Two varieties of honey that are available in Malaysia gave intermediate glycemic index values when tested among healthy individuals.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the glycemic index (GI) of Malaysian wild honey and Australian honey.


METHODS
Eight healthy volunteers (5 men and 3 women, aged 24-44 y, with normal BMI) were served 50 g carbohydrate portions of two varieties of honey or the reference food (glucose, tested 3 times), on separate occasions. Capillary blood glucose was measured fasting and at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min after the start of the test meals. The GI was calculated by expressing each subject's incremental area under the blood glucose curve (AUC) after honey as a percentage of his or her mean AUC after glucose.


RESULTS
The results showed that the mean AUC of the Malaysian and Australian honeys, 174+/-19 and 158+/-16 mmolxmin/l, respectively, did not differ from each other but were significantly less than that after glucose, 259+/-15 mmolxmin/l (P<0.001). The mean GI of Malaysian wild honey, 65+/-7, did not differ from that of Australian honey, 59+/-5, but both were significantly less than the GI of glucose, 100 (P<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that both Malaysian wild honey (GI=65+/-7) and Australian honey (GI=59+/-5) are intermediate GI foods.
Robert
Sathyasurya Daniel
SD
Program in Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia. dan77in@yahoo.com
Ismail
Aziz Al-Safi
AA
D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D038321:Glycemic Index; D006722:Honey; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult