Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 5.6 Summary of studies using spices and legumes for blood glucose control in
healthy and type 2 diabetes subjects
Study
Subjects
Food
Outcome
Healthy subjects Chick pea flour
spaghetti (25%)
Reduction in glycemic
index compared to
wheat spaghetti by
14 units
Type 2 diabetic Cinnamon 1, 3, or
6 g daily in capsule
form for 40 days
18-29% reduction in
fasting plasma glucose
Postmenopausal
overweight type
2 diabetic
women
Cinnamon 1.5 g/
day for 6 weeks
No reduction in plasma
glucose, insulin, or
HbA1c
Type 2 diabetic Fenugreek powder
10 g/day in hot
water
25% reduction in
fasting blood sugar
Healthy subjects 3 g of cinnamon
with 300 g rice
pudding
No effect on glycemic
response but 3 g
significantly reduced
insulin response
Healthy subjects 3000 mg of white
kidney bean extract
with white bread
and butter
34% reduction in
glycemic index of the
control
Among the pasta products, the GI was higher for the spaghetti porridge
showing that ruining the compact structure results in increased glycemic
response.
A flour blend with chick pea, psyllium husk, and fenugreek powder
called “atta mix” flour has been used for preparing flatbreads similar to
the way it is produced using wheat flour (
Radhika et al., 2010
)
. This study
in healthy subjects showed a significant reduction in blood glucose following
the atta mix flatbread compared to the whole wheat flatbreads. Although
both the flatbreads had low GI, the GI of atta mix flatbreads was reduced
to 27 compared to 45 for the whole wheat flatbreads.
Thompson et al. attributed the beneficial effect of legumes on glycemic
response to their polyphenol levels. When leguminous and nonleguminous
foods were tested in healthy and diabetic individuals, a negative correlation
was observed between the polyphenol intake and the GI values for the foods
