Reference Number: 94
Year: 2012
Link: Link to original paper
Health: Diabetes | Glycemic response
Nutrition: Vitamins
Summary
Introduction
Consumption of whole-grain and sourdough breads is associated with improved glucose homeostasis. The sprouting treatment of cereal grains is reported to decrease starch content and increase the content and availability of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The metabolic effect of breads baked with sprouted wheat flour has not been extensively studied. The present investigation had a distinct applied nature and tested the hypothesis that consumption of laboratory- prepared sourdough bread and commercially available whole-grain and sprouted-grain breads would result in lower metabolic responses compared with commercial, white bread in subjects who are at risk for glucose intolerance and T2D.
Aim
This study examined the impact of commercial breads on biomarkers of glucose homeostasis in subjects at risk for glucose intolerance.
Method
In a randomized, crossover study, overweight or obese males ingested 11-grain, sprouted-grain, 12-grain, sourdough, or white bread on different occasions, matched for available carbohydrate (50 g) in part 1 (n = 12) and bread mass (107 g) in part 2 (n = 11), and blood glucose, insulin and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) were determined for 3 h.
Results
In part 1, glucose response for sprouted-grain was lower than 11-grain, sourdough, and white breads. Insulin area under the curve (AUC) for sourdough and white was lower than 11-grain and sprouted-grain breads. GLP-1 response to sourdough was lower than all breads. In part 2, glucose and insulin AUC for sourdough was greater than 11-grain, sprouted-grain, and 12-grain breads. Sprouted-grain bread improved glycemia by lowering glucose response and increasing GLP-1 response. In overweight and obese men, the glycemic response to sprouted grain bread was reduced in both parts 1 and 2 while the other whole-grain test breads did not improve metabolic responses in the acute postprandial state.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STUDY
While this study is limited due to its applied nature (i.e., employing commercial breads and a somewhat heterogeneous subject set), there is potential in terms of applying the findings to our everyday lifestyle and diet. Despite the some variation, the results demonstrated that sprouted grain bread attenuated the glycemic response when both portion size and available carbohydrate were controlled for and that, generally, the whole-grain breads did not have what could be interpreted as beneficial, metabolic responses. This may suggest that sprouting or germinating grains used in sourdough may have a better effect in controlling your glycemic response compared to just whole grain sourdoughs and this information may be key for those who are Diabetic and are looking for suitable measures to keep their blood glucose levels under control.