So, my mom watched Oprah yesterday and she claims that a “Dr.Oz” was on the show who stated that toasting the almonds was bad. He claims that by toasting them, the good oil is turned into “bad” oil. I have never heard this before? Again, I don’t know any more details, as this is all second-hand info, but does anyone have any idea what he could be talking about??
I don’t have direct knowledge of this specific Oprah event, but I do know that heating some food can alter the chemical makeup in it from good to bad.
Carrots are a great example of this. Cold carrots are virtually sugar free, but if you heat them up the sugar is “released” (not sure of the technical term) and then they are actually somewhat bad for you.
I’m sure others on here, Dr. Stig for example, can offer up a technical response on this. Either way, I’m sure there is some merit to it.
potential to yes. I buy my raw almonds a LOT in bulk, will soak in water and toast then SLOW myself. More drying them then toasting at 200 or less degress. Make them damn good and cruchy after HOURS.
I would add though. I wouldnt sweat it to much buying roasted almonds. a LOT better than a bag of chips or something. Better then 90% of other people.
[quote]eengrms76 wrote:
I don’t have direct knowledge of this specific Oprah event, but I do know that heating some food can alter the chemical makeup in it from good to bad.
Carrots are a great example of this. Cold carrots are virtually sugar free, but if you heat them up the sugar is “released” (not sure of the technical term) and then they are actually somewhat bad for you.
I’m sure others on here, Dr. Stig for example, can offer up a technical response on this. Either way, I’m sure there is some merit to it.[/quote]
Steamed carrots still have to be better than ice cream…
[quote]Nick Gagnon wrote:
Steamed carrots still have to be better than ice cream…[/quote]
LOL true…
I don’t know of the exact term, either, but what happens sometimes in cooking fibrous foods is that glucose monomers break free from the fiber, adding to the total sugar content.
Carrots are not bad for you, however.
They have a higher GI than most other vegetables, but that value is based on 50g of CHO from carrots. That’s a lot of carrots. A normal serving will not elicit a high insulin response.
Sugar is “released”? What, cooking magically produces carbohydrate from thin air? Don’t be silly. A bit of caramelization won’t change the total carb content by so much as a milligram.
There’s still the exact same number of molecules of glucose. That doesn’t change. They just shift from being part of fiber to being free form. It’s not hard to understand.
[quote]Rex30 wrote:
Sugar is “released”? What, cooking magically produces carbohydrate from thin air? Don’t be silly. A bit of caramelization won’t change the total carb content by so much as a milligram.[/quote]
In a manner of speaking, yes. It doesn’t really produce it as much as it converts from one type to another, which effectively does raise the sugar content, but not the overall carbohydrate content. Which if you had read my post, I didn’t say it increased carbs I said it increased sugar.
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3283
Here is an excerpt…
Carrots.
After cooking, carrots taste sweeter and appear to raise blood sugar much more rapidly than when raw. This probably relates to the breakdown of complex carbohydrates into simpler sugars by heat. Even raw carrots can be slowly converted to glucose and should be avoided.
Being a diabetic myself for more than 10 years I think I know what I’m talking about. Next time you want to question someone do a little research and think before you type…
So I guess you think that the same amount of carbs with varying sugar content is going to make any difference whatsoever. Hint: the real world is not a GI lab test. Unless you eat single foods in isolation (without eating anything else until that single carb source has completely finished digesting) glycemic index doesn’t make any difference.
Theoretically higher GI is better postworkout, but again if there’s anything in your stomach from previous meals it’s not going to make much difference. At the end of the day it’s the amount of carbs, not their GI. GI should have died decades ago but I guess there are still people around who believe GI can somehow alter the laws of thermodynamics.
[quote]Rex30 wrote:
So I guess you think that the same amount of carbs with varying sugar content is going to make any difference whatsoever. Hint: the real world is not a GI lab test. Unless you eat single foods in isolation (without eating anything else until that single carb source has completely finished digesting) glycemic index doesn’t make any difference.
Theoretically higher GI is better postworkout, but again if there’s anything in your stomach from previous meals it’s not going to make much difference. At the end of the day it’s the amount of carbs, not their GI. GI should have died decades ago but I guess there are still people around who believe GI can somehow alter the laws of thermodynamics.
[/quote]
Red Herring.
No one is arguing about the usefulness of the glycemic index. That has been discussed in another thread. The issue here was what happens to glucose when food is cooked.
Oprah turns my stomach…As far as the Almonds go, eat them any way you can.
I’d say a mild roast is OK ( I roast mine for 5 minutes at 350 degrees)burned however is not and that will breakdown the good oils.
If toasting them is wrong I don’t want to be right…
We have to live don’t we. What a vice…toasted almonds!
[quote]ZEB wrote:
Oprah turns my stomach…As far as the Almonds go, eat them any way you can.[/quote]
Oh yeah…all my friends who normally think I’m a crazy ‘fitness freak’ have been telling me about ‘Oprah’s List’ and if I knew HFCS was bad? Really…ya don’t say?