About me
Prashanth Cheruku
Hello!!! Thanks for stopping by.
I am the founder of this platform & a qualified Food Technologist. I have more than 10 years of Research & content creation experience in the field of Food Science.
I hold a Master of Technology degree in Food Process Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur.
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B | C | E | G | L |
B
Body Mass Index (BMI)
BMI is the ratio of the body weight of a person in kilograms to the square of height in meters. It is a numerical way to define whether a person falls under overweight or underweight category as per his/her height.
BMI = (weight in kilograms/square of height in meters)
BMI is generally measured in kg/m2. General BMI values and the associated level of health risk is mentioned in the table below.
<18.5 Underweight Increased risk
18.5-24.9 Least risk
25-29.9 overweight Increased risk
30-34.99 Obese 1 high risk
35-39.9 Obese 2 very high risk
>=40 Obese 3 extremely high risk
C
Citric Acid
Citric acid is commonly found in the citrus fruits such as limes, lemons, and oranges. It is a natural preservative and is used in packaged foods and beverages as an acidity regulator, antioxidant, flavouring agent and sequestrant.
Citric acid is a permitted food additive with an INS number of 330 and mentioned as E330 in European Union. It is commercially produced by the fermentation of sugars using Aspergillus niger.
It is used in jams, jellies, soft drinks, powdered fruit beverages, soups, sauces, and also as a cleaning agent.
E
Emulsifier
Emulsifier is a substance which is used to form a stable mixture of two liquids which generally do not mix or would separate quickly when mixed.
Emulsifiers can also stabilize the mixtures of gases in liquid and gasses in solid. Lecithin is one of the most widely used emulsifiers in the world. Lecithin is found in eggs, soybean, milk etc. Commercially lecithin is obtained from soybean.
G
Glycaemic Indiex (GI)
The Glycaemic index is a rating system assigned to foods containing carbohydrates. It represents how slowly or quickly a particular food raises the blood glucose level after ingestion. (1)
It would be better for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes to consume foods with low GI. High GI foods tend to spike the blood glucose level faster upon ingestion.
Some foods with high GI are
- Sugary soft drinks
- White wheat bread
- White rice
- Corn flakes (Click to read full post & watch video)
- Instant oat porridge
- Boiled potato
Some foods with low and medium GI are
- Walnuts
- Cashews
- Majority of pulses
- Majority of fresh fruits
- Sweet corn
L
Lactose
Lactose is a sugar present in the milk of most mammals. Human milk contains around 6.9% lactose whereas cow’s milk has around 4.6% of it.
Lactose serves as a major source of energy in infants. Lactase is an enzyme produced in humans which breaks Lactose into Glucose and Galactose.
As we age, the production of lactase in our body is reduced. This is the reason why it becomes more difficult to digest milk in a large number of people across the world as they get in to their adulthood. This inability to digest lactose is called Lactose intolerance. The simple solution to this problem is avoiding milk and its products.
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