Physiological Validation of the Concept of Glycemic Load in Lean Young Adults

Abstract

Dietary glycemic load, the mathematical product of the glycemic index (GI) of a food and its carbohydrate content, has been proposed as an indicator of the glucose response and insulin demand induced by a serving of food. To validate this concept in vivo, we tested the hypotheses that 1). portions of different foods with the same glycemic load produce similar glycemic responses; and 2). stepwise increases in glycemic load for a range of foods produce proportional increases in glycemia and insulinemia. In the first study, 10 healthy subjects consumed 10 different foods in random order in amounts calculated to have the same glycemic load as one slice of white bread. Capillary blood samples were taken at regular intervals over the next 2 h. The glycemic response as determined by area under the curve was not different from that of white bread for nine foods. However, lentils produced lower than predicted responses (P < 0.05). In the second study, another group of subjects was tested to determine the effects of increasing glycemic load using a balanced 5 x 5 Greco-Latin square design balanced for four variables: subject, dose, food and order. Two sets of five foods were consumed at five different glycemic loads (doses) equivalent to one, two, three, four and six slices of bread. Stepwise increases in glycemic load produced significant and predictable increases in both glycemia (P < 0.001) and insulinemia (P < 0.001). These findings support the concept of dietary glycemic load as a measure of overall glycemic response and insulin demand.

Dietary and physical activity patterns in children with fatty liver

“…The glycemic index (GI) of individual carbohydrate foods was assigned according to published values based on a glucose reference (Foster-Powell et al, 2002). Daily glycemic load (GL) was calculated by multiplying the total amount of dietary carbohydrate (g) by the weighted GI for each food and then adjusted for energy intake (EI) (Brand-Miller et al, 2003). Sucrose, fructose, and selenium content of the diet were determined using the USDA database.…”

Dietary Fiber Intake, Dietary Glycemic Load, and the Risk for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

“…The ability of the SFFQ to assess dietary glycemic index and glycemic load was documented in a study that evaluated the relations of these two variables to plasma concentrations of HDL cholesterol and triacylglycerol in women (21). The concept of glycemic load as a direct measure of postprandial glycemia in healthy subjects has also been previously validated (22).…”

“…Although metabolic studies on the effect of glycemic index and load on insulin sensitivity and secretion have shown mixed results, regular consumption of meals higher in glycemic index was found to increase 24-h blood glucose and insulin secretion levels (40,41). Similarly, increases in dietary glycemic load induced both hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia (22). Very few studies in this regard have been conducted among pregnant women.…”

Meal glycaemic load of normal-weight and overweight Hong Kong children

“…The use of the GI has been endorsed as a method of categorizing the likely metabolic effects of carbohydrates in the dietary management of diabetics and impaired glucose tolerance (FAO/ WHO, 1998). The utility of GI in managing diets and related research has been further elaborated with the development of the concept of what has been termed glycaemic load (Ludwig, 2002;Brand-Miller et al, 2003) or glycaemic glucose equivalent (Monro and Williams, 2000). Both of these terms refer to a weighted GI based on the actual carbohydrate content of the food, the GI value of the carbohydrate and the amount of the food consumed.…”