. When the vegetables are soft, blend everything, add the rice (choose the one for children, or the cream of rice, if your child still does not eat anything solid) and, when you will need, a quenelle of robiola. A trickle of extra virgin olive oil to complete the dish and it is made.

The minestrina with the chicken

White meat is one of the first to be introduced because it is light and easy to digest. Prepare a simple soup by boiling one chicken thigh (or a piece of rabbit), a carrot and a potato. Crush the vegetables with the fork, fillet the chicken (you can serve it cut into small pieces, if the child is already able to swallow more solid foods, or blend it with the broth) and add some pasta little baby.

Pumpkin, goat and cream of rice

In the autumn the pumpkin it is the main ingredient of velvety, both for adults and for children. Boil a slice of pumpkin with half a carrot and half a potato, crush everything with a fork (or shakes), add a tablespoon of cream of risor (read well on the packaging because often the doses and textures change branded) and del goat. The goat's cheese is in fact more digestible and gives flavor to the velvety.

Celeriac and potato celeriac

The celeriac It is not widely used in our kitchen, if not for example to prepare the capricious salad (with mayonnaise, celeriac, carrots and cooked ham, all cut into julienne). Its aroma is delicious, try it in one velvety boiling a piece with the potato and then adding fennel seeds that help the baby to digest. Pass it all, add a cream or a pasta of your choice, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a grated parmesan and a good appetite!

The ragù for babies

Finally, do you eat solid? It's time to try a nice pastasciutt al ragout! Prepare it with celery and carrots cut into cubes tiny and put into the pot with a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Separately cut a slice of lean veal. Add it to the vegetables, cook the meat with a tablespoon of tomato sauce (or, better, fresh tomato passed by you!) and a bay leaf. Serve with pasta to taste (also spelled for example), stars or tubes will be fine.

Past of decorticated lentils and stars

It is also important to include plant proteins in the baby's diet. Try with the lentils, but in a decorticated version, which avoid stomach ache and swelling. You can find them in the supermarket counter, they are red and very small. Cook in a moment in water with carrot and celery, a bay leaf. Blend everything and add a pasta or a flour to taste. Remember not to add parmesan because the protein dose is already given by lentils.

Cream of zucchini with spelled and steamed salmon

The salmon it is rich in Omega 3 and is fat. Do not exaggerate then in quantity but offer it to the children every now and then. Cook it simply by steaming, if you want it flavored with fennel. Then clean it from the skin and remove any bones and shake it with your hands. Serve it over one cream prepared with a courgette and half boiled potato. Carbohydrates are missing, which you will introduce with spelled flour or oats.