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Fruits and Vegetables for a Glycemic Impact Diet

By admin | January 12, 2008

This week I interviewed Kathleen Milazzo about the importance of Fruits and Vegetables in the diet.

Kathleen website is fruitandveggieville.blogspot.com.

Hope you enjoy the Interview:

ME: Why did you create your website or blog fruitandveggieville.blogspot.com?

KATHLEEN:: I love fruits and vegetables. They excite the sense of sight, touch, smell, taste and sometimes hearing. If you’ve ever microwaved a potato you can hear it scream. My grandfather used to plant tomatoes when I was a kid, when I had a family of my own I planted them and the first one I picked held a fascination as just a couple months before it was just a seed, add dirt , water, and sun and voila…

ME:Yes I agree, I am learning to love fruits and Vegetables more and more, especially seeing how much it can benefit the diet.
ME: What is the recommended daily intake of fruits and Vegetables?

KATHLEEN: It varies on who you ask, on how big you are, if you are diabetic, and you must understand what a serving is, 1/2banana, 1small apple, 1/2 grapefruit, 1small orange, 1/2 cup cooked veggies, 1 cup raw. I would say for an overweight adult female, you should have 2-4 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of veggies.

ME: Why are fruits and veggies important in the diet?

KATHLEEN:: They contain high amounts of vitamins and minerals, they have fiber, and they are high in antioxidants which neutralize free radicals which are unstable molecules that are associated with the aging process and certain illnesses. Watch for oxilates, and drug interactions.

ME: How do fruits and vegetables relate to weight loss?

KATHLEEN: Well they contain high fiber, so they are filling and eliminate some of the carbs, also most are low in fat so they are much better snacks than chips and candy.

ME: What kind of fruits and vegetables can we eat to promote weight loss?

KATHLEEN:: I would stick with produce that are listed under 55 on the glycemic index scale, and 10 and under on the glycemic load lists.

ME: If I am following a Glycemic Impact Diet what kind of fruits and vegetables should be avoided when trying to lose weight?

KATHLEEN:: Avoid too much high sugar high carbohydates like potatoes, avocados, bananas

ME: What are High carbohydrate fruits and vegetables to avoid while dieting?

KATHLEEN:: Well if they are over 55 on *glycemic index scale, and over about 10 on the *glycemic load list

ME: What are low carbohydrate fruits and vegetables?

KATHLEEN:: The best vegetable is the green bean, best fruit would be berries

ME: I am a diabetic are there fruits I should avoid and why?

KATHLEEN:: Again you want to avoid over 55 on G. I. and over 10 on G. L. lists

ME: For dieters what fruits and vegetables can I benefit from the most?

KATHLEEN:: I swear by greens for veggies, and most berries for fruits

ME: From the list above what are the best ways to prepare these?

KATHLEEN: Raw is best in most cases , except for carrots, cooking those gives more vitamins, also tomatoes are better eaten cooked, I like to steam the veggies, or boil them, then I like to use the fake spray butter on them.

KATHLEEN: This is an example of the GI list:

Glycemic Index lists for a Glycemic Impact Diet

Cherries 22
Grapefruit 25
Prunes 29
Apricots, dried 30
Apple 38
Peach, canned in juice 38
Pear, fresh 38
Plum 39
Strawberries 40
Orange, Navel 42
Peach, fresh 42
Pear, canned 43
Grapes 46
Papaya 56
Banana 52
Kiwi 58
Fruit Cocktail 55
Mango 51
Apricots, fresh 57
Figs, dried 61
Apricots, canned 64
Raisins 56
Cantaloupe 65
Pineapple, fresh 66
Watermelon 72
Dates 103

Broccoli 10
Cabbage 10
Lettuce 10
Mushrooms 10
Onions 10
Red Peppers 10
Carrots 49
Green peas 48
Corn, fresh 60
Beets 64
Pumpkin 75
Parsnips 97
Yam 37
Sweet 44
New 57
Canned 65
White skinned mashed 70
French Fries 75
Instant Mashed 86
Red Skinned, boiled 88
Baked 85

The GI (Glycemic Index) LOADS at http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm

KATHLEEN: This list above is the Glycemic Index list, that is how fast the carbs raise your sugar, This is important because as diabetics we don’t want sudden spikes of our glucose, also slower carbs will also keep you feeling fuller longer so you won’t be hungry as often and overeat,., If you go to the site listed above you can also get a list of the Glycemic Loads. Knowing the load is important because take watermelon for example on the GI list it’s very high, over 70 I think, but there is so little carbs in a serving it means very little. The load list does the math work for you, so if you are dieting and/ or diabetic trying to gain sugar control, stay with foods that are rated 10 and under, once in a while you can have limited portions of foods rated 11 to 19. You should cut out foods over 20, I believe the cut off is 30 for the G.L. list.

ME: Thank you Kathleen

For more information about the importance of fruits and Vegetables in the diet please visit Kathleen’s website at

www.fruitandveggieville.blogspot.com.

*Glycemic load

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The glycemic load (GL) is a ranking system for carbohydrate content in food portions based on their glycemic index (GI) and the portion size.

The usefulness of glycemic load is based on the idea that a high glycemic index food consumed in small quantities would give the same effect as larger quantities of a low glycemic index food on blood sugar. For example, white rice is somewhat high GI, so eating 50g of white rice at one sitting would give a particular glucose curve in the blood, while 25g would give the same curve but half the height. Since the peak height is probably the most important parameter, multiplying the amount of carbohydrates in a food serving by the glycemic index gives an idea of how much effect an actual portion of food has on blood sugar level.