Glycaemic response to local staple foods in diabetics - abstract

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the results of a pilot study done to investigate the glycaemic response (glycaemic index or G.I.) of fifteen (15) Type II Barbadian diabetics to different test foods. Subjects were fed four test meals of white bread, white rice, split peas and rice and split peas alone. Each meal contained 50gm of carbohydrate. Using white bread as the standard, Glycaemic Indices (G.I) were determined for each food from blood glucose measurements done over a three-hour period following the meal. Glycosylate haemoglobin (HbAlc) levels were measured as a monitor of diabetic control and were found to correlate well with the fasting blood sugar. White rice is shown to have a very high Glycaemic Index, more than four times that of split peas (102 compared to 24). A mixture of split peas and white rice, in a ration of 13, produces a significant decrease in G.I. (15.1+6.3, p < 0.05), although the change varied widely. Well-controlled diabetics (with the lowest HbAlc levels) all had a consistent decrease in G. I. on the food combination 28, (p<0.001), whereas poorly-controlled diabetics showed a small but unexpected increase in the G. I. mean 12.7, (p<0.02). There is an inverse relationship between change in G. I. and HbAlc levels, i.e. the better the diabetic control the greater the "split pea effect". In view of the high use of white rice in the Caribbean, there is an urgent need to dermine glycaemic indices of as many common cheap foods being eaten in the Caribbean as possible, and to ensure that these reference values are available to all those involved in diabetic care (AU)