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The glycaemic index values of Vietnamese foods

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 55, pages 1076–1083 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To determine and compare the glycaemic index (GI) values of a range of Vietnamese foods in two racial groups.

Design and subjects: Twelve healthy subjects (six Asian and six Caucasian) consumed 50 g carbohydrate portions of a reference food (glucose sugar) and nine Vietnamese foods (three rices, three noodle products and three sweet foods) in random order after an overnight fast. The reference food was tested on two separate occasions, and the Vietnamese foods were each tested once. Capillary blood samples were taken at time 0 (fasting), 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min from the start of each meal. Samples were analysed for plasma glucose and the incremental areas under the plasma glucose curves (AUC) were used to calculate the GI values of the test foods, using glucose as the reference food (ie GI value of glucose=100). The mean GI value of each food was calculated for the entire group of subjects (n=12) and for both racial groups (n=6).

Results: The three rices had surprisingly high GI values (86–109), whereas the noodle products had relatively low GI values (39–61). The sugar-rich foods produced intermediate GI values (54–79). The GI values for the nine foods calculated separately for the two racial groups were not significantly different from each other (P=0.26).

Conclusions: The GI values derived from Caucasian subjects are likely to be applicable to Asian populations. Varieties of imported rice from Thailand were found to have high GI values. Alternative low-GI staples, such as rice noodles, may be preferable for Asian/Vietnamese people with diabetes.

Sponsorship: This study was funded by the University of Sydney.

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001) 55, 1076–1083

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Author notes

  1. SHA Holt: Guarantor: SHA Holt.

  2. HMS Chan, JC Brand-Miller, SHA Holt, D Wilson, M Rozman and P Petocz: Contributors: HMSC, JCB-M and SHAH devised and implemented the study and wrote the paper. DW and MR provided some of the foods and helped with the selection of foods for the study. PP carried out the statistical analyses.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Human Nutrition Unit, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    HMS Chan, JC Brand-Miller & SHA Holt

  2. Western Region Health Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    D Wilson & M Rozman

  3. School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

    P Petocz

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  1. HMS Chan
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  2. JC Brand-Miller
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  3. SHA Holt
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  4. D Wilson
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  5. M Rozman
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  6. P Petocz
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Correspondence to JC Brand-Miller.

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Chan, H., Brand-Miller, J., Holt, S. et al. The glycaemic index values of Vietnamese foods. Eur J Clin Nutr 55, 1076–1083 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601265

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