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Carbohydrates, glycemic index and diabetes mellitus

Carbohydrate intake and glycemic index affect substrate oxidation during a controlled weight cycle in healthy men

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 1060–1066 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives:

Because both, glycemic index (GI) and carbohydrate content of the diet increase insulin levels and could thus impair fat oxidation, we hypothesized that refeeding a low GI, moderate-carbohydrate diet facilitates weight maintenance.

Subjects/methods:

Healthy men (n=32, age 26.0±3.9 years; BMI 23.4±2.0 kg/m2) followed 1 week of controlled overfeeding, 3 weeks of caloric restriction and 2 weeks of hypercaloric refeeding (+50, −50 and +50% energy requirement) with low vs high GI (41 vs 74) and moderate vs high CHO intake (50% vs 65% energy). We measured adaptation of fasting macronutrient oxidation and the capacity to supress fat oxidation during an oral glucose tolerance test. Changes in fat mass were measured by quantitative magnetic resonance.

Results:

During overfeeding, participants gained 1.9±1.2 kg body weight, followed by a weight loss of −6.3±0.6 kg and weight regain of 2.8±1.0 kg. Subjects with 65% CHO gained more body weight compared with 50% CHO diet (P<0.05) particularly with HGI meals (P<0.01). Refeeding a high-GI diet led to an impaired basal fat oxidation when compared with a low-GI diet (P<0.02), especially at 65% CHO intake. Postprandial metabolic flexibility was unaffected by refeeding at 50% CHO but clearly impaired by 65% CHO diet (P<0.05). Impairment in fasting fat oxidation was associated with regain in fat mass (r=0.43, P<0.05) and body weight (r=0.35; P=0.051).

Conclusions:

Both higher GI and higher carbohydrate content affect substrate oxidation and thus the regain in body weight in healthy men. These results argue in favor of a lower glycemic load diet for weight maintenance after weight loss.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to our volunteers whose availability made this work possible. This study was supported by a grant of the Germany Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF 0315681) and the German Research Foundation (DFG Bo 3296/1-1).

Author contributions

AB-W and MJM designed the research study; ML, JE, BE, WB, JJ performed the research; DP contributed formula diets; JJ, ML, AB-W analyzed the data; AB-W, JJ, DP, MJM was involved in discussion of data; JJ and AB-W wrote the paper; JJ, AB-W had primary responsibility for final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nutritional Medicine, University Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

    J Kahlhöfer & A Bosy-Westphal

  2. Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    M Lagerpusch, J Enderle, B Eggeling, W Braun, M J Müller & A Bosy-Westphal

  3. InsuLean GmbH & Co. KG, Essen, Germany

    D Pape

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  1. J Kahlhöfer
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Correspondence to A Bosy-Westphal.

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Kahlhöfer, J., Lagerpusch, M., Enderle, J. et al. Carbohydrate intake and glycemic index affect substrate oxidation during a controlled weight cycle in healthy men. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 1060–1066 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.132

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