palatable low GI carb drink

[BodySculpt]

Hey Guys,

Does anyone have a better idea than ground up oats + milk or whatever fluid you may choose to add for a Low GI carb drink? its ok but even if the oats are ground up well it still has a rough texture and i find it hard to consume large amounts on a regular basis without quickly getting sick of it...

Unfortunately I’m one of these people that have a limit to how many solids they can get down in one day.. so a really nice smooth and palatable low GI carb drink would really help bump up the caloric intake..

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

[Pseudonym]

How much oats do you mix into the shake? I tried this a while back, but found by the time I'd put in a decent amount of oats, the "drink" was pretty solid. Plus, as you say, it was like drinking liquid sandpaper.

I wondered briefly if you could precook the oats into a thick porridge to soften them, then mix that in. But I think they'd take up even more space in the drink that way... What do they use in Sanitarium's Up'n'Go?

EDIT: Here we are - Up&Go includes

Breakfast Cereal (5%) (Wheat Maltodextrin, Chicory Inulin, Corn Syrup Solids, Hi-Maize?)

http://www.upandgo.co.nz/home/product-range

So probably not something you could replicate easily at home, then.

[sponge]

Hey Guys,

Does anyone have a better idea than ground up oats + milk or whatever fluid you may choose to add for a Low GI carb drink? its ok but even if the oats are ground up well it still has a rough texture and i find it hard to consume large amounts on a regular basis without quickly getting sick of it...

Unfortunately I’m one of these people that have a limit to how many solids they can get down in one day.. so a really nice smooth and palatable low GI carb drink would really help bump up the caloric intake..

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

I don't think there is an easy way out of it. Only way to make it better is to keep adding liquid (milk, juice, water etc) to it so that it is drinkable.

I have spent ages trying to come up with a quick fix solution but with little success

[BodySculpt]

I see UP&GO says 12.3% carbs (of which 7.4% is sugar) so would i be right in saying that the 7.4% is High GI (simple carbs) thats what ive always assumed when looking on the Nutritional Information...

yeah, basically have to dilute the oats right down..

I thought maybe the Maltodextrin might be a low GI carb but after further research, looks as though its absorbed as quick as glucose.

Im stumped, would be great if there was a low GI carb drink that tasted good and could be derived from a cheap source such as oats, that you could chug down..

[Pseudonym]

The best I can come up with is simply plain old flour, I'm afraid. It does have a higher GI than oats, but no worse than potatos...

[Cammo]

The best I can come up with is simply plain old flour, I'm afraid. It does have a higher GI than oats, but no worse than potatos...

Wholemeal flour would probably be a better option than the typical white, refined stuff.

[Varven]

Ive looked long and hard and found nothing either.. Now I just resort to wholemeal breads/potatoes etc

[BodySculpt]

I have tried the wholemeal flour option too, the stuff i got was very grainy/gritty... does anyone know of a wholemeal flour that has a very fine texture?

will look up the nutritional info on plain flour out of interest tho...

here's a reply i got from a dietician i know that you might find interesting:

"For a low GI drink that is a bit more

palatable I would start with a smoothie. Milk and most fruit is low GI (the

tropical fruits tend to be medium GI). I'd blend up milk, a small banana,

and some other fruit to give it flavour; or milk, yoghurt, and fruit; or

make a lassi with natural yoghurt and fruit juice (eg. mango juice). All

are low GI and all contain carbs. You can get low GI powdered drinks as

well, like Sustagen Sport (in a tub at some supermarkets), which again you

just mix with milk."

[Cammo]

Are you diabetic?

[Flex]

I'm pretty sure fibre and fat can lower GI - If you want to lower the GI of your drink add some fats in the form of EFA's - the fat slows the digestion hence lowering the GI. Mix in some metamucil as well. Feck only knows how Sustagen is Low Gi. Two of the main ingredients in it are Sucrose and dried glucose syrup yet on the manufacturers website they list Sustagen sport as having a GI of 43. It has 39g carbs with 34.4g of sugars per serve.

The only thing that would keep the GI of Sustagen low is that it could have a fair amount of fibre in it, yet there is none added and it's not high in fat either so I'm a bit perplexed.

I'm guessing that it's only when they mix it with milk that they get a low GI. Apparently Chocolate Milk has a GI in the low 20's and normal milk ranging from the high 20's (full fat) to mid 30's (trim), once again depending on the fat content.

In my opinion you're probably better off drinking milk than sustagen.

[Pseudonym]

You stole my thunder, Flex. I was going to mention fats, too! On a similar note, though... I gather the casein in milk also forms a gluey lining in the stomach and slows absorption of protein (which is why post-workout shakes are best in water) - could it do the same for carbs?

Is a "sustained release" sugar with slowed absorption because of fats actually the equivalent of a complex carb, though?

Here's another possibility: chickpea flour. Chickpeas have a relatively low GI (30-40ish), so I guessing the flour would be similar. I imagine you can get it from most health food shops. The only thing I'm not sure of is whether it can be eaten raw.

[Flex]

Yeah chickpea flour might be alright. You could also try rice flour or pea flour. Problem is that both taste like balls so you have to be pretty game.

Not too sure if lowering the GI by adding fats really classes it as a complex carb. I think there are quite a few other variables other than just the GI as maltodextrin is considered a complex carb yet it has a high GI. There's also the Insulin Index/response etc and I don't really know enough about the subject to say.

Casein forms a gel - hence why it is traditionally used a a glue and used for binding books - it binds up your guts. So should in theory slow down the rate of absorption of everything else. That's what has always confused me about sustained release formulas that contain casein and whey as I was/am still under the belief that the casein will slow the absorption of everything down so you won't get the benefit of rapidly digested whey anyway. Anybody care to donate their stomach to science to find out? It may be that it seperates and forms a gel by itself perhaps.

[Pseudonym]

I was going to suggest rice flour, Flex, but that actually has a suprisingly high GI rating, according to http://www.glycemicindex.com

Interestingly, rice flour's rating is higher than wholegrain rice. Would the increased surface area of powder speed up the absorption process? I guess it probably would - I remember testing this in 3rd form chemistry class! Sadly, I guess that probably means all flours are off the list of possibilities.

Glycemicindex.com says Up&Go has a GI of 43. Perhaps your best bet would be to take a pack of Up&Go, and "fortify" it with extra protein powder! That wouldn't be cheap, though.

[BodySculpt]

I just found a source of ChickPea (Besan) flour 25kg for $65 53 grams of which 10grams are sugar, high in protein too, question is is it palatable? Ive never tasted it so wouldnt know.

[2guns]

flour? how would u prepare this?

[BodySculpt]

um just blend it up and drink it with chocolate milk?

Ive drank wholemeal flour with chocolate milk, didnt taste too bad apart from the hard grains..

[BodySculpt]

well i just made myself a chickpea flour aka besan flour aka channa flour.. milkshake with WPC, ran out of choc milk so had to use soyachino and trim milk.

it tastes a lot like chick peas (go figure) . with choc soy milk it would taste better. oh i had some wheat grass mixed in with the WPC too, that stuff tastes fowl..

it has a finer texture than oatmeal so is a bit easier to get down. you can get a 25kg bag for $65 from http://www.chantal.co.nz

[BodySculpt]

now that i look at that website they even have brown rice flour!

[Cammo]

I've done a bit of reading on casein and it seems to be the favourite for slow digestion of protein (pre-bedtime shake mostly).

A few companies put out casein protein powder but it's generally a bit more expensive than standard whey.

[BodySculpt]

yeah i just wiki'd it, would be good for a nighttime protein drink. do you know of any sources?

[Cammo]

yeah i just wiki'd it, would be good for a nighttime protein drink. do you know of any sources?

Here's one option:

http://www.nzmuscle.co.nz/product_info. ... ucts_id=34

[Pseudonym]

Milk is predominantly casein, I think. What about full-cream milk, then? That way the fat can slow absorption too.