The impact of meal timing of amino acids and chromium picolinate on postprandial glucose and insulin levels

Abstract (Swedish)

One of the most pressing present day health concern is the constantly growing increase of diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. In fact the WHO estimates that as much as 300 million individuals could suffer from diabetes by 2025. While genetic factors do contribute to these issues the more common cause is modern day environmental factors like diets rich in fat or highly processed food, low levels or lack of physical activity, increased stress levels and obesity. Since both diabetes and the metabolic syndrome are characterized partly by elevated blood glucose levels and increasing resistance of cells to the action of insulin, it becomes imperative that treatment measures should focus on controlling blood glucose levels and preventing insulin resistance. A healthy diet and exercise routine can be an effective treatment strategy as well as decrease the risk of likelihood of developing these conditions.
When it comes to diet based treatment, it is imperative that the diet must be rich in low GI foods as these foods elicit a low and steady rise in postprandial glucose levels and hence can prevent high postprandial glycaemia. However these foods are not always accessible and may not necessarily be even liked by the consumers. This is particularly true in the case of breakfast meals as a majority of popular breakfast choices like bread and cereal are high GI foods. One alternative is to develop drinks that can counteract the rise in blood glucose levels when consuming these high GI foods. In fact a candidate drink consisting of carbonated water, chromium picolinate and certain amino acids has shown some promising results with regard to this aspect. While most conventional wisdom dictates a “what not to eat” or “how much” approach towards the treatment or prevention of diabetes or metabolic syndrome, more recent studies have shown that improvements in glycaemia can be obtained by simply timing carbohydrate ingestion after protein and vegetable consumption. The aim of this study was to determine if meal timing had any impact on the efficacy of the candidate drink.
The study was a randomized crossover single blind trial with 20 healthy overweight subjects (BMI 27.63 ± 0.536 kg/m2; mean ± sem, age 33.50 ± 2.65 years; mean ± sem).The test subjects had to consume a standardized test meal along with a placebo or the test drink. Besides this they were also made to drink the placebo and test drink prior to the meal as well as during the meal on separate occasions. Postprandial blood glucose and insulin levels were measured. The test subjects also had to fill in computerized questionnaires regarding their appetite during each visit. These computerized questionnaires were performed on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) with end points ranging from “not at all” to “extremely” .
The results showed that consuming the drink prior to the meal as opposed to during the meal results in a much greater postprandial insulin response in the 0-15 min time interval. No significant difference in postprandial glucose levels were observed between any of the drinks. Finally the results from the appetite data analysis also showed no significant differences.

Popular Abstract

Can meal order influence blood glucose and insulin levels?
When carbohydrates like white bread, rice etc. are consumed, glucose levels in the blood start to rise.Depending on how fast this rise in blood glucose levels occurs carbohydrates can be divided into high GI and low GI foods. High GI foods like bread, potatoes etc. cause a rapid spike in blood glucose levels while
low GI foods like pasta cause a more steady and slow increase in blood glucose levels. In response to this increase in blood glucose levels the body produces a hormone called insulin. Insulin essentially helps decrease the blood glucose levels to normal by facilitating its transport from the blood into cells in the
muscle, liver etc. Once the glucose levels go back to normal, the blood insulin levels also return to normal.In some cases the body becomes resistant to the action of insulin owing to which the body cannot regulate its blood glucose levels efficiently after a meal. Also because the body is resistant to insulin it has produce more of it to regulate glucose levels and in turn this leads to blood insulin levels being higher than normal. This insulin resistance is what leads to conditions like diabetes.
The most common reason for this problem is the so called “urban lifestyle” i.e. diets rich in “junk food”, lack of physical activity,increased stress levels, obesity etc. Hence the simplest solution to preventing this conditions is leading a healthier lifestyle by eating a diet rich in low GI foods and regular exercise. However the issue is that most of us don’t really find low GI foods that appealing as compared to more popular high GI options like white bread, potatoes etc. and hence an alternative is needed to replace these low GI foods with
something that has a similar beneficial impact on blood glucose levels.
Recent studies have shown that if one eats the protein portion of his/her meal before eating the carbohydrate portion, his/her blood glucose levels will be much lower as compared to when eating the same meal in the opposite manner. Similarly some other recent studies have shown that drinking a mixture of certain amino acids and chromium picolinate help boost blood insulin levels which in turn
help reduce blood glucose levels. Amino acids are essentially what protein are made of while Chromium is an essential element that is required for proper functioning of the body. So naturally the next logical step is then to determine if by consuming this drink (i.e the mixture of amino acids and chromium) before consuming a carbohydrate containing meal would show an even better effect on glucose and insulin levels.
In this experiment, 20 healthy but overweight subjects were asked to eat a test meal while having the test drink during the meal or prior to it followed by which their blood glucose and insulin levels were measured at regular time intervals. Besides this they were also asked to fill questionnaires regarding their appetite before and after the meal. The reason they were asked to do this is because both the active ingredients (i.e. the amino acids and chromium picolinate) in the test drink have been known to influence appetite.
The results showed that when the test drink was consumed before the meal as opposed to during the meal, the blood insulin levels were much higher initially though as time passed the insulin levels between the two didn’t show much of a difference. Oddly as opposed to other studies, the results showed that the drink had no beneficial impact on blood glucose levels (i.e. help reduce it) either prior to or during the meal. Finally the data from the appetite showed that the test drink had no effect on appetite levels either. Hence in conclusion, though the test drink did not have any impact on blood glucose levels, it did on the other hand have an impact on insulin levels when consumed prior to the test
meal indicating that meal order can influence blood insulin levels at the very least.

• author: Sebastian Thomas, Danny
• supervisor: Elin Östman
• organization: Food Technology and Nutrition (M.Sc.)
• course: KNLM01 20161
• year: 2016
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: postprandial glucose and insulin levels, Amino acids, chromium picolinate, meal timing, meal order, applied nutrition, food chemistry, industriell näringslära, livsmedelskemi
• language: English
• id: 8894568
• date added to LUP: 2016-11-14 15:45:30
• date last changed: 2016-11-14 15:45:30