Guar gum to reduce glycemic index of white flour.
I'm playing with pizza.
I like whole grain for the health benefits, including a slight reduction in glycemic index.
But I prefer pizza crust with a vast majority of white (bread or AP) flour, like at least 70% white flour.
I have lots of guar gum powder on hand from previous gluten-free experiments.
Putting 1/4 tsp in about 100 grams of white flour doesn't harm my pizza, IMO. But I wondered if it reduces glycemic index.
I'm too lazy/cheap to do experiments with a blood sugar meter, so I turned to the Duck(duckgo.com).
Apparently, adding guar gum to food for reducing peak blood sugar is a thing.
It doesn't reduce "glycemic load" because you're still getting about the same number of grams of carbs. But reducing "peak" blood sugar is, by definition (I think), the same as reducing glycemic index.
So maybe I found a work-around excuse to eat pizza crust made from white flour, and still feel smug for eating healthy.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/guar-gum
Update, 09/09/2022, link added: https://bakerpedia.com/ingredients/guar-gum/
Comments welcome.
Pizza bake here: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/70536/pizza-05122022-cast-iron-pan-ragusea
I just looked up a current "diet" pill that says if you take it with every meal you will lose weight. No other changes are necessary. Turns out that the man ingredient is glucomannon-a form of dietary fiber derived from the jack fruit.
HERE is the link for that.
I recall in the past that there were other OTC "weight loss" pills that were guar gum. People ran into problems when they didn't drink enough fluids with the pills-they caused intestinal blockage that proved harmful.
Interesting study about using it in bread and soup!.
(Yeah, they've been banned.)
Yes! It can be a problem.
I make sure that the GG is well dispersed in the dry mix of whatever I'm making before adding water/milk.
GG absorbs something like 5 times as much water per gram as does, say, wheat flour or corn starch.
But when not dispersed well, GG clumps, like when you "dump" some corn starch or wheat flour in a hot liquid, instead of sprinkling it slowly in.
With a GG clump, the outer layer congeals and prevents the water getting to the center. The clump can then enter the small intestine, where it has time to fuliy hydrate and expand/swell, and then that causes the blockage.
Guar gum does slow gastric emptying and lowers glycemic index; however, if heated, it loses that property. The studies always used viscous guar gum added to a meal.
Dietary guar gum effects on postprandial blood glucose, insulin and hydroxyproline in humans