Effects of a low-glycaemic index spaghetti meal on glucose tolerance and lipaemia at a subsequent meal in healthy subjects

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of a low glycaemic index (GI) breakfast on glucose tolerance and lipaemia at a subsequent lunch meal.

Design: A low GI spaghetti meal and a high-GI white wheat bread (WWB) reference meal were served in the morning after an overnight fast in random order. Four hours after the breakfast, the subjects were given a second meal—a standardized high-GI lunch—and the blood glucose, insulin and lipid responses were measured after the lunch meal.

Setting: The study was performed at the Department of Applied Nutrition and Food Chemistry, Lund University, Sweden.

Subjects: Ten healthy volunteers, eight women and two men, aged 25–51 y, with normal body mass indices, were recruited.

Results: Lowered glucose and insulin responses and reduced serum triglyceride (TG) level were found at the subsequent lunch meal when the low-GI spaghetti meal was given as a breakfast. No differences in total serum cholesterol or HDL cholesterol were seen after lunch, when preceded by the WWB reference breakfast or the spaghetti breakfast, respectively.

Conclusions: Improved glucose tolerance and lowered serum TG levels can appear in the course of a single day. As insulin resistance and raised postprandial TG concentration are known risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the present study adds evidence for a beneficial role of a low-GI diet.

Sponsorship: Cerealia Foundation for Research and Development (project no. 232) and the Swedish Council for Forestry and Agricultural Research.

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) 54, 24–28