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  • Yeah, part of the reason I eat big is cos ot keeps me warm overnight. That tip on the couscous seems like it could be workable in summer. I might have to try that. Thanks for all the tips guys
  • We've been here before, but couscous rates pretty poorly in terms of both calories per gram and GI. Seem to remember last time we got onto this topic I looked up all the common stuff and found that Basmatti rice scored best in terms of both calories and GI. That said, good to know couscous can be made with cold water. And even with hot the fact there's no simmer required is a big bonus. I carry scotch oats rather than porridge oats for the same reason - they can be made into a European style muesli with cold water or milk.
  • Advantage of couscous is due to the small grain size it tends to rehydrate quickly, and it imo tastes better than rice. From memory, instant mash is decent in terms of cal/gram and that tastes pretty good. But yeah, good point, taking into account calories/gram is relatively important on longer trips. Thanks for the reminder about that!
  • basmati: gi 58, 3.49 cal/g Couscous: gi 65, 1.12cal/g Instant mash: gi 88, 2.12 cal/g which confirms my experience - instant mash good for a boost but not long lasting energy.
  • Thanks very much for the numbers. Most enlightening. Might have to take me rice more often. Ill have to have a look and see about the numbers for other things as well. Always good to have data to quantitatively say how much better something is. Must say I entirely forgot about GI as a factor!
    This post has been edited by the author on 21 April 2015 at 22:20.
  • Hi @madpom I don't want to get into a GI and Kcal/g debate, but I think some of your research may have occluded with some cooked items and some not. I don't want to undermine your research as we all know that outcomes and values seem to vary everywhere. I just thought Couscous was a little way out in comparison to the kcal/g table. So here's a little research and I found these results. Plus an even better grain than couscous or basmati. For fairness weights are based on 100g and then divided by 100 where applicable. This is for 100g uncooked/dry and cooked as follows; Dry/Raw Values Grain Kcal/g GI Cooking avg Couscous 3.76 65 N/A Tilda White Basmati* 3.56 58 N/A Quinoa. 3.68 53 N/A Pearl Barley 3.52 25 N/A Spelt Grain 3.38 45 N/A Cooked Values Grain Kcal/g GI Cooking avg Couscous 1.12 65 10mins Tilda White Basmati* 1.16 58 15mins Quinoa. 1.20 53 15mins Pearl Barley 1.23 25 30mins Spelt Grain 1.29 45 25mins As you can see, Couscous in it's dry state actually shades the others in Kcal/g but still scores in the mid range GI. Spelt grain however, while being the lowest Kcal/g in dry state, retains the most of it's calories and scores well in the GI (a low-mid/high-low). Pearl Barley has a similar Kcal/g retention under cooking and has the best GI at 25, a very good low GI rating. To be fair, in their cooked states Quinoa, Basmati and Couscous all come off pretty similar. While these three are good and the added benefit of making Couscous with cold water, the better of this group are Pearl Barley and Spelt. Their only downside is they require a longer cooking time. Then again, you can read another chapter of your book! For me, if I was trying to go virtually fuel free, then Couscous would be my option. If I was trying to be economical with fuel while saving some weight/bulk on meths/gas then i'd go with Basmati or Quinoa. If I wanted the best calorific retention and lowest GI (ie, best for slow carbohydrate storage/body heat retention, as well as good for your body) then I'd look no further than Pearl Barley. Although i'd be happy with spelt too. Research is research though and to be honest I think most of us would be happy with any good carb base in restoring energy after a long day tramping. Hope you find this information useful if nothing else :) NB: *White Basmati was used in this as it had a better result measured against brown basmati. Resources: Overall data extracted from CoFIDS (Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset) research paper, incorporating Mccance & Widdowsons Sept 2014. For calorie measures entering 100g http://www.calorieking.com/ www.food.gov.uk/science/dietarysurveys/dietsurveys/ For GI references http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/gi_diet/glycaemic_index_tables.htm http://www.glycemicindex.com/foodSearch.php www.food.gov.uk/science/dietarysurveys/dietsurveys/ For cooked Spelt http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/10356/2?print=true For Basmati Rice cooked/uncooked values http://www.tilda.com/our-rice-range/products/pure-basmati-rice
  • Cheers for that @bamboo. The difference did seem bigger than I remembered ... that was why! Glad you cleared that up.
  • Thanks a bunch. Interesting how much closer the values are when cooked!
  • @madpom Yeah I didn't wanna tread on ya toes mate. It just seemed a little off (poor couscous ha). But sharing this stuff just gives us more knowledge and helps us make more informed choices. No doubt someone else will measure another grain and that'll win on the protein test etc. So in a way, sometimes just go with what you know tastes best/cooks efficiently or sits well with your body. There's a lot to be said about GI on the whole as many variables can come into play. Some item's GI changes when cooked and depending on how it's cooked too. Also there is GI loading value which is often lower than the initial GI Food value so it can be quite confusing. I'm sure many manufacturers will try to make their product come across the best (that's if the numbers on the packets are telling the truth at all), thats why I tried to use independent resources to get a relatively even field. @Size12 No worries man, was just interested in the data myself to be honest, but thought it relevant to share. Have to say though, remember that 100g dry doesn't equate to 100g cooked. Generally grains take on water and that increases their weight, but different grains retains different levels of water. Which makes for a whole different ball game and I don't know the retention ratios and by now I think i'd have put everyone to sleep. Maybe something to talk about in a hut when you're feeling tired sometime :) Anyhow, I used 100g in both states, for the sake of a fair comparison amongst the selected grains. Anything else nutrition wise worth taking a look at i'd be happy to help. Enjoy!
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21–29 of 29

Forum The campfire
Started by Size12
On 19 April 2015
Replies 28
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