Effect of carbohydrate digestibility on appetite and its relationship to postprandial blood glucose and insulin levels

Abstract

Background/Objectives: 'Slowly digestible' carbohydrates have been claimed to reduce appetite through their effects on postprandial glucose and insulin levels, but literature is inconsistent. The inconsistencies between studies might be explained by factors other than glycemic effects per se, for example, nutritional or physical properties. We tested this possibility by examining postprandial glucose, insulin and appetite responses to drinks differing only in rate and extent of digestibility of carbohydrates. This was accomplished by comparing different glucose polymers: maltodextrin (rapidly digestible) versus medium-chain pullulan (slowly but completely digestible) versus long-chain pullulan (indigestible). Subjects/Methods: In a randomized double-blind balanced crossover design, 35 subjects received drinks with 15 g test carbohydrate polymers. Key outcome measures were appetite scores, digestibility (in vitro test and breath hydrogen), and (in a subset) glucose and insulin levels. Results: Digestibility, glucose and insulin data confirmed the rapid, slow and nondigestible nature of the test carbohydrates. Despite its low digestibility, only long-chain pullulan reduced appetite compared with the maltodextrin control, whereas the medium-chain pullulan did not. Conclusions: We conclude that glycemic responses per se have minimal effects on appetite, when tested in products differing in only carbohydrate digestibility rate and extent.

Different postprandial acute response in healthy subjects to three strawberry jams varying in carbohydrate and antioxidant content: a randomized, crossover trial

“…At 30 min after HS jam intake, a peak in blood glucose concentration was observed, which is in agreement with other studies [27]. Accordingly, after the jam ingestion, insulin also increased, in response to the elevation of blood glucose concentration [22,28,29].…”

Protection of Lactobacillus acidophilus NRRL-B 4495 under in vitro gastrointestinal conditions with whey protein/pullulan microcapsules

“…On the other hand, encapsulated cells in WP microcapsules were calculated to release at the rate of 88.75% within 1 h of exposure and after 3 h exposure in SIJ, release of all encapsulated bacteria appeared to occur with 9.11 log CFU/g viable cells at the end of 3 h of exposure to SIJ. Pullulan is a slowly digested carbohydrate by human gastrointestinal enzymes (25,29). This behavior of pullulan to intestinal enzymes should have stabilized the gel characteristics of WP/pullulan microcapsules in the intestine after exposure to SGJ and bile.…”

Glycaemic Profile and Insulin Response after Consuming Triticale Flakes

“…This correlation suggests that the triticale cereal could possess beneficial appetite regulating properties. Based on recent and our studies we might further hypothesise that a whole grain triticale cereal breakfast slows down acute insulin response, it might reduce depression of blood glucose below baseline levels (reactive hypoglycaemia) in the late postprandial phase and possibly has lower energy intake at subsequent meals compared to commercial grain breakfast with high II (Nilsson et al, 2008;Isaksson et al, 2011;Peters et al, 2011). There is some evidence that glucose kinetics affects this process little and that particularly the secretion of insulin in response to food intake, induces satiety (Flint et al, 2007;Blaak et al, 2012).…”