Randomized, Double-Blind, Crossover Clinical Trial of the Effect of Calcium Alginate in Noodles on Postprandial Blood Glucose Level

Abstract

We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind, 3-group, 3-phase crossover study to evaluate the effect of calcium alginate (Ca-Alg) on the postprandial increase of blood glucose in 15 healthy adult subjects who were given udon noodles containing or not containing Ca-Alg (5 or 8%). The value of ΔC (difference between the maximum (C) and pre-feeding (C) blood glucose levels) was significantly reduced in both Ca-Alg groups, and the area under the blood glucose level-time curve over 120 min (ΔAUC, with C as the baseline) was also significantly reduced. Thus, supplementation of noodles with Ca-Alg significantly suppressed both the peak postprandial blood glucose level and the total amount of glucose absorption. Blood calcium (Ca) concentration was significantly increased at 120 min after ingestion, but there was no marked change of other parameter values. A questionnaire indicated that addition of Ca-Alg did not affect the acceptability of the noodles. These results indicate that Ca-Alg might a useful food additive for helping to prevent lifestyle-related diseases without adversely affecting individual eating habits.

Reduction Effect of Calcium Alginate on Blood Triglyceride Levels Causing the Inhibition of Hepatic and Total Body Accumulation of Fat in Rats

“…21) Moreover, we found that Ca-Alg suppressed the elevation of blood glucose levels after ingestion of starch in rats and humans by inhibiting the degradation of maltose to glucose by α-glucosidase. 22,23) Moreover, we reported the blood Cho-lowering effect of Ca-Alg in rats. 24) Ca-Alg adsorbs bile acids in the intestine, inhibiting their reabsorption and enterohepatic circulation, and thus decreasing bile acid levels in the blood and enhancing their fecal excretion.…”

Effect of brown seaweed on plasma glucose in healthy, at-risk, and type 2 diabetic individuals: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…1). This review included 18 RCTs, from which 12 had a crossover design [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] and 6 had a parallel design. [39][40][41][42] Of the 18 studies, 10 28,29,32-35 involved an acute intervention as an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), measuring the intervention's effect on PPG over 2 to 3 h. Five studies 27,30,[40][41][42] conducted only long-term interventions analyzing the effect on FPG.…”

“…In all the included studies, a placebo was used as a control comparator (Table 2). [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] The study populations ranged from 12 to 97 participants. Ten studies [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] were conducted on healthy participants (n ¼ 256) with a normal FPG (<100 mg/dL) and BMI (18.5 and 24.9 kg/m 2 ).…”

Pharmacological Effects and Utility as a Food Additive of Calcium Alginate

“…Further, Ca-Alg moderated the postprandial increase of blood glucose level in rats and humans. Ca-Alg has been confirmed as safe for use as a food additive, and is superior to Na-Alg, because there is no risk of hypertension Changes in blood glucose level (ΔC) after eating test noodles to volunteers [30]. The data represent means ± S.D., n = 15.…”

“…Diabetics may develop serious complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy, in addition to myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction and so on [27,30], even though the initial subjective symptoms may be minor. Ca-Alg is known to suppress the postprandial increase of blood glucose, and therefore may be helpful in preventing lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes.…”