Effects of four meals with different kinds of dietary fibre on glucose metabolism in healthy subjects and non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients

Abstract

The effects of four mixed meals on glucose metabolism were studied during a 4-h period in 12 healthy women and in 13 women with non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Three test meals containing different types of dietary fibre in realistic amounts (cereal, leguminous and mixed-fibre), and one control meal were prepared. Each meal was calculated to contain 2.1 MJ (500 kcal) and the energy distributions of protein, fat and carbohydrate (by difference) were 15, 29-31 and 56-58 per cent, respectively. Results of analyses of the mixed meals, performed after the clinical study, showed unexpectedly large deviations from the calculated values regarding digestible carbohydrates in the leguminous meal. In the healthy group the blood glucose concentrations after the four meals did not differ significantly. In the diabetic group the area under the curve of blood glucose values was significantly smaller after both the leguminous meal and that containing mixed dietary fibre than after the control meal (P less than 0.001). There were also significant differences in blood glucose between the cereal meal and the leguminous and mixed-fibre meals (P less than 0.001), and between the leguminous meal and the mixed-fibre meal (P less than 0.05). In the healthy group the insulin response was significantly lower after the leguminous meal than after the control meal (P less than 0.05) whilst the diabetic group showed lower insulin responses after all the high-fibre test meals. Serum triglycerides, cholesterol and HDL cholesterol were similar after the different meals. The lower content of digestible carbohydrates, especially in the leguminous meal, complicates the interpretation of the results.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)