all bran

Question
I have just bought a pack of kellog s all bran plus pack. The product contains 11gr. of fibre per 40g portion, which seems quite good to me. What I am concerned is the sugar level, which is 12gr per 100gr of product. Is the health benefit worth it?

Thank you

Answer
Apostolos,

That's really not that much sugar. Plus, not all sugars are equal and it's difficult to tell from package labels which ones the product contains.

Some sugars 'burn' much faster than others and effect you insulin levels and metabolism to a greater degree. In fact, some 'complex' carbohydrates actually burn faster than some sugars.

Without going into all the scientific detail I'm just trying to make the point that simply looking at total sugar can be misleading. The total fiber content is a good indicator that the product has the right kind of complex carbohydrates and sugars (although not fool proof).

What you really want to concern yourself with is the 'glycemic index'. You want to eat low glycemic index foods because they will not spike your blood sugar and wreak havoc on your metabolism. You can get the glycemic index for many common foods and an explanation of the benefits at www.glycemicindex.com.

All bran has a glycemic index of 30, which is quite low so that is good.

Hope this helps.

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