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Glycemic index, cholecystokinin, satiety and disinhibition: is there an unappreciated paradox for overweight women?

International Journal of Obesity volume 32, pages 1647–1654 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Background:

The clinical utility of a low glycemic index (LGI) diet for appetite and food intake control is controversial. Complicating the issue are psychological and behavioral influences related to eating.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to investigate the satiety and glycemic response to high GI (HGI) and LGI meals in overweight restrained (R, n=12) and unrestrained (UR, n=10) women.

Design and measurements:

In a randomized crossover study, subjective satiety, cholecystokinin (CCK), glucose, insulin, triacylglyceride (TG) and free fatty acids (FFAs) were measured at defined intervals for 8 h after the participants consumed HGI or LGI test meals. Test meals were matched for energy, energy density, macronutrient content and available carbohydrate, but differed by carbohydrate source; refined grain versus whole grain, respectively.

Results:

The HGI meal resulted in greater satiety overall, suppressing hunger, desire to eat and prospective consumption compared with the LGI (P<0.01) meal. Plasma CCK was significantly elevated after the HGI meal compared with the LGI meal (P<0.001). Plasma glucose, insulin and TG were higher and FFAs were lower after the HGI meal compared with the LGI meal (P<0001). Dietary restraint did not significantly influence CCK (P=0.14) or subjective satiety (P>0.4); however, an interaction of restraint and disinhibition on CCK was apparent. CCK was blunted in R participants with higher disinhibition scores than UR or R participants with lower disinhibition scores (P<0.05).

Conclusions:

A LGI diet may not be suitable for optimal satiety and appetite control in overweight women. The relationship between cognitive influences of eating and biobehavioral outcomes requires further investigation.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the technical contributions of William Horn and Jody Randolph, Danise Gonzalez who performed the catheterizations and blood sampling, Sara Stoffel for diet and meal preparation and Jennifer Lee for help with manuscript preparation. The first author, Dr Burton-Freeman was involved with biochemical and subjective endpoints analyses, statistical analysis, results interpretation and manuscript preparation. Dr Keim was involved with study design, study conduct, interpretation of results and manuscript preparation. The study was funded by general funds and the USDA, ARS WHNRC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    B M Burton-Freeman & N L Keim

  2. National Center for Food Safety and Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA

    B M Burton-Freeman

  3. United States Department of Agriculture, Western Human Nutrition Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    N L Keim

Authors
  1. B M Burton-Freeman
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  2. N L Keim
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Correspondence to B M Burton-Freeman.

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Burton-Freeman, B., Keim, N. Glycemic index, cholecystokinin, satiety and disinhibition: is there an unappreciated paradox for overweight women?. Int J Obes 32, 1647–1654 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2008.159

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