Abstract
The development of insulinemic indices (IIs) to foods has been reported as necessary to supplement glycemic index (GI) tables used in the dietary management of diabetes mellitus. In this study the glycemic and insulinemic responses of 12 healthy volunteers to four commonly consumed Middle Eastern dishes were measured. All meals contained 50 g of carbohydrates, fed as chickpea salad dip (CSD), stuffed grape leaves (SGL), kibbeh saynieh (KS) or Middle Eastern bread (MEB). The results showed that the CSD resulted in the lowest glycemic and insulinemic responses as compared to equivalent amounts of carbohydrates fed as glucose, MEB, SGL or KS. KS induced moderate glycemic and insulinemic responses, whereas SGL gave higher GI and II responses as compared to the other CSD and KS meals. MEB gave responses similar to glucose. Except for CSD, the GIs and IIs, as predicted by adding the published indices of the individual ingredients, showed a high correlation with the observed data. CSD is recommended as a favorable dietary item for diabetics and more data on the glycemic and insulinemic responses to combination dishes need to be collected for better dietary management of diabetes mellitus.