Abstract
Soluble fibre like arabinoxylan (AX) is thought to have beneficial effects on metabolism.
In this study, we investigated the effect of a breakfast enriched in AX fibre on glucose,
insulin and ghrelin values. AX-enriched and control breakfasts were served to fifteen
young volunteers (nine female, six male). Glucose, insulin and ghrelin responses were
measured after the meal. To avoid effects from differences in glucose metabolism,
further analysis was restricted to those subjects with known normal glucose regulation
(seven female, four male). The AX fibre-enriched breakfast did not significantly change
glucose levels for two hours after breakfast, but decreased insulin levels in the
entire cohort (p = 0.035). Glucose response was also not significantly different in
subjects with normal glucose regulation (p = 0.367), and the insulin responses after
an AX-enriched breakfast showed only a tendency towards lower values (p = 0.065).
Nevertheless, plasma ghrelin two hours after AX-enriched breakfast was higher than
after the control meal (396.1 ± 36.4 pg/ml vs. 328.3 ± 32.6 pg/ml, p < 0.001). In subjects with normal glucose regulation, the AX-enriched
breakfast increased ghrelin levels without any significant difference in glucose or
insulin response. This effect is therefore unlikely to be mediated by insulin, but
the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated.
Key words
Soluble fibre - Glycemic index - Diabetes - Obesity - Arabinoxylan - Ghrelin
References
mmoehlig@mail.dife.de
