Effects of meals with different glycaemic index on postprandial blood glucose response in patients with Type 1 diabetes treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion

P>Objective To evaluate the impact of high-glycaemic index and low-glycaemic index meals on postprandial blood glucose in patients with Type 1 diabetes treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion. Methods Sixteen patients with Type 1 diabetes under continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion treatment, age 36 +/- 0.5 years (mean +/- sem), HbA(1c) 7.6 +/- 0.2% (56 +/- 1.1 mmol/mol), consumed two test meals with an identical macronutrient composition, but with a different glycaemic index: 59 vs. 90. Blood glucose was checked before the test meal and every 30 min thereafter for 180 min. The same preprandial insulin dose was administered on the two occasions. Results Blood glucose concentrations following the low-glycaemic index meal were significantly lower than those of the high-glycaemic index meal (P < 0.05 to P < 0.01). The blood glucose area under the curve after the low-glycaemic index meal was 20% lower than after the high-glycaemic meal (P = 0.006). Conclusions Our data show that meals with the same carbohydrate content but a different glycaemic index produce clinically significant differences in postprandial blood glucose.