Grapes are classified as having a low glycemic index (3). Canadian raisins have a glycemic index ranging around 64☑1 (1). The GI of raisins from Israel is estimated to be around 66☖. The GI of the refreshing grape nectar drink has been calculated to fall in the range of 52±5 (1).ĭried grapes or raisins tend to have a higher glycemic index due to concentrated sugars. However, another older study puts the GI of fresh Australian black grapes around 50 (2). Black grapes from Australia have an even higher glycemic index equalling 59 (1). ![]() The average value of 46 of these two is selected as our value. That’s why PepsiCo’s effort is worth applauding, and why we need more companies to follow their example.Grapes are sweet fruits, botanically classified as berries, often associated with warm weather.Īccording to The International Tables of Glycemic Index, the glycemic index of raw grapes from Canada is 43, whereas grapes from Italy have a little higher glycemic index of 49. The new drugs can quickly attack the crisis in today’s population with the highest rates of obesity – and if they prove to be safe, that will be a good thing - but we also need longer-term solutions that will prevent future generations from dealing with obesity. Will Stealth Health get an immediate payback? It will not, but we didn’t get to the epidemic of widespread obesity overnight. While Stealth Health is the right thing to do, resist the urge to score public relations brownie points from it. Marketing of reduced sizes or reformulated foods should play up their most appealing qualities, such as crunchiness or refreshing taste. Don’t call anything “healthy.” Laguarta, the PepsiCo CEO, admitted that the company’s “healthy” products are a niche brand, appealing only to the health conscious and not to the majority of its customers.Reducing restaurant meals by 10 percent at a time will also help lower calories and get patrons accustomed to smaller portions. The confectionary industry’s “ Always a Treat” initiative has resulted in 50% of their individually wrapped products delivering 200 calories or less. While consumers have bristled at companies reducing package sizes while charging the same or more for them during the pandemic, a gradual reduction in the sizes companies offer will be beneficial to consumer health. Consumers demand taste, convenience and “permissible indulgence” and have demonstrated a broad rejection of products that don’t deliver on these attributes. Give consumers what they want without telling them it’s healthier.Food companies must be front and center on this. They may provide a short-term benefit but will not change American’s need to eat healthier and adopt healthier lifestyles. Don’t shift the dialogue to obesity reduction drugs as a panacea.We need more companies – and especially more restaurants – to emulate what PepsiCo is doing and begin their own Stealth Health initiatives. By gradually (and invisibly) reducing salt, sugar and fat, food companies can keep them as customers while steadily getting their palates accustomed to better-for-you foods and snacks. The biggest opportunities are with the 13% percent of people that NMI calls the “Eat, Drink and Be Merries,” who just want to live life to the fullest without fretting over what they eat and the 24 percent of the population who are “Fence Sitters,” who want to eat healthy but can’t find the time to plan healthy meals. Reformulating indulgent products to meet the trend to “permissible indulgence” will appeal to a broader swath of the population.
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