Glycaemic Indexes of Selected Carbohydrate-based Staple Foods, and the Effects of some Culinary Vegetables on Post-prandial Glycaemia
Abstract
There is a growing interest in low glycaemic index (GI) foods especially for diabetics and people at risk of diabetes. Similarly, the use of plant products in the management of chronic diseases is currently receiving a lot of attention. Therefore, the glycaemic indexes of wheat, garri and semolina were investigated (Study I); and the abilities of three culinary vegetables (reported to have significant blood glucose modulatory properties) – Vernonia amygdalina (VA), Occimum gratissimum (OG) and Gongronema latifolium (GL) – to positively modulate post-prandial glycaemia were investigated (Study II). Both studies were done with apparently healthy human subjects, following internationally accepted protocols. Data from Study I show that the glycaemic indexes of the foods were 87.7%, 85.6% and 83.2% for garri, wheat and semolina, respectively. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in the GI values of any given test food, compared to any of the other test foods. Study II shows that the AUCs (min.mg/dl) for subjects who ate the test soups (VA, 9995; VA+OG, 9675; GL+OG, 10042) were statistically similar (P > 0.05) to that of the control subjects (9779), suggesting that the incorporation of the culinary vegetables in the soup did not significantly alter the post-prandial glycaemia of the subjects. These data debunk the belief that wheat is superior to garri or semolina from a GI point of view; and show that whereas VA, OG and GL reportedly have beneficial properties with respect to diabetes, the said properties are lost when they are used as culinary vegetables.
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