Glycemic index, glycemic load and insulinemic index of Chinese starchy foods.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the glycemic index (GI), glycemic load (GL) and insulinemic index (II) of five starchy foods that are commonly used in Chinese diets.


METHODS
Ten healthy subjects aged between 20-30 years were recruited. Each subject was asked to consume 50 g of available carbohydrate portions of test foods and reference food. Finger capillary blood samples were collected at the start of eating and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min after consumption. The GI and II of foods were calculated from the ratio of incremental area under the glucose/insulin response curves of test and reference foods. The GL for each test food was determined from its GI value and carbohydrate content.


RESULTS
The results showed that brown rice elicited the highest postprandial glucose and insulin responses, followed by taro, adlay, yam and mung bean noodles, which produced the lowest. Among the five starchy foods, brown rice evoked the highest GI and GL at 82 ± 0.2 and 18 ± 0.2, followed by taro (69 ± 0.4, 12 ± 0.2), adlay (55 ± 0.4, 10 ± 0.2), yam (52 ± 0.3, 9 ± 0.0) and mung bean noodles (28 ± 0.5, 7 ± 0.2), respectively. The II values of the test foods corresponded with GI values. Similarly, brown rice gave the highest II at 81 ± 0.1, followed by taro (73 ± 0.3), adlay (67 ± 0.3), yam (64 ± 0.5) and mung bean noodles (38 ± 0.3). All five starchy foods had lower GI, GL and II than reference bread (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The GI, GL and II values of starchy foods provide important information for the public to manage their diet and could be useful for the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes mellitus.
Department of Food Science, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, 1, Shuefu Road, Neipu, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan, China.
Meng-Hsueh Amanda
MH
Lin
Ming-Chang
MC
Wu
Shin
S
Lu
Jenshinn
J
Lin
D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D004032:Diet / Q000208:ethnology*; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D038321:Glycemic Index; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D019518:Postprandial Period; D013213:Starch / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D013624:Taiwan; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D001786:Blood Glucose; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D007328:Insulin; D013213:Starch