The effect of the body mass indexes of young healthy individuals on the glyacemic indexes of traditional and modified vegetarian meals

Abstract

Blood glucose concentration increases after the consumption of any carbohydrate-containing meal. Several factors affect the course of glucose metabolism, including nutritional status. This study evaluated the effect of the nutritional statuses of adults on their glycaemic responses after the consumption of some vegetarian meals (dumplings with potato and curd cheese stuffing; curd cheese dumplings; pancakes with curd cheese), prepared according to the traditional recipe and a partly modified recipe. The 105 participants, aged 20–27 years, with different body mass indexes (BMI), took an oral glucose tolerance test after the intake of a standard glucose solution, and also after each meal (previously analysed for energy value and approximate composition). The consumption of each meal by participants with different nutritional statuses elicited different glycaemic responses, which were reflected in the diverse glycaemic indexes (GIs). The partial modification of the meal recipes contributed to lowering their GIs. Vast differences were observed in the glycaemic responses among the surveyed participants after the consumption of the same meals. The GIs of meals should be determined in different groups of people.