Effects of high v low GI on cardiovascular disease risk factors and insulin sensitivity

Sacks F. Carey V et al. Journal of the American Medical Association. Doi:10.1001/jama.2014.16658

Until I read this paper, I did not know that “a banana increases blood glucose more than an apple that has the same amount of carbohydrate”. This paper looks at food properties via their glycaemic index-a measurement of carbohydrate containing foods and their impact on altering blood glucose levels. The study examined the impact of glycaemic index and carbohydrate load on end points which influences diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Four different diets were included in the study which only lasted 5 weeks (the authors’ stated that this is long enough) but the outcome was unexpected. Ingesting a diet associated with a low glycaemic diet, did not positively impact on lipids, systolic BP or insulin sensitivity. However the authors pointed out they did not specifically look at the impact of the glycaemic index on type 2 diabetes or weight loss. So this is not the end of the story. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2040224
Alongside this paper on the website, there is a three minute video summary from one of the authors http://jama.jamanetwork.com/multimediaPlayer.aspx?mediaid=8427523 ; it makes interesting viewing.