Abstract
Foods today are so diverse and enjoyable, making healthy choices difficult. In this perspective, an in vitro-in silico approach for obtaining a conservative estimate of the postprandial blood glucose concentration, which is a realistic estimate nevertheless, after intake of a certain portion of meals is proposed. The rationales and feasibilities of the approach are described and discussed to an extent. The key idea is to first measure the maximum amount of glucose released in an in vitro test under standardized conditions from a specified serving size of a meal or dish or a packaged product sold in a supermarket. The value can then be translated by a literate consumer to the highest estimate of blood glucose rise prior to purchasing or eating through an established in silico blood glucose prediction model in the medical field. The strategy proposed here would help health conscious (diabetics included) and other life quality conscious individuals to make quantitative decisions on consuming the portions of different foods of desire. This strategy may be more effective in reality compared to the conventional GI (Glycemic Index) and GL (Glycemic Load) concepts.
Highlights
Unlike the advancement in animal nutrition for feed production and applications, the understanding of human nutrition cannot be transferred to practice as humans are highly individualistic.Enjoying great foods, their tastes, and flavors, is one of the most important aspects of life quality (LQ)
With the measured in vitro convertible glucose as input data for the in silico blood glucose prediction model, the relative glucose area (RGA), and the peak blood glucose concentration (PGC) in mmol/L based on the predicted glycemic response curves can be obtained after ingesting a specified serving size of a dish or a food product
The current approach is recommended to be a future means to control the blood glucose content, whilst giving the diabetic patients wise options of eating through a more scientific yet enjoyable approach
Summary
Unlike the advancement in animal nutrition for feed production and applications, the understanding of human nutrition cannot be transferred to practice as humans are highly individualistic. With respect to controlling sugar intake, in real life, these factors certainly complicate the practical use of scientific concepts such as GI This makes it not readily possible to determine what portion of the same packaged product on the shelf of a supermarket should be consumed each time by ordinary consumers and even health professionals [4,12]. Conventional measurements of glycemic response curves and blood glucose concentrations are performed through frequent blood sampling after ingestion of carbohydrate products or meals This method is time-consuming, highly variable between intraand inter individuals, and associated with ethical restrictions [13]. The scheme may be viewed as practical labelling, which is so important in food-related health management issues by providing a credible source of information to consumers [5,14] To this end, an approach for a conservative estimate of the glycemic response is proposed here. The aim of this approach is to be able to ‘explicitly’ and ‘’ help people (diabetics or not) to make healthier decisions regarding the portions to eat each time when ordering and purchasing meals or food
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