The glycaemic index values of Vietnamese foods.
OBJECTIVE
To determine and compare the glycaemic index (GI) values of a range of Vietnamese foods in two racial groups.


METHODS
Twelve healthy subjects (six Asian and six Caucasian) consumed 50 g carbohydrate portions of a reference food (glucose sugar) and nine Vietnamese foods (three rices, three noodle products and three sweet foods) in random order after an overnight fast. The reference food was tested on two separate occasions, and the Vietnamese foods were each tested once. Capillary blood samples were taken at time 0 (fasting), 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min from the start of each meal. Samples were analysed for plasma glucose and the incremental areas under the plasma glucose curves (AUC) were used to calculate the GI values of the test foods, using glucose as the reference food (ie GI value of glucose=100). The mean GI value of each food was calculated for the entire group of subjects (n=12) and for both racial groups (n=6).


RESULTS
The three rices had surprisingly high GI values (86-109), whereas the noodle products had relatively low GI values (39-61). The sugar-rich foods produced intermediate GI values (54-79). The GI values for the nine foods calculated separately for the two racial groups were not significantly different from each other (P=0.26).


CONCLUSIONS
The GI values derived from Caucasian subjects are likely to be applicable to Asian populations. Varieties of imported rice from Thailand were found to have high GI values. Alternative low-GI staples, such as rice noodles, may be preferable for Asian/Vietnamese people with diabetes.


BACKGROUND
This study was funded by the University of Sydney.
Chan
H M
HM
Human Nutrition Unit, Department of Biochemistry, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Brand-Miller
J C
JC
Holt
S H
SH
Wilson
D
D
Rozman
M
M
Petocz
P
P
D000818:Animals; D019540:Area Under Curve; D044466:Asian People; D001315:Australia; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000378:metabolism; D005504:Food Analysis; D005638:Fruit / Q000378:metabolism; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D008892:Milk / Q000378:metabolism; D012275:Oryza / Q000378:metabolism; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People
D001786:Blood Glucose; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates