article on lactic acid and insulin/glucose

[Guest guest]

Some tidbits on one of the list's pet topics...

Might be worth tracking down a copy of this dissertation.

Mike

http://131.104.232.9/ffnet/2003/4-2003/functional_foodnet_april_1.htm

CHOICE OF BREAKFAST MAY IMPROVE OVERALL HEALTH

April 1, 2003

Oresund Food Excellence

Elin stman

http://www.foodoresund.com/show.asp?id=261

A breakfast including barley bread containing lactic acid will keep the

blood sugar levels down throughout the day, even if you would choose to

eat

fast food with fast carbohydrates for lunch, this shows new research from

Lund University in resund.

In current recommendations from FAO/WHO, foods that elicit low glycaemic

responses and thus have low glycaemic indices (GIs) are advocated. The

reason for this position is that low-GI diets have been shown to reduce

risk

factors for e.g. type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A major

problem in this context is that most important starch rich staple foods in

our diet, such as potato and bread products, have high GIs. One important

task is, therefore, to identify food factors that are able to lower the

rate

of starch digestion and/or prolong the uptake of glucose to the blood,

writes Elin stman in the abstract of her doctoral dissertation.

The overall purpose of the present thesis was to examine the use of

fermentation as a means of lowering the GI characteristics of carbohydrate

foods, i.e. cereal and dairy products.

Previous studies have shown that addition of lactic acid to bread reduce

the

glycaemic and insulinaemic properties in healthy subjects. A reduced rate

of

starch hydrolysis has been suggested as a cause, but the mechanism has not

yet been fully revealed.

An important topic of the thesis was to evaluate the food mechanism for a

reduced availability of starch in lactic-acid-containing bread. Another

purpose was to study the potential effect of lactic acid in other food

systems such as gruel or milk products. Finally, the metabolic effects of

lactic-acid-containing bread on glucose tolerance and related parameters

were evaluated in a second-meal study in healthy subjects, and in a

dietary intervention in hyperinsulinaemic rats.

The major findings of the thesis are the following:

1.The presence of lactic acid in the dough reduces the rate of in vitro

starch hydrolysis in wheat or barley bread products and bread-like wheat

starch systems by 15-25% compared with controls with no acid. This is in

line with previous observations and suggests that lactic acid may obstruct

the digestive process in the case of certain cereal products, and probably

explain the lowered GI and insulinaemic responses to

lactic-acid-containing

bread 2.The effect of lactic acid on the rate of starch amylolysis and/or

glucose uptake to the blood appears to differ between food systems, and no

effect was seen in milk and barley based gruel products 3.In order to

reduce

the rate of starch hydrolysis in cereal-based foods, lactic acid must be

present during starch gelatinization. Presence of gluten was also a

prerequisite for a lactic acid effect in bread-like wheat starch systems

4.Lactic-acid-containing barley bread with a 25% reduction of acute

glycaemia improved the insulin economy at a subsequent standardized lunch

meal in healthy subjects 5.A diet based on wheat bread to which lactic

acid

was added prior to baking improved the glucose tolerance after 14 days in

hyperinsulinaemic rats, compared with wheat bread where the lactic acid

was

added after baking 6.Fermentation and presence of lactic acid in milk

products did not significantly affect either the glucose or insulin

responses.

For all milk products the glucose responses were surprisingly low and the

insulin responses unexpectedly high. The inconsistency between the glucose

and insulin responses indicates that some component, other than lactose,

stimulates insulin secretion. With pure lactose the insulin response was

in

correspondence with the glycaemic response

[Guest guest]

> For all milk products the glucose responses were surprisingly low

and the

> insulin responses unexpectedly high. The inconsistency between the

glucose

> and insulin responses indicates that some component, other than lactose,

> stimulates insulin secretion. With pure lactose the insulin response was

> in

> correspondence with the glycaemic response

Protein is known to cause insulin production and could explain this

inconsistency. But that makes me wonder if it's really insulin that

damages arteries, as we've heard. If it is, then protein should be

limited too. Or probably eaten with sufficient amount of fat.

Actually, I don't know if fat would slow down protein digestion.

Roman

[Guest guest]

>Actually, I don't know if fat would slow down protein digestion.

>

>Roman

I've wondered too, about whether it is the insulin that is damaging.

If it is, then certainly a high-meat diet ala Atkins would not be

a good things, and the Inuit would have all kinds of problems.

But as to digestion ... based on a number of unfortunate

accidents which I will not describe in detail,

I have it on good authority that meat takes a LONG

time to digest. I think that eating meat (or broth) somehow

signals your body to release lipids or glycogen, similar to

the way coffee does (coffee eases your hunger pangs by

causing the release of lipids which can be used for energy,

I don't recall exactly how it does that, but it works!),

but then the meat sits there for hours getting digested.

It is almost like the body senses " OK, there is a bunch

of energy coming in, I'll release some energy for use now, and

start digesting this steak for later " . Very unlike glucose, that

gets sucked right into the bloodstream, more or less.

My recent blood sugar experiments bear this out. My blood

sugar level has no relationship to my hunger or energy level --

or rather, I feel better on a lower blood sugar. Possibly I eat

enough fat that my body likes to burn lipids, but when my

blood sugar is higher, I feel lousy. Which makes me suspect

the extra sugar isn't doing any good. Which makes sense --

really there are no natural sources of large amounts of finely

ground starch to jump into your bloodstream, and no one

can eat a large amount of fat unless they really need it.

BTW I'm reading " I should be extremely happy in your company "

about the and expedition, and it sure gives a

nice idea of how the explorers (and the Indians, to some extent)

lived. The idea was to bring down a buffalo and start cracking

marrow bones and eat the hump! Just as Sally describes too.

Heidi S