Postprandial metabolic responses to the influence of food form.

To determine whether differences in the metabolic response to two common starches could be eliminated by altering the physical form of food, 12 normal and 6 noninsulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) subjects were studied after consumption of test loads of whole and blended rice and potato. In normal and NIDDM subjects the lower postprandial glycemia and insulinemia of whole rice was eliminated and became similar to that of whole potato, which was unaffected by blending. The glucagon responses were unchanged and similar in both groups under all study conditions. In both normal and NIDDM subjects the glucose and insulin response to a particular starch is not a stable feature dependent on the unique characteristics of the starch molecule but is affected by food processing and the form in which it is presented to the gastrointestinal tract.