Comparison of Glycemic Index and Satiety of Cereals containing Amaranth

A diet with low glycemic index (GI) has a preventive potential against the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Moreover, low GI foods reduce hunger and result in a lower energy intake which finally leads to positive weight management. We investigate the GI of cereals containing amaranth, measured the postprandial subjective satiety and analyzed the glucose release in a gastrointestinal in vitro digestion model. In a study with 20 non-diabetic healthy volunteers it was shown that the amaranth cereal has an adjusted GI value of 45.9 and was significantly lower than that of standard cereal (74.1) and popped amaranth (105.2). Amaranth cereal can be classified as a food with a low GI while the standard cereal and popped amaranth can be classified as high GI foods. Measured satiety scores confirm course of the postprandial blood glucose concentration. The highest in vitro glucose release after 120 min was measured in the popped amaranth sample (51.59 mg glucose/100 g sample), followed by standard cereal (43.26 mg glucose/100 g sample), and amaranth cereal (36.91 mg glucose/100 g sample).The difference concerning glycemic as well as satiating effects between sheer popped amaranth and cereal with popped amaranth may be caused by the influence of the food composition. Substituting popped rice flour and cornflakes with popped amaranth and amaranth flakes are suggested to lower the GI of standard cereals.