A Resistant Starch Improves Short-Term Blood Sugar Management in New Study
Study participants consumed either a cookie made with Versafibe 1490 or a placebo.
Photo © iStockphoto.com/Watcha
Results of a study1 recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrients show that a type 4 resistant starch derived from potato and marketed by Ingredion Inc. (Westchester, IL) under the name Versafibe 1490 appears to positively influence short-term (postprandial) blood sugar and insulin responses in the study’s subjects.
In the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study conducted by KGK Synergize and funded by Ingredion, 28 healthy participants consumed either a cookie made with Versafibe 1490 and refined wheat flour (2.41 g total dietary fiber) or a control cookie made with maltodextrin and refined wheat flour (0.5 g total dietary fiber). The cookies were otherwise equivalent in total weight and total carbohydrate, sugar, protein, and fat contents.
Analyses showed that two hours following consumption, postprandial blood glucose and insulin levels in participants eating the fiber-fortified cookie were lower by 48% and 46%, respectively, than in the subjects who received the control cookie.
“This study demonstrates that incorporating Versafibe 1490 dietary fiber into a practical baked good (cookie) may reduce blood glucose and insulin values after a meal in healthy adults,” says Maria Stewart, Ingredion’s clinical research lead, global nutrition R&D, and one of the study’s authors, in a press release. “Reduced blood sugar and blood insulin values after a meal are indicators of better blood sugar management.”
In addition to being a grain-free source of dietary fiber with a minimum total dietary fiber content of 85% on a dry-solids basis, the modified-starch ingredient is process stable and performs like white flour in popular applications, improving texture in crackers, cereals, pastas, and snacks while also helping manufacturers achieve “good source of fiber” and “excellent source of fiber” product claims.
Disclosures:
- Stewart ML and Zimmer JP. “A high fiber cookie made with resistant starch type 4 reduces post-prandial glucose and insulin responses in healthy adults.” Nutrients, vol. 9, no. 3 (March 2017): 237.
