Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load of Two Dishes Cooked with Alache (Anoda cristata) and Chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) Plants from the Traditional Mexican Diet

Abstract

Correct nutrition is important for keeping good health; to attain that, the diet has to include vegetables such as quelites. The objective of this study was to determine the glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) of rice and a tamal prepared with and without two species of quelites: ‘‘alache’’ (Anoda cristata) and ‘‘chaya’’ (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius). The GI was measured in 10 healthy subjects, 7 women and 3 men, with the following mean metrics: age, 23 years old; body weight, 61.3 kg; height, 1.65 m; body mass index, 22.7 kg/m2; and basal glycemia, 77.4 mg/dL. Capillary blood samples were collected within 2 h after the meal. White rice (rice with no quelites) had a GI of 75.35 – 15.6 and a GL of 36.17 – 7.8; rice with alache had a GI of 33.74 – 5.85 and a GL 33.74 – 1.85. White tamal had a GI of 57.33 – 10.23 and a GC of 26.65 – 5.12; tamal with chaya had a GI of 46.73 – 22.1 and a GL of 23.36 – 11. The GI and GL values recorded for the combination of quelites with rice and tamal confirmed that quelites could be a good alternative for healthy diets.