Motivation: The prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM)
and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is rapidly increasing in industrialized societies. Experts
believe that lifestyle, and in particular its nutritional aspects, plays a decisive role in
increasing the burden of these chronic conditions. Dietary habits would, therefore, be
modified to exert a positive impact on the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases of
lifestyle. It is believed that the state of hyperglycaemia that is observed following food intake
under certain dietary regimes contributes to the development of various metabolic conditions.
This is not only true for individuals with poor glycaemic control such as some diabetics, but
could also be true for healthy individuals. It would, therefore, be helpful to be able to reduce
the amplitude and duration of postprandial hyperglycaemia. Selecting the correct type of
carbohydrate (CHO) foods may produce less postprandial hyperglycaemia, representing a
possible strategy in the prevention and treatment of chronic metabolic diseases. At the same
time, a key focus of sport nutrition is the optimal amount of CHO that an athlete should
consume and the optimal timing of consumption. The most important nutritional goals of the
athlete are to prepare body CHO stores pre-exercise, provide energy during prolonged
exercise and restore glycogen stores during the recovery period. The ultimate aim of these
strategies is to maintain CHO availability to the muscle and central nervous system during
prolonged moderate to high intensity exercise, since these are important factors in exercise
capacity and performance. However, the type of CHO has been studied less often and with
less attention to practical concerns than the amount of CHO.
The glycaemic index (GI) refers to the blood glucose raising potential of CHO foods and,
therefore, influences secretion of insulin. In several metabolic disorders, secretion of insulin
is inadequate or impossible, leading to poor glycaemic control. It has been suggested that
low GI diets could potentially contribute to a significant improvement of the conditions
associated with poor glycaemic control. Insulin secretion is also important to athletes since
the rate of glycogen synthesis depends on insulin due to it stimulatory effect on the activity of
glycogen synthase.
Objectives: Three main objectives were identified for this study. The first was to conduct a
meta-analysis of the effects of the GI on markers for CHO and lipid metabolism with the
emphasis on randomised controlled trials (RCT's). Secondly, a systematic review was
performed to determine the strength of the body of scientific evidence from epidemiological
studies combined with RCT's to encourage dieticians to incorporate the GI concept in meal
planning. Finally, a systematic review of the effect of the GI in sport performance was
conducted on all available literature up to date to investigate whether the application of the
GI in an athlete's diet can enhance physical performance.
Methodology: For the meta-analysis, the search was for randomised controlled trials with a
cross-over or parallel design published in English between 1981 and 2003, investigating the
effect of low GI vs high GI diets on markers of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. The main
outcomes were serum fructosamine, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), high-density
lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), total cholesterol
(TC) and triacylglycerols (TG). For the systematic review, epidemiological studies as well as
RCT's investigating the effect of LGI vs HGI diets on markers for carbohydrate and lipid
metabolism were used. For the systematic review on the effect of the GI on sport
performance, RCT's with either a cross-over or parallel design that were published in English
between January 1981 and September 2004 were used. All relevant manuscripts for the
systematic reviews as well as meta-analysis were obtained through a literature search on
relevant databases such as the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE
(1981 to present), EMBASE, LILACS, SPORTDiscus, ScienceDirect and PubMed. This
thesis is presented in the article format.
Results and conclusions of the individual manuscripts:
For the meta-analysis, literature searches identified 16 studies that met the strict
inclusion criteria. Low GI diets significantly reduced fructosamine (p<0.05), HbA1c,
(p<0.03), TC(p<0.0001) and tended to reduce LDL-c (p=0.06) compared to high GI diets.
No changes were observed in HDL-c and TG concentrations. Results from this meta analysis,
therefore, support the use of the GI concept in choosing CHO-containing foods
to reduce TC and improve blood glucose control in diabetics.
The systematic review combined the results of the preceding meta-analysis and results
from epidemiological studies. Prospective epidemiological studies showed improvements
in HDL-c concentrations over longer time periods with low GI diets vs. high GI diets, while
the RCT's failed to show an improvement in HDL-c over the short-term. This could be
attributed to the short intervention period during which the RCT's were conducted.
Furthermore, epidemiological studies failed to show positive relationships between LDL-c
and TC and low GI diets, while RCT's reported positive results on both these lipids with
low GI diets. However, the epidemiological studies, as well as the RCT's showed positive
results with low GI diets on markers of CHO metabolism. Taken together, convincing
evidence from RCT's as well as epidemiological studies exists to recommend the use of
low GI diets to improve markers of CHO as well as of lipid metabolism.
3 From the systematic review regarding the GI and sport performance it does not seem that
low GI pre-exercise meals provide any advantages over high GI pre-exercise meals.
Although low GI pre-exercise meals may better maintain CHO availability during exercise,
low GI pre-exercise meals offer no added advantage over high GI meals regarding
performance. Furthermore, the exaggerated metabolic responses from high GI compared
to low GI CHO seems not be detrimental to exercise performance. However, athletes
who experience hypoglycaemia when consuming CHO-rich feedings in the hour prior to
exercise are advised to rather consume low GI pre-exercise meals. No studies have
been reported on the GI during exercise. Current evidence suggests a combination of
CHO with differing Gl's such as glucose (high GI), sucrose (moderate GI) and fructose
(low GI) will deliver the best results in terms of exogenous CHO oxidation due to different
transport mechanisms. Although no studies are conducted on the effect of the GI on
short-term recovery it is speculated that high GI CHO is most effective when the recovery
period is between 0-8 hours, however, evidence suggests that when the recovery period
is longer (20-24 hours), the total amount of CHO is more important than the type of CHO.
Conclusion: There is an important body of evidence in support of a therapeutic and
preventative potential of low GI diets to improve markers for CHO and lipid metabolism. By
substituting high GI CHO-rich with low GI CHO-rich foods improved overall metabolic control.
In addition, these diets reduced TC, tended to improve LDL-c and might have a positive
effect over the long term on HDL-c. This confirms the place for low GI diets in disease
prevention and management, particularly in populations characterised by already high
incidences of insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and abnormal lipid levels. For athletes it
seems that low GI pre-exercise meals do not provide any advantage regarding performance
over high GI pre-exercise meals. However, low GI meals can be recommended to athletes
who are prone to develop hypoglycaemia after a CHO-rich meal in the hour prior to exercise.
No studies have been reported on the effect of the GI during exercise. However, it has been
speculated that a combination of CHO with varying Gl's deliver the best results in terms of
exogenous CHO oxidation. No studies exist investigating the effect of the GI on short-term
recovery, however, it is speculated that high GI CHO-rich foods are suitable when the
recovery period is short (0-8 h), while the total amount rather than the type of CHO is
important when the recovery period is longer (20-24 h). Therefore, the GI is a scientifically
based tool to enable the selection of CHO-containing foods to improve markers for CHO and
lipid metabolism as well as to help athletes to prepare optimally for competitions.
Recommendations: Although a step nearer has been taken to confirm a place for the GI in
human health, additional randomised, controlled, medium and long-term studies as well as
more epidemiological studies are needed to investigate further the effect of low GI diets on
LDL-c. HDL-c and TG. These studies are essential to investigate the effect of low GI diets
on endpoints such as CVD and DM. This will also show whether low GI diets can reduce the
risk of diabetic complications such as neuropathy and nephropathy. Furthermore, the public
at large must be educated about the usefulness and application of the GI in meal planning.
For sport nutrition, randomised controlled trials should be performed to investigate the role of
the GI during exercise as well as in sports of longer duration such as cricket and tennis.
More studies are needed to elucidate the short-term effect of the GI post-exercise as well as
to determine the mechanism of lower glycogen storage with LGI meals post-exercise. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/557 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Opperman, Anna Margaretha |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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