Comment on Would taking a tbs of olive oil before each meal lower the GI of everything else you eat?
TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world 2 weeks agoMy mom’s dietitian said if my mom wants to eat simple carbs, she needs to cook them with fat and protein like instant oats with peanut butter or white rice with beans because it lowers the GI and spikes insulin less. So I was wondering if having oil as if it were an aperitif would function the same
CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You are mixing up two ideas here. Carbs and protein are an established part of a complete meal. Like rice and beans both have proteins, but only together do they form a complete protein ad can serve as a cheap meat substitute without any long term nutritional deficiencies. Beans also have a low glycemic index which is helpful for a number of conditions. Rice is high as it is almost pure carbs. It depends a bit on the type of rice, but safe to say generally high. So white rice and beans, if the goal is a complete protein, is fine. If the goal is low GI, (like for managing diabetes), then white rice is not terrible, but not great either. Stick to brown basmati varieties to help lower the GI.
Oil is fat, not protein. It doesn’t have a glycemic index because there is no carbohydrates (simple or complex sugars) in it. It will not change the GI of any foods eaten with it and will not make a complete protein out of anything. Fats are a part of a healthy diet, and olive oil is a generally healthy choice, if used in moderation.
A tablespoon of oil with each meal won’t help the GI or protein profile and is really just adding excess calories. If the meal is small enough, the calories won’t really hurt.
So to better answer your question, what is the primary concern for the diet in question? Is it GI? Are there any restrictions like veganisn involved?