Hostname: page-component-669899f699-7xsfk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-26T19:54:46.781Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Glycaemic index of cereal products explained by their content of rapidly and slowly available glucose

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Klaus N. Englyst ,
Sophie Vinoy ,
Hans N. Englyst  and
Vincent Lang
Klaus N. Englyst*
Affiliation:
Englyst Carbohydrates – Research &Services Ltd, 2 Venture Road, Chilworth Science Park, Southampton, Hampshire SO16 7NP, UK
Sophie Vinoy
Affiliation:
Danone Vitapole, Nutrivaleur, route départementale 128, 91767 Palaiseau cedex, France
Hans N. Englyst
Affiliation:
Englyst Carbohydrates – Research &Services Ltd, 2 Venture Road, Chilworth Science Park, Southampton, Hampshire SO16 7NP, UK
Vincent Lang
Affiliation:
Danone Vitapole, Nutrivaleur, route départementale 128, 91767 Palaiseau cedex, France
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Klaus N. Englyst, fax +44 23 8076 9654, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Elucidating the role of carbohydrate quality in human nutrition requires a greater understanding of how the physico-chemical characteristics of foods relate to their physiological properties. It was hypothesised that rapidly available glucose (RAG) and slowly available glucose (SAG), in vitro measures describing the rate of glucose release from foods, are the main determinants of glycaemic index (GI) and insulinaemic index (II) for cereal products. Twenty-three products (five breakfast cereals, six bakery products and crackers, and twelve biscuits) had their GI and II values determined, and were characterised by their fat, protein, starch and sugar contents, with the carbohydrate fraction further divided into total fructose, RAG, SAG and resistant starch. Relationships between these characteristics and GI and II values were investigated by regression analysis. The cereal products had a range of GI (28–93) and II (61–115) values, which were positively correlated (r2 0·22, P<0·001). The biscuit group, which had the highest SAG content (8·6 (sd 3·7) g per portion) due to the presence of ungelatinised starch, was found to have the lowest GI value (51 (sd 14)). There was no significant association between GI and either starch or sugar, while RAG was positively (r2 0·54, P<0·001) and SAG was negatively (r2 0·63, P<0·001) correlated with GI. Fat was correlated with GI (r2 0·52, P<0·001), and combined SAG and fat accounted for 73·1 % of the variance in GI, with SAG as the dominant variable. RAG and protein together contributed equally in accounting for 45·0 % of the variance in II. In conclusion, the GI and II values of the cereal products investigated can be explained by the RAG and SAG contents. A high SAG content identifies low-GI foods that are rich in slowly released carbohydrates for which health benefits have been proposed.

Keywords

Glycaemic indexInsulinaemic indexDietary carbohydrateCarbohydrate qualityCereal products
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 89 , Issue 3 , March 2003 , pp. 329 - 339
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2003

References

Bellisle, F (2001) Glycaemic Index and Health: the Quality of the Evidence. Montrouge, France: John Libbey Eurotext.Google Scholar
Biliaderis, CG, Maurice, TJ & Vose, JR (1980) Starch gelatinisation phenomena studied by scanning differential calorimetry. Journal of Food Science 45, 1669–1675.Google Scholar
Biliaderis, CG (1991) The structure and interactions of starch with food constituents. Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 69, 60–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Björck, I, Liljeberg, H & Ostman, E (2000) Low glycaemic-index foods. British Journal of Nutrition 83, Suppl., S149–S155.Google Scholar
Bornet, FRJ, Fontvielle, AM, Rizkalla, S, Colonna, P, Blayo, A, Mercier, C & Slama, G (1989) Insulin and glycaemic responses in healthy humans to native starches processed in different ways: correlation with in vitro α-amylase hydrolysis. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 315–323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brand-Miller, JC (1994) Importance of glycaemic index in diabetes. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 59, Suppl., 747S–752S.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brand-Miller, J, Pang, E & Broomhead, L (1995) The glycaemic index of foods containing sugars: comparison of foods with naturally occurring v. refined sugars. British Journal of Nutrition 73, 613–623.Google Scholar
Collier, GR, Greenberg, GR, Wolever, TMS & Jenkins, DJA (1988) The acute effect of fat on insulin secretion. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 66, 323–326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colonna, P, Leloup, V & Buleon, A (1992) Limiting factors of starch hydrolysis. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 46, Suppl., S17–S32.Google ScholarPubMed
Crowe, TC, Seliman, SA & Copeland, L (2000) Inhibition of enzymatic digestion of amylose by free fatty acids in vitro contributes to resistant starch formation. Journal of Nutrition 130, 2006–2008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, ME, Vale, C, Walker, M, Alberti, KG & Mathers, JC (1997) Dietary carbohydrates and insulin sensitivity: a review of the evidence and clinical implications. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 66, 1072–1085.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Englyst, HN & Hudson, GJ (1996) The classification and measurement of dietary carbohydrates. Food Chemistry 57, 15–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Englyst, HN, Kingman, SM & Cummings, JH (1992) Classifications and measurement of nutritionally important starch fractions. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 46, Suppl., S33–S50.Google ScholarPubMed
Englyst, HN, Quigley, ME & Hudson, GJ (1994) Determination of dietary fibre as non-starch polysaccharides with gas-liquid chromatographic, high-performance liquid chromatographic or spectrophotometric measurement of constituent sugars. Analyst 119, 1497–1509.Google Scholar
Englyst, KN, Englyst, HN, Hudson, GJ, Cole, TJ & Cummings, JH (1999) Rapidly available glucose in foods: an in vitro measurement that reflects the glycaemic response. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 69, 448–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Englyst, KN, Hudson, GJ & Englyst, HN (2000) Starch analysis in food. In Encyclopaedia of Analytical Chemistry, pp. 4246 –4262 [Meyers, RA, editor]. Chichester, Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organizatio/orld Health Organization (1998) Expert Consultation: Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition, Food and Agriculture Organization Food and Nutrition Paper no. 66. Geneva: FA/HO.Google Scholar
Gannon, MC, Nuttall, FQ, Westpal, SA & Seaquist, ER (1993) The effect of fat and carbohydrate on plasma glucose, insulin C-peptide and triglycerides in normal male subjects. Journal of American College of Nutrition 12, 36–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallant, DJ, Bouchet, B, Buleon, A & Perez, S (1992) Physical characteristics of starch granules and susceptibility to enzymatic degradation. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 46, Suppl., S3–S16.Google ScholarPubMed
Granfeldt, Y, Björck, AI, Drews, A & Tovar, J (1992) An in vitro procedure based on chewing to predict metabolic response to starch in cereal and legume products. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 46, 649–660.Google Scholar
Heaton, KW, Marcus, SN, Emmett, PM & Bolton, CH (1988) Particle size of wheat, maize, and oat test meals: effects on plasma glucose and insulin responses and on the rate of starch digestion in vitro. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 47, 675–682.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heijene, MLA, van Amelsvoort, JMM & Westrate, JA (1995) Interaction between physical structure and amylose:amylopectin ratio of foods on postprandial glucose and insulin responses in healthy subjects. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 49, 446–457.Google Scholar
Holm, J, Lundquist, I, Björck, I, Eilasson, AC & Asp, NG (1988) Degree of starch gelatinization, digestion rate of starch in vitro, and metabolic response in rats. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 47, 1010–1016.Google Scholar
Holt, SHA & Brand-Miller, JC (1994) Particle size, satiety and the glycaemic response. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 48, 496–502.Google Scholar
Holt, SHA, Brand-Miller, JC & Petocz, P (1997) An insulin index of foods: the insulin demand generated by 1000 kJ portions of common foods. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 66, 1264–1276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, DJA, Ghafari, H, Wolever, TMS, Taylor, RH, Jenkins, AL, Barker, HM, Fielden, H & Bowling, AC (1982) Relationship between rate of digestion of foods and post-prandial glycaemia. Diabetologia 22, 450–455.Google Scholar
Jenkins, DJA, Wolever, TMS, Leeds, AR, Gassule, MA, Dilawari, JB, Goff, DV, Metz, GL & Alberti, KGMM (1978) Dietary fibres, fibre analogues and glucose tolerance: importance of viscosity. British Medical Journal 1, 1392–1394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, DJA, Wolever, TMS & Taylor, RH (1981) Glycaemic index of foods: a physiological basis for carbohydrate exchange. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 134, 362–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kabadi, UM (1991) Dose-kinetics of pancreatic α- and β-cell responses to a protein meal in normal subjects. Metabolism 40, 236–240.Google Scholar
Lee, BM & Wolever, TMS (1998) Effect of glucose, sucrose and fructose on plasma glucose and insulin responses in normal humans: comparison with white bread. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 52, 924–928.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Normand, S, Khalfallah, Y, Louche-Pelissier, C, Pachiaudi, C, Antoine, J-M, Blanc, S, Desage, M, Riou, JP & Laville, M (2001) Influence of dietary fat on postprandial glucose metabolism (exogenous and endogenous) using intrinsically 13C-enriched durum wheat. British Journal of Nutrition 86, 3–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Dea, K, Snow, P & Nestel, P (1981) Rate of starch hydrolysis in vitro as a predictor of metabolic responses to complex carbohydrate in vivo. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 34, 1991–1993.Google Scholar
Prochaska, LJ, Nguyen, XT, Donat, N & Piekutowski, WV (2000) Effect of food processing on the thermodynamic and nutritive value of foods: literature and database survey. Medical Hypotheses 54, 254–262.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salmeron, J, Manson, JE, Stampfer, MJ, Colditz, GA, Wing, AL & Willett, WC (1997) Dietary fiber, glycaemic load and risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in women. Journal of American Medical Association 277, 472–477.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomsen, C, Rasmussen, OW, Christiansen, C, Andreasen, F, Poulsen, PL & Hermansen, K (1994) The glycaemic index of spaghetti and gastric emptying in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 48, 776–780.Google ScholarPubMed
Trout, DL, Behall, KM & Osilesi, O (1993) Prediction of glycaemic index for starchy foods. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 58, 873–878.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Loon, LJC, Saris, WHM, Verhagen, H & Wagemakers, AJM (2000) Plasma insulin responses of different amino acid or protein mixtures with carbohydrate. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 72, 96–105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Welch, I McL, Bruce, C, Hill, SE & Read, NW (1987) Duodenal and ileal lipid suppresses postprandial blood glucose and insulin responses in man: possible implications for the management of diabetes mellitus. Clinical Science 72, 209–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolever, TMS (1991) The glycaemic index: Methodology and clinical implications. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 54, 846–854.Google Scholar
Wolever, TMS (1997) The glycaemic index: flogging a dead horse? Diabetes Care 20, 452–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolever, TMS (2000) Dietary carbohydrates and insulin action in humans. British Journal of Nutrition 83, Suppl., S97–S102.Google Scholar