(Part 1 of the Glycemia series: Glycemia | Glycemic Index | Glycemic Load)

When tennis ace Maria Sharapova gets a surreptitious wink and nod from her dad in the stands and immediately reaches into her gym bag, pulls out a half-eaten banana and proceeds to chomp off a big chunk of it, you know something’s going on. And I don’t mean obvious questions about the legality of coaching from the stands during a Grand Slam tournament. I mean there must be something to eating bananas during a high intensity sport - something special about that particular fruit as compared to other fruits/foods.

Enter: that important nutrition-related term, Glycemic Index, and its close cousin, Glycemic Load, both of which will be discussed in greater detail in parts 2 and 3 of this mini-series I am starting with this post. But first, the attribute that started it all …

Glycemia

Glycemia is simply the concentration of sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream. When you see diabetic patients prick their fingers and read off numbers like 90 or 120 from their glucometers, it is precisely glycemia values that they are measuring (in the U.S. and some other countries, glycemia is expressed in milligrams of glucose per decilitre of blood, or mg/dl).

Especially because glucose is the single most important source of energy for most cells, the human body needs to be able to maintain its glycemia within a specific range of values to function normally (typically 70-100 mg/dl is considered normal for most humans although certain people might have a slightly different range that could be considered normal for them). Diabetes is nothing more than a condition that renders the body unable (for a variety of reasons) to maintain its glycemia within its normal range.

By now you are probably wondering why you should care about glycemia as long as it is within its normal range. Consider this: eating almost always causes a rise in glycemia and this is because of the obvious reason that the food we consume is finally converted to glucose and released to the bloodstream for transport to the cells that need it for energy. Well, guess what happens when there is sudden influx of sugar in the bloodstream? The body needs to get that sugar out of the blood and to the cells so it can maintain its glycemia range, and so it sends off an SMS message to the pancreas to get some of that magic hormone, insulin, flowing. Insulin’s primary job is to - you guess it - get the sugar out of the bloodstream and to the cells that can use it as energy (a rather simplistic explanation of a decidedly complex process, but it will do for purposes of this discussion).

But now for the aha-moment that you Fitness Mantra readers have been waiting for: insulin has a secondary job as well: when it realises that there is more glucose in the blood than the body needs right away, what do you think it does? If you are among those that answered “stores it as fat”, then you are absolutely right (the rest can take a deep breath and collectively say out loud: “Aha!”). This is precisely why you should never have a single large meal at one sitting and even if you are having a calorie-controlled meal you must try to eat foods that don’t wreak havoc with your glycemia levels.

Wait, what was that? Although all foods are eventually converted to glucose, some foods are converted faster than others and release energy more quickly?

Yes. (That was Maria answering - she obviously knows something we don’t.) Don’t worry - things will soon be crystal clear with no lingering doubts (unlike that line call during the second set!)

In Part 2 of this series, “Glycemic Index“ I want to talk about the number used to categorise foods based on their effect on glycemia, while Part 3 Glycemic Load will explore a slightly more accurate food-ranking system which also takes portion-sizes into account. Since it is likely these posts will span over a few days, I will cross-link them so it will be easy to move from one to the next.

Looks like the mystery of Maria’s frequent banana breaks will be solved soon … don’t turn that dial check back soon!

(Part 1 of the Glycemia series: Glycemia | Glycemic Index | Glycemic Load)

Technorati Tags: health, fitness, nutrition, glycemia, glycemic index, glycemic load

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While I strive to eat foods that are made from natural ingredients, I am finding it increasingly difficult to find them on store shelves. Most sweetened yogurts, cereals and breakfast-bars are unnaturally flavored and for the discerning consumer it’s frustrating to read words like “Natural” and “Light” on the cover only to find that either artificial sweeteners or various forms of Corn Syrup are the key ingredients.

Now, when I spoke about the “Natural” label sometime back, it’s coincidental that I used Nature Valley’s Trail Mix Bars as an example of misleading box-labeling. “100% Natural”, proclaimed that box, but of course it contained High Maltose as well as High Fructose Corn Syrups.

This is why when I initially set out to review “Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey 100 Percent Natural Cereal” I was bracing myself for a similar ingredients list. But I was pleasantly surprised: as far as ingredients go, this cereal is indeed 100% natural. So what’s the skinny? Read on …

Disclosure: I was sent one (1) 14oz box of this cereal to try and then present a product review on FitnessMantra. As always you can be assured that my reviews will always be unbiased, irrespective of whether I purchase the product or receive it to review.
Product: Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey 100 Percent Natural Cereal
Manufacturer: Nature Valley brand of General Mills
Presentation: 14oz standard box with cereal in sealed plastic packaging
Serving Size: 1 cup (56g)
Allergy information: Contains Soy, Wheat and Milk ingredients
Nutrition Information: Here is the nutrition label information for Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey 100 Percent Natural Cereal (source: Products section of the Nature Valley website):

Positives:

1. Yes, it’s 100% Natural: When it’s so rare these days to find a processed product that can still call itself all natural, I would rate this the biggest positive. This cereal uses a combination of sugar, malt extract, honey and brown sugar syrup for sweetening purposes.
2. A plethora of whole grains: Although rice and rice flour are key ingredients, this cereal also includes the whole grain variety of oats, wheat, corn and also wheat bran and corn bran. This means you get the benefits of fiber as well as longer periods of feeling full (an important requirement of a good breakfast)
3. Calorie-wise this cereal is perfect for breakfast. Prepared with 1/2 cup skim milk, it has 270 calories with just 25 calories from fat.
4. 4g of protein and 4g of fiber: Thanks to the whole grains you get this double advantage of nourishing protein and disease-fighting and bowel-helping fiber.
5. Taste-wise the granola pieces add a delightful twist to the whole cereal-eating experience. They are so crunchy and sweet, I found myself hunting and finishing them off first!

Negatives:

1. In my opinion, nutrition-wise there is only one negative and, to be honest, I would like to make as little a deal of this as possible: the cereal has 16g of sugar. Yes, that is to be expected of a product which is Oats ‘N Honey after all and has granola to boot, but in fact others in my household who tasted this actually commented about how excessively sweet it was. The only good thing (if you can call it that) is this sugar is from all natural sources (especially honey which is a treasure trove of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants) and while I would like to maintain sugar in a single serving to under 10g if possible, I don’t want to be a big naysayer.
2. Although I was not given any price information, business-wire reports that 14oz box retails for $3.99 and Walgreen’s is, in fact, selling it for that much. This is a little pricier than comparable alternatives so that is something to also keep in mind.
3. Finally, this is more of a texture issue than anything related to nutrition so it’s nothing major: While eating the cereal, especially the rice crisps, I could feel a noticeable powdery substance along my teeth and it was consistent across multiple bites. I am just mentioning this so readers can comment and say if they noticed this too or if it was unique to the sample/batch I was sent and something was corrected/modified slightly in later packages.

Conclusion:

Although I did mention the slightly excessive sugar content in the cereal, if 16g of sugar from natural sources is what it takes for people to switch from a Denny’s Grand Slam sausage breakfast to a healthful whole grains one, then so be it. As an aside, a good alternative might be Honey Nut Cheerios, but although it restricts itself to 9g of sugar per serving, you also only get 3g of protein and just 2g of fiber. Also with just 150 calories per serving, I think it might be less satisfying - a good breakfast should probably be more in the 250-300 calorie range and if you achieve that with a glass of orange juice your sugar intake is back to comparable levels with this Nature Valley Cereal anyway!

Bottom line: don’t focus too much on the sugar aspect and if something like a Natural Oatmeal breakfast is too strict, at least begin with all natural cereals like this one and work your way toward even healthier options.

And Finally, Just For Fun:

If you thought food-product-reviews had to be purely about taste and nutrition, think again! Sarah of Hollywood Flakes presents a singularly unique review of this same product and in my opinion, General Mills should hire that little reviewer to be their product mascot. I bet sales would soar! Behold:

- Source: Hollywood Flakes

Technorati Tags: health, nutrition, granola, product review, food review, general mills, Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey 100 Percent Natural Cereal

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