The relationship between glycemic response, digestibility, and factors influencing the dietary habits of diabetics

Abstract

A significant relationship was found between the rate of release of the sugars; glucose, maltose, and maltotriose from amylitic digestion of 10 foods tested in vitro (expressed as the digestibility index) and the blood glucose response to 50-g carbohydrate portions of the same foods eaten by diabetics (expressed as the glycemic index), (r = 0.815, n = 10, p greater than 0.01). The glycemic index related to both the palatability of the foods (r = 0.731, p less than 0.05) and their frequency of use (r = 0.698, p less than 0.05). However, in this group of motivated diabetics food use was not related directly to palatability, but rather to health belief (r = 0.689, p less than 0.05). The results suggest that carbohydrate foods of potential use to the diabetic may be identified by their in vitro digestion characteristics but to a large extent their acceptance will depend on health belief and possibly ease of preparation.

Metabolic and hormonal effects of five common African diets eaten as mixed meals: the Cameroon Study

“…In fact, based on the assumption that small intestinal digestion is a rate-limiting step, there is a hypothesis that traditional carbohydrate foods that are digested slowly in vitro are likely to give low glycaemic responses (O'Dea et al, 1981;Jenkins et al, 1984). We found no significant correlation between digestibility index and GI and II and therefore concluded that in vitro digestion would probably be Effects of African diets J-CN Mbanya et al of limited interest in the evaluation of these mixed meals.…”

Comparative Study of Starch Characteristics, In-Vitro Starch Digestibility and Glycemic Index of Some Starchy Foods Consumed in Nigeria

“…The index allows ranking of carbohydrate foods on the basis of the rate of digestion and absorption (Jenkins et al, 1981;Englyst et al, 1992). In-vitro method has also been used to classify foods based on their digestion characteristics similar to the in vivo situation, and to identify slow release of carbohydrate in foods (Jenkins et al, 1984). The foods with GI values more than 70%, between 56% and 69% and lower than 55% were classified as high, medium, and low GI foods, respectively (Brand-Miller et al, 2003).…”

Health benefits of soy beans and soy products: a review

“…Both Jenkins et al (1984) and Anderson et al (1984) did extensive research on the role of dietary fibre in the management of diabetes. Recent studies suggest that blood glucose may be influenced by various dietary fibres, although usually the most effective fibre sources for control of diabetes are soluble fibres such as guar gum and pectin (Slavin, 1991).…”