Glycemic Index and Response of a Plant Based Nutritional Supplement and Its Subjective Satiety Following Its Use in Indian Adults

Background: Diet plays a vital role in managing diabetes. Foods with a low glycemic index provide lower postprandial glucose spikes and induce satiety. The objective of this study was to assess the Glycemic index (GI) without milk and Glycemic response (GR) with milk of two different flavours of a plant-based supplement which is high in protein and fibre, along with a subjective assessment of satiety. Methods: Fifteen overweight/obese subjects aged 18 - 45 years were recruited. After overnight fasting, blood samples were drawn at 5 mins before food consumption (-5), 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 minutes. Participants underwent 3 days of reference food testing and 1 day of test food in random order with 2 days of wash-out period. The GI was assessed using a validated protocol recognized by FAO/WHO, as well as the guidelines by the International Dietary Carbohydrate Task Force for GI Methodology. The satiety index was measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The dietary intake of the subjects was measured by 24-hour dietary recall. The Incremental Area Under the Curve (IAUC) was calculated using the trapezoid rule. Results: Both the flavours of the supplement had low GI & GR. The GI and GR of Flavour 1 were 27.3 ± 4.8 & 16.4 ± 2.6 (Mean ± SEM) respectively. For Flavour 2 the GI and GR were 36.7 ± 4.4 & 25.7 ± 2.3 (Mean ± SEM). For Flavour 1, 60% and for flavour 2 66.7% of subjects reported feeling hungry only after 3 hours, showing good satiety. Conclusion: The plant-based high fibre high protein supplement in both flavours showed a low glycemic index and hence may be useful to include in the diets to reduce the postprandial glycemic response and could improve satiety.