The effect of β-glucan on the glycemic and insulin index

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effects of oat products with increasing b-glucan content on the glycemic (GI) and insulin indexes (II) of oat products, and to establish the effect of physical properties of b-glucan on these physiological responses. Design: Test group (n ¼ 10) randomly attended to three glucose tolerance tests and glycemic response tests for four oat bran products. Settings: Functional Foods Forum and the Department of Food Chemistry, University of Turku, and the Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki. Subjects: One male and nine female volunteers were recruited from university students and staff, and all completed the study. Interventions: GI and II of different products were calculated for each subject using the average of parallel glucose tolerance tests and the subsequent glycemic/insulinemic responses for each product. Average indexes for products were calculated according to the individual data. Results: The glycemic responses to oat products with increasing amounts of b-glucan had lower peak values than the reference glucose load. The amount of extractable b-glucan had a high correlation between the glycemic and insulinemic response. Conclusion: In addition to the total amount of b-glucan in oat products, the amount of extractable b-glucan in oat products explains the magnitude of the decrease in glycemic responses to carbohydrate products.

Oat β‐glucan increases postprandial cholecystokinin levels, decreases insulin response and extends subjective satiety in overweight subjects

“…This does not mean that fasting measures of these scores or hormones are unrelated to longer-term dietary behaviours, particularly as these behaviours impact on weight control. A range of soluble fibres, including b-glucan have been shown to improve glycaemic responses [8,26], with each gram of b-glucan found to decrease glycaemic index by four units [8]. The food vehicle, however, may be important.…”

Evaluation of commercial microbial hydrocolloids concerning their effects on plasma lipids and caecal formation of SCFA in mice

“…Firstly, the presence of soluble fibres in the intestine leads to absorption of fluid and an increase in viscosity of intestinal contents (Mäkeläinen et al, 2007). This increase may make the unstirred layer adjacent to the mucosa thicker, leading to impaired absorption of 1) bile acids (Kerckhoffs, Brouns, & Hornstra, 2002) and possibly dietary cholesterol and 2) glucose, causing the blood sugar to rise slowly giving a low insulin response (Mäkeläinen et al, 2007).…”

Oat fibre: overview on their main biological properties

“…Products enriched with -glucan have been shown to reduce postprandial glucose and insulinaemic responses in healthy men [12,48] and in type 2 diabetes patients [31,70]. Reduced postprandial glucose and insulin concentrations after consumption of types of Wbre have been shown to be caused by delayed mouth-caecum transit and delayed absorption of glucose in the small intestine [32].…”