title: A glucose reference curve is the optimum method to determine the glycemic glucose equivalent values of foods in humans.
abstract: The glycemic index ranks carbohydrates in foods on the basis of the blood glucose response they produce for a given amount of carbohydrate. The glycemic glucose equivalents (GGEs) is the blood glucose response to a defined portion of food. The purpose of this study was to determine the best method by which to measure the GGE of a food; whether it can be estimated from 1 or 2 glucose references or if a range of glucose references should be measured. Twenty individuals without diabetes participated. The incremental area under the curve (iAUC) from fasting to at least 120 minutes after consumption of 5 foods was determined. The iAUC for different glucose amounts was also determined and a standard glucose curve of glucose level against iAUC generated. The GGE of each food was estimated from iAUC of test food using the standard curve. The study found that using a glucose reference closest to the available carbohydrate content of the food gave a mean difference (95% confidence interval) in GGEs of 3.4 (2.0-4.8) g in comparison to the standard curve. Using a 50-g glucose reference gave a mean difference in GGEs of 5.2 (4.7-5.6) g and interpolating from 2 glucose references, 3.5 (1.9-5.2) g in comparison to the standard curve. In conclusion, the best method to determine the GGE value of a food is to use the standard glucose reference curve and estimate the response of the food directly from this.
authors.affiliation: New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research Limited, Private Bag 4704, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. wallaceaj@crop.cri.nz
authors.forename: Alison J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Monro
authors.forename: Rachel C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Chris M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Frampton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D038321:Glycemic Index; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D054928:Validation Studies as Topic; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates