Glycemic index, glycemic load and glycemic response: An International Scientific Consensus Summit from the International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium (ICQC)

Abstract Background and aims The positive and negative health effects of dietary carbohydrates are of interest to both researchers and consumers. Methods International experts on carbohydrate research held a scientific summit in Stresa, Italy, in June 2013 to discuss controversies surrounding the utility of the glycemic index (GI), glycemic load (GL) and glycemic response (GR). Results The outcome was a scientific consensus statement which recognized the importance of postprandial glycemia in overall health, and the GI as a valid and reproducible method of classifying carbohydrate foods for this purpose. There was consensus that diets low in GI and GL were relevant to the prevention and management of diabetes and coronary heart disease, and probably obesity. Moderate to weak associations were observed for selected cancers. The group affirmed that diets low in GI and GL should always be considered in the context of diets otherwise understood as healthy, complementing additional ways of characterizing carbohydrate foods, such as fiber and whole grain content. Diets of low GI and GL were considered particularly important in individuals with insulin resistance. Conclusions Given the high prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes worldwide and the consistency of the scientific evidence reviewed, the expert panel confirmed an urgent need to communicate information on GI and GL to the general public and health professionals, through channels such as national dietary guidelines, food composition tables and food labels

Influence of long-term feeding of different purified dietary fibers on the volatile fatty acid (VFA) profile, pH and fiber-degrading activity of the cecal contents in rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of four weeks ingestion of 10% fiber diets (cellulose, lignocellulose, pectin or guar gum) and fiber free diets on volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration, pH, and in vitro fiber-degrading activity of the cecal contents of female Sprague Dawley rats. The pH was significantly lower (p<0.05) on guar gum (6.1) and pectin (6.4) than on the other diets (7.2\u20137.6). The cecal concentration of VFAs was similar among groups, ranging from 62.5\ub112 for cellulose to 93.8\ub112 \u3bcg/g for pectin. Guar gum produced significantly more propionic acid than all the other groups, with a relative acetic-propionic-butyric-other acids ratio of 53-29-9-9, compared with 57-22-13-8 for pectin, 50-20-12-18 for cellulose, 51-21-15-13 for lignocellulose and 61-19-9-11 for fiber free. The in vitro fermentation showed a marked increase in guar (+210%) and pectin (+90%) fermentability when incubated with inocula from adapted rats, supporting the hypothesis of a change in the in vivo metabolic activity of the fecal microflora after long term feeding of these fibers