The effect of beta-glucan on the glycemic and insulin index.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the effects of oat products with increasing beta-glucan content on the glycemic (GI) and insulin indexes (II) of oat products, and to establish the effect of physical properties of beta-glucan on these physiological responses.


METHODS
Test group (n=10) randomly attended to three glucose tolerance tests and glycemic response tests for four oat bran products.


METHODS
Functional Foods Forum and the Department of Food Chemistry, University of Turku, and the Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki.


METHODS
One male and nine female volunteers were recruited from university students and staff, and all completed the study.


METHODS
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 beta-glucan had lower peak values than the reference glucose load. The amount of extractable beta-glucan had a high correlation between the glycemic and insulinemic response.


CONCLUSIONS
In addition to the total amount of beta-glucan in oat products, the amount of extractable beta-glucan in oat products explains the magnitude of the decrease in glycemic responses to carbohydrate products.
Mäkeläinen
H
H
Functional Foods Forum, University of Turku, Helsinki, Finland.
Anttila
H
H
Sihvonen
J
J
Hietanen
R-M
RM
Tahvonen
R
R
Salminen
E
E
Mikola
M
M
Sontag-Strohm
T
T
D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D018554:Avena / Q000737:chemistry*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004063:Digestion / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D038321:Glycemic Index / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D047071:beta-Glucans / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D047071:beta-Glucans