Acute effect of meal glycemic index and glycemic load on blood glucose and insulin responses in humans

Abstract

Objective: Foods with contrasting glycemic index when incorporated into a meal, are able to differentially modify glycemia and insulinemia. However, little is known about whether this is dependent on the size of the meal. The purposes of this study were: i) to determine if the differential impact on blood glucose and insulin responses induced by contrasting GI foods is similar when provided in meals of different sizes, and; ii) to determine the relationship between the total meal glycemic load and the observed serum glucose and insulin responses. Methods: Twelve obese women (BMI 33.7 ± 2.4 kg/m2) were recruited. Subjects received 4 different meals in random order. Two meals had a low glycemic index (40-43%) and two had a highglycemic index (86-91%). Both meal types were given as two meal sizes with energy supply corresponding to 23% and 49% of predicted basal metabolic rate. Thus, meals with three different glycemic loads (95, 45-48 and 22 g) were administered. Blood samples were taken