Evaluation of the Effect of Quinoa-containing bread varieties on acute blood glucose and insulin responses

Abstract

Three quinoa-containing breads made from three different varieties of quinoa were presented as
test products to be compared with a control of regular white wheat bread. The study was a
randomised controlled single-blind, crossover in which blood glucose, insulin and subjective
appetite sensations “Hunger”, “Satiety” and “Desire to eat” were measured in regular intervals
during a three hours period after food consumption. Insulin levels and blood glucose response
showed no significant difference compared to the control, however, all three measured subjective
appetite sensations resulted in a significant improvement compared to the control for all three
quinoa-containing breads. No significant differences could be seen between the three quinoa
varieties for any of the test variables.

Popular Abstract

As I am sure that you have heard before, increasing obesity is a problem that is plaguing the 21st
century. Diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are also on the rise. One
option that has been suggested to help prevent all of this is low GI foods. GI, which is an
abbreviation for glycemic index, is a way to compare how much your blood sugar changes after
eating something. Almost everything that we eat will result in an increase of your blood sugar,
also called blood glucose. This elevation can be smaller or larger depending on what you eat and,
what gives most of a spike is carbohydrate rich foods.
Carbohydrates can be found in your average pasta, potatoes and bread amongst a number of
other items. What happens is the carbohydrates you consume will be broken down in your
intestines into smaller parts called glucose, galactose and fructose. These will then be transported
into your bloodstream so that your body can store it and use them as energy wherever it is
needed and the transportation of the glucose is what causes the spike in your blood sugar. A
larger spike is often indicative of a high GI for that food. Insulin is a hormone that helps your
body take up the sugars from your blood. Insulin can be likened to a key that unlocks small doors
from your blood to the tissues in your body that the sugars can then go through. When you eat,
the amount of insulin present in your blood is increased to make sure that all the sugars that your
body needs for energy can be taken up from the blood.
Quinoa is a grain that has been around for a long time and it is traditionally most commonly used
in South America and comes in a variety of colours. It has been shown that quinoa has a low GI
and therefore this study will see if a bread made from the low GI quinoa can also have a lower
spike than your regular wheat bread.
Three breads were made from three differently coloured quinoa. The quinoa used was a mix of
50% boiled whole quinoa grains and 50% quinoa flour made by milling raw grains. In total the
quinoa bread contains 70% quinoa and 30% wheat flour, whilst the control bread was made
using 100% wheat flour. Everyone participating in the study was given a portion of bread to
consume and then had their finger pricked to collect capillary blood samples to measure the
blood glucose and insulin. At the same time the participants were asked to fill out a form asking
how hungry they felt, how much they wanted to eat and how full they felt on a scale of 1-100.
The control bread was known to be high GI and therefore caused a high rise in both blood sugar
and insulin and when comparing the results for the quinoa breads with those of the control there
was no difference to be seen in the blood sugar or insulin response. However, the quinoa breads
all showed a decreased hunger and the desire to eat for the participants as well as an increase in
how full the participants felt. One reason as to why there was no difference in blood glucose or
insulin as originally thought could be because of how the breads were prepared and the effect
could be avoided by boiling all the quinoa seeds beforehand.

• author: Nilsson, Cecilia
• supervisor: Anne Nilsson; Juscelino Tovar
• organization: Food Technology and Nutrition (M.Sc.)
• course: KNLM05 20231
• year: 2023
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: applied nutrition and food chemistry, quinoa, bread, postprandial blood glucose, insulin
• language: English
• id: 9125345
• date added to LUP: 2023-06-22 12:00:06
• date last changed: 2023-06-22 12:00:06