Mung Bean Threads Low Glycemic Index/Load Pasta

[Guest guest]

I've been doing lots of mung bean threads lately. They're cheap at

the co-op here (Ashland, Oregon), and they're easy to prepare. I

just soak them in water until they're soft, toss with the other

ingredients that I'm having it with, zap for a few minutes in the

microwave, then it's ready to eat.

 

Somebody saw me eating them, and she thought they must not have much

food value since they look so processed, so that compelled me to

look them up. It turns out they have, amongst other virtues, a very

low glycemic index (37 by one source,

http://www.elitefitness.com/articledata/glycemic.html)

compared to normal pasta (46 to 78 by that same source), and this

translates into a glycemic load per serving of 1,586 for the mung

bean threads compared to 1,824 to 3.080 for normal pasta (according

to http://66.102.7.104/search?

q=cache:bQCcwMWHhdwJ:optimalhealth.cia.com.au/GlycemicLoad.xls+mung+b

ean+thread+glycemic+load & hl=en (which I found with Google, in case

this address doesn't work even if you copy and paste it, with a

search for " mung bean thread " then " glycemic load "

within those

results, and I found an html version of an Microsoft Excel chart)).

See " Understanding glycemic load " by Jonn Matsen (at

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FKA/is_8_66/ai_n6106502)

for the concepts " glycemic index " and " glycemic load "

if you're not

familiar with these terms.

 

The way I like them: After soaking in water, I add a few jiggers of

sesame oil, tamari, a Thai/Southeast Asian-style sweet chili sauce,

and chopped scallion, and then I zap the whole thing in the

microwave until the bean threads are tender. This is great with

other cooked vegetables, steamed or lightly zapped.