1. Characterizing the shape of the postprandial glycemic curve: An investigation within the
Love of Lentils Clinical Trial
Erica Rogers1
, Dita Moravek1
, Laura B. VanderSluis1
, Sarah J Turkstra1
, Jessica M. Wilson1
,
Aileen Hawke2
, Kayla K. Miraglia1
, Alison M. Duncan1
, D. Dan Ramdath2
1
Department of Human Health & Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON,
Canada, N1G 2W1
2
Guelph Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Guelph, ON, Canada, N1G
5C9
ABSTRACT
Postprandial glycemic response is considered in numerous measure including area under the
curve (AUC), glycemic index (GI), glycemic load (GL), and glycemic glucose equivalents
(GGE) (Brouns et al., 2005). While GI remains the most common measure, it relies solely on
AUC and is unable to account for differences in the shape of the postprandial glycemic curve.
This is important since different carbohydrate-rich foods may cause blood glucose to rise and fall
at different rates, resulting in markedly dissimilar glycemic curves, yet similar AUC values.
Emerging evidence suggests the spikes and degree of fluctuation in postprandial blood glucose
may play a more important clinical role than sustained hyperglycemia (Risso et al., 2001;
Monnier et al., 2006; Satya Krishna et al., 2013). To explore this, the shape of the postprandial
glycemic curve from data collected in the Love of Lentils Study will be examined. This clinical
trial involves a randomized, crossover design to investigate the acute postprandial glycemic
effects of three lentil varieties combined with white rice in comparison with white rice alone in
healthy adults (n=24). The shape of the postprandial glycemic curve will be examined with
established measures including incremental peak glucose (‘The Spike’), Maximum Amplitude of
Glucose Excursion (MAGE), and incremental changes at postprandial time points 15, 30, 45, 60,
90 and 120 minutes. It is hypothesized that consumption of lentils in combination with high-GI
white rice will significantly reduce incremental peak glucose, MAGE and incremental change at
time points 15, 30, and 60 in comparison with white rice alone. Thorough characterization of the
postprandial glycemic curve is essential to a complete understanding of the physiological
processes involved in the onset and progression of diabetes complications (DeVries, 2013). In
this manner, the shape of the curve is important to consider in clinical practice. (Funded by the
AAFC Growing Forward 2 and Pulse Canada Cluster).