Abstract
Objectives
To determine if isocaloric supplementation of a high glycemic load breakfast with protein, fat, or a combination of the two attenuates the glycemic response in non-diabetic subjects.
Elevated blood glucose (BG) levels from a diet high in refined carbohydrates, even in the absence of diabetes, may increase the risk for chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Addition of protein and fat have shown inconsistently delay the glycemic response to a carbohydrate load.
Methods
Thirteen healthy adults, age 24.7 ± 4y, BMI 25.1 ± 4.5 completed four trials for this crossover study. The participants had to be non-smoker, between 18–30 years of age, with no known allergy to any components of the control or treatment meals. Exclusion criteria included weight under 110 Ib, pregnancy or breastfeeding, and any medical condition or medication that affects BG considered. The participants received the control and all treatments in different sessions at random. The subjects consumed 2 slices of white bread and 250 mL of apple juice (60 g carbohydrate) alone (control), or with an added protein (100 kcal egg white), fat (100 kcal butter), or protein + fat (50 kcal egg white and 50 kcal butter) within 15 min. Fasting BG was measured and BG was measured at 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min, after the meals was consumed. A One way Repeated measures ANOVA test used to compare the BG spike, timing and iAUC in the BG among the four trials, Tukey's post-hoc test was performed to indicate if there was a difference in the spike, timing and iAUC.
Results
The results indicated the spike in BG (peak minus baseline) was significantly lower with added fat group compared to added protein group (69.0 ± 15.4 vs 46.9 ± 13.0, respectively, P < 0.05). At 15 and 30 min, BG was higher in the added protein group (142.77 + 13.73 and 150.38 + 21.82) compared to the added fat group (126.35 + 9.97 and 126.5 + 17.23). However; the spike was not significantly different between the control and the treatments. There was no significant difference in iAUC among the control and the treatments.
Conclusions
In this study added protein, fat, or protein + fat in a 100 kcal amount did not influence the spike in BG in response to a high refined carbohydrate meal. The fat delays the spike in the BG compared to the protein and protein + fat groups.
Funding Sources
University of the Incarnate Word.