POTATO THAT IS FIT FOR DIABETICS! NEW CLAIMS!

Whoever does not know that Potato is loaded with starch that is readily converted to glucose in no time once it enters the human digestive system? Diabetics avoid Potato as much as possible precisely for this reason. According to available evidence Potato has a Glycemic Index  (GI) of more than 90 reflecting its ability to release glucose rapidly and just imagine even the dreaded cane sugar has a GI of less than 60 compared Glucose which has a GI of 100. Potato has a tendency to increase glucose level after storing in cold storage which is not desirable to make products like wafers as undesirable browning takes place during frying due to Maillard reaction. The news that one of the R & D institutes under ICAR has developed a variety of Potato that does not increase sugar content on cold storing is indeed welcome as far as food processing industry is concerned. However the joke is the claim that this Potato is good for diabetics! Here is this startling claim by none other than the Head of that institute in a press release recently!  

"The CPRI said sugar or glucose levels in potatoes will not rise with the use of this technology. The institute is also getting a patent for this technology, CPRI director Bir Pal Singh told Deccan Herald on Monday. The breakthrough, Singh said, has been evolved purely for commercial. Low-sugar potatoes with a longer shelf life was otherwise not possible, with sugar level rising in cold storages. The technology raises the hope for potatoes sans sugar being available in markets, something which may bring smile on the faces of the potato-loving diabetic patients. Once the technology is implemented commercially, diabetics with a sweet tooth will possibly find sugar-free potatoes in the nearby vegetable store.  CPRI sources say potatoes contain starch which turns into glucose. In freshly harvested potatoes, the starch content is low at about 1 per cent, but the level of glucose rises beyond 6 per cent in low temperatures. Singh said: "This is the first such technology in the country. This will be a boon for the processing industry. Starch in potatoes turns into sugar and this process is accelerated by an enzyme called invertase. We have silenced this process, in fact stopped it, so that the sugar levels don't increase in potatoes." The technology has "great cold chipping attributes," which controls the rise of sugar level in potatoes. "Transgenic potatoes have reduced expression of the vacuolar and invertase gene resulting in cold induce sweetening resistant potato which is desirable for the processing industry. The breakthrough is an outcome of teamwork and five years of research," Singh added.

It is rather unfortunate that "scientists" in such important positions as Director, exhibits ignorance through such press interactions. Whether sugar is developed or not Potato will always be a taboo as far as diabetics are concerned because of the propensity of its starch to generate and absorb glucose very fast in human body, almost at a rate equal to that of pure glucose itself! As starch is a polymer of glucose its degradation product is glucose and that is the reason for avoiding this tuber crop in diets recommended for diabetic people. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

RICE FOR DIABETICS?-PROBABLY POSSIBLE!

Consumption of rice by those suffering from diabetes is discouraged by physicians because of its ability to get digested fast to release glucose which will increase the blood sugar immediately after ingestion beyond recommended levels. Traditionally diabetic patients were dependent more on wheat based diets which have marginally lower Glycemic Index (GI) value compared to rice. Those habituated with rice during their life time have difficulties in changing over to other grains and therefore any developmental activity that will make rice compatible with diabetes is a welcome news. After all more than 50% of the world population consume rice as a staple food and hence such a development will have great relevance. This is what is being  attempted in International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Manila, Philippines in collaboration with other institutions engaged in rice research. According to the results already available from the study, there are many varieties of rice which have low GI, as low as 45 and those who want to have protection from diabetes can use low GI rice varieties while others with Type II diabetes can manage the disease better with such varieties. It is interesting to read the findings of the group as contained in the following report.   

"The study found that the GI of rice ranges from a low of 48 to a high of 92, with an average of 64. The research team from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Food Futures Flagship also identified the key gene that determines the GI of rice, an important achievement that offers rice breeders the opportunity to develop varieties with different GI levels to meet consumer needs. Futuredevelopment of low-GI rice would also enable food manufacturers to develop new, low-GI food products based on rice. Dr. Melissa Fitzgerald, who led the IRRI team, said that GI is a measure of the relative ability of carbohydrates in foods to raise blood sugar levels after eating. "Understanding that different types of rice have different GI values allows rice consumers to make informed choices about the sort of rice they want to eat," she said. "Rice varieties such as India's most widely grown rice variety, Swarna, have a low GI and varieties such as Doongara from Australia and Basmati have a medium GI." Dr. Tony Bird, CSIRO Food Futures Flagship researcher, said that low-GI diets offer a range of health benefits: "Low-GI diets can reduce the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, and are also useful for helping diabetics better manage their condition. "This is good news for diabetics and people at risk of diabetes who are trying to control their condition through diet, as it means they can select the right rice to help maintain a healthy, low-GI diet," he added.Low-GI foods are those measured 55 and less, medium-GI foods are those measured between 56 and 69, while high-GI foods measure 70 and above.When food is measured to have a high GI, it means it is easily digested and absorbed by the body, which often results in fluctuations in blood sugar levels that can increase the chances of getting diabetes, and make management of type 2 diabetes difficult".

While theoretically it is an excellent study what is not realized is that there are only a few recognized brands in rice in the market while vast majority of them are sold loose in many countries with no way of identifying the variety and it is next to impossible to make any meaningful selection by the consumers at the market place. GI as a measure of assessing the anti-diabetic credentials of food is fraught with many practical difficulties. For example same rice variety can have varying GI values depending on the location it is produced, type of cooking it has undergone, the age of the rice, amount of water used for cooking, etc and unless more work is done to sort out these discrepancies there is no way consumer can rely on the published GI figures as a guide for evolving suitable diets. Of course for ready to eat foods with GI values declared on the label may have a meaning as they do not undergo any further cooking before consumption. Reading more carefully the above report, one gets the impression that it seems to be an attempt to genetically modify rice varieties to make changes at the gene level to impart low GI characteristics. Whether consumers will accept such GM varieties even with the low GI values remains to be seen.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com