Diabetes Care, Vol 10, Issue 4 387-394, Copyright © 1987 by American Diabetes Association
Comparison of predictive capabilities of diabetic exchange lists and glycemic index of foods
DC Laine, W Thomas, MD Levitt and JP Bantle
To determine whether the diabetic exchange lists or the glycemic index of
foods better predicts postprandial responses to carbohydrate-containing
foods eaten as part of a mixed meal, three test meals were developed and
fed to 12 subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and
13 healthy subjects. Each test meal contained exactly the same exchanges (1
milk, 4 starch, 2 fruit, 2 meat, 3 fat, 1 vegetable). In one meal, foods of
high glycemic index (GI) were used, in a second meal, foods of intermediate
GI were used, and in a third meal foods of low GI were used. The total GIs
of the meals were: high, 184; intermediate, 131; and low, 107, thus
predicting responses to intermediate and low GI, which were 71 and 58%,
respectively, of the responses to high GI. Although some of the observed
differences in the glycemic responses to the test meals were statistically
significant, primarily in healthy subjects, the differences were usually
much less than predicted by the GIs of the meals. In NIDDM subjects, peak
postprandial plasma glucose, plasma glucose area, plasma glucose area
increment, and mean plasma glucose responses after intermediate and low GI
were greater than 90% of the corresponding responses to high GI. In healthy
subjects, only the plasma glucose area increment after the low-GI meal was
close to the predicted response. High GI produced significantly greater
insulin responses than low GI in healthy subjects. We conclude that the
diabetic exchange lists more accurately predict postprandial responses to
carbohydrate-containing foods eaten as part of a mixed meal than does the
GI of foods.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)