The glycaemic index values of Vietnamese foods

Objective: To determine and compare the glycaemic index (GI) values of a ra nge of Vietnamese foods in two racial groups. Design and subjects: Twelve healthy subjects (six Asian and six Caucasian) consumed 50 g carbohydrate portions of a reference food (glucose sugar) and nine Vietnamese foods (three rices, three noodle products and three sweet foods) in random order after an overnight fast. The reference food was test ed on two separate occasions, and the Vietnamese foods were each tested onc e. Capillary blood samples were taken at time 0 (fasting), 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min from the start of each meal. Samples were analysed for plasm a glucose and the incremental areas under the plasma glucose curves (AUC) w ere used to calculate the GI values of the test foods, using glucose as the reference food (ie GI value of glucose = 100). The mean GI value of each f ood was calculated for them entire group of subjects (n = 12) and for both racial groups (n = 6). Results: The three rices had surprisingly high GI values (86-109), whereas the noodle products had relatively low GI values (39-61). The sugar-rich fo ods produced intermediate GI values (54-79). The GI values for the nine foo ds calculated separately for the two racial groups were not significantly d ifferent from each other (P = 0.26). Conclusions: The GI values derived from Caucasian subjects are likely to be applicable to Asian populations. Varieties of imported rice from Thailand were found to have high GI values. Alternative low-Gl staples, such as rice noodles, may be preferable for Asian/Vietnamese people with diabetes. Sponsorship: This study was funded by the University of Sydney.