Effects of Polydextrose on the Levels of Plasma Glucose and Serum Insulin Concentrations in Human Glucose Tolerance Test

Abstract

We examined the effect of polydextrose on levels of plasma glucose and serum insulin concentrations in the glucose tolerance tests using healthy, non-diabetic Japanese male and female volunteers (22-49 years old) as subjects. The carbohydrate source used in the test was 50 g glucose or 106 g bread (corresponding to 50 g carbohydrate). The subjects that were fasted overnight ingested the carbohydrate with or without 14 g polydextrose. When polydextrose was ingested with the carbohydrate, the increases in plasma glucose and serum insulin concentrations in the tolerance tests tended to be suppressed. The area under curve for plasma glucose was significantly decreased by the polydextrose ingestion: 28% and 35% decreases for the glucose and the bread ingestion tests, respectively, compared to those of each control. These results suggest a potential of polydextrose to decrease the glycemic index of carbohydrates.