Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T23:39:46.542Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Glycaemic index of selected staples commonly eaten in the Caribbean and the effects of boiling v. crushing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

D. Dan Ramdath ,
Renée L. C. Isaacs ,
Surujpal Teelucksingh  and
Thomas M. S. Wolever
D. Dan Ramdath
Affiliation:
Department of Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
Renée L. C. Isaacs
Affiliation:
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, M5A 3E2, Canada
Surujpal Teelucksingh
Affiliation:
Clinical Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
Thomas M. S. Wolever*
Affiliation:
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, M5A 3E2, Canada
*
*Corresponding author: Professor Thomas Wolever, fax +1 416 978 5882, 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.

Integrating information about the glycaemic index (GI) of foods into the Caribbean diet is limited by the lack of data. Therefore, we determined the GI of eight staple foods eaten in the Caribbean and the effect on GI of crushing selected tubers. Groups of eight to ten healthy volunteers participated in three studies at two sites. GI was determined using a standard method with white bread and adjusted relative to glucose. The mean area under the glucose response curve elicited by white bread was similar for the different groups of subjects. In study 1, the GI of cassava (Manihot esculenta; 94 (SEM 11)) was significantly higher than those of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis; 60 (SEM 9)), cooking ‘green’ banana (Musa spp.; 65 (SEM 11)) and sadha roti (65 (SEM 9)) (P=0·018). There was no significant difference in the GI of the foods in study 2: dasheen (Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta; 77 (SEM 10)), eddoes (Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum; 61 (SEM 10)), Irish potato (Solanum tuberosum; 71 (SEM 8)), tannia (Xanthosoma sagittifolium; 60 (SEM 5)) and white yam (Dioscorea alata; 62 (SEM 6)), and, in study 3, crushing did not significantly affect the GI of dasheen, tannia or Irish potato. However, when the results from studies 2 and 3 were pooled, the GI of dasheen (76 (SEM 7)) was significantly greater than that of tannia (55 (SEM 5); P=0·015) with potato being intermediate (69 (SEM 6)). We conclude that dasheen and cassava are high-GI foods, whereas the other tubers studied and sadha roti are intermediate-GI foods. Given the regular usage of cassava and dasheen in Caribbean diets we speculate that these diets would tend to be high GI, although this could be reduced by foods such as sadha roti and white yam. The range of GI between the staples is sufficiently large that health benefits may be accrued by replacing high-GI staples with intermediate-GI staples in the Caribbean diet.

Keywords

Glycaemic indexCaribbeanDiabetesGlucose
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 91 , Issue 6 , June 2004 , pp. 971 - 977
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2004

References

Association of Official Analytical Chemists (1995) Official Methods of Analysis. 16th ed. Arlington, VA: AOAC.Google Scholar
Brand, JC, Colagiuri, S, Crossman, S, Allan, ARoberts, DCK & Truswell, AS (1992) Low-glycemic index foods improve long-term glycemic control in NIDDM. Diabetes Care 15, 562–566.Google Scholar
Brand-Miller, J, Hayne, SPetocz, P & Colagiuri, S (2003 a) Low-glycemic index diets in the management of diabetes: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Diabetes Care 26, 2261–2267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brand-Miller, J, Wolever, TMS, Foster-Powell, K & Colagiuri, S (2003 b) The New Glucose Revolution: the Authoritative Guide to the Glycemic Index. New York: Marlowe & Company.Google Scholar
Byrnes, SE, Brand-Miller, JC & Denyer, GS (1995) Amylopectin starch promotes the development of insulin resistance in rats. J Nutr 125, 1430–1437.Google ScholarPubMed
Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (1994) Meal Planning for Diabetes 4th ed., Kingston, Jamaica: Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute Press.Google Scholar
Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (1998) Food Composition Tables for Use in the English-Speaking Caribbean 2nd ed., Kingston, Jamaica: Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute Press.Google Scholar
Cooper, RS, Rotimi, CN, Kaufman, JS, Owoaje, EE, Fraser, HForrester, T, Wilks, R, Riste, LK & Cruickshank, JK (1997) Prevalence of NIDDM among populations of the African Diaspora. Diabetes Care 20, 343–348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cruickshank, JK, Cooper, J, Burnett, M,MacDuff, J & Drubra, U (1991) Ethnic differences in fasting plasma C-peptide and insulin in relation to glucose tolerance and blood pressure. Lancet 338, 842–847.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Englyst, NH & Cummings, JH (1987) Digestion of polysaccharides of potato in the small intestine of man. Am J Clin Nutr 45, 423–431.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1998) Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition. FAO Food and Nutrition Paper no. 66 RomeFAO.Google Scholar
Ford, ES & Liu, S (2001) Glycemic index and serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration among US adults. Arch Intern Med 161, 572–576.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frost, G, Leeds, A, Trew, G, Margara, R & Dornhorst, A, (1998) Insulin sensitivity in women at risk of coronary heart disease and the effect of a low glycemic index diet. Metabolism 47, 1245–1251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gulliford, MC (1996) Epidemiological transition in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies 1953–1992. Int J Epidemiol 25, 357–365.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gulliford, MC, Ariyanayagam-Baksh, SM, Bickram, L, Picou, D & Mahabir, D (1995) Counting the cost of diabetic hospital admissions from a multi-ethnic population in Trinidad. Diabet Med 12, 1077–1085.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, DJA, Wolever, TMS, Jenkins, AL, Thorne, MJ, Lee, R & Kalmusky, J, Reichert, R & Wong, GS (1983) The glycaemic index of foods tested in diabetic patients: a new basis for carbohydrate exchange favouring the use of legumes. Diabetologia 24, 257–264.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, DJA, Wolever, TMS, Kalmusky, J et al. (1987) Low-glycemic index in hyperlipidemia: use of traditional starchy foods. Am J Clin Nutr 46, 66–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, DJA, Wolever, TMS, Taylor, RH, Barker, HM, Fielden, H, Baldwin, JM, Bowling, AC, Newman, HC, Jenkins, AL & Goff, DV (1981) Glycemic index of foods: a physiological basis for carbohydrate exchange. Am J Clin Nutr 34, 362–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, S & Manson, JE (2001) Dietary carbohydrates, physical activity, obesity, and the ‘metabolic syndrome’ as predictors of coronary heart disease. Curr Opin Lipidol 12, 395–404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, S, Willett, W, Stampfer, M, Hu, F, Franz, M, Sampson, LHennekens, C & Manson, J (2000) A prospective study of dietary glycemic load, carbohydrate intake and risk of coronary heart disease in US women. Am J Clin Nutr 71, 1455–1461.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Platel, K & Shurpalekar, KS (1994) Resistant starch content of Indian foods. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 45, 91–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salmeron, J, Ascherio, A, Rimm, EB, Colditz, GA, Spiegelman, DJenkins, DJ, Stampfer, MJ, Wing, AL & Willett, WC (1997 a) Dietary fiber, glycemic load, and risk of NIDDM in men. Diabetes Care 20, 545–550.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salmeron, J, Manson, JE, Stampfer, MJ, Colditz, GA, Wing, AL & Willett, WC (1997 b) Dietary fiber, glycemic load, and risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in women. JAMA 227, 472–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinha, DP (1995) Changing patterns of food, nutrition and health in the Caribbean. Nutr Res 15, 899–938.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soh, NL & Brand-Miller, J (1999) The glycaemic index of potatoes: the effect of variety, cooking method and maturity. Eur J Clin Nutr 53, 249–254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomas, DE, Brotherhood, JR & Brand, JC (1991) Carbohydrate feeding before exercise: effect of glycemic index. Int J Sports Medf 12, 180–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolever, TMS, Isaacs, RLC & Ramdath, DD (2002) Lower diet glycaemic index in African than South Asian men in Trinidad and Tobago. Int J Food Sci Nutr 53, 297–303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolever, TMS, Jenkins, DJA, Jenkins, AL & Josse, RG (1991) The glycemic index: methodology and clinical implications. Am J Clin Nutr 54, 846–854.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolever, TMS, Katzman-Relle, L, Jenkins, AL, Vuksan, V, Josse, RG & Jenkins, DJA (1994) Glycaemic index of 102 complex carbohydrate foods in patients with diabetes. Nutr Res 14, 651–669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolever, TMS & Mehling, C (2002) High-carbohydrate-low-glycaemic index dietary advice improves glucose disposition index in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. Br J Nutr 87, 477–487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolever, TMS, Vorster, HH, Björck, I et al. (2003) Determination of the glycaemic index of foods: interlaboratory study. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, 475–482.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, KWH & Wolever, TMS (1998) Effect of volume and type of beverage consumed with a standard test meal on postprandial blood glucose responses. Nutr Res 18, 1857–1863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar