Overview on Blood Glucose

Regulation and Glycemic Response

Regulation of blood glucose level
 Storing glucose as glycogen
 Glycogen can be quickly release for energy as needed
 Liver glycogen – to maintain blood glucose
 Muscle glycogen – fuel muscle activity
 Glycogen will last from a few hours to one day depending on activity level

 Using glucose for energy

 primary fuel for brain, RBC, nervous system, fetus and placenta
 Need to metabolize fat completely
 Glucose in blood -> cell (metabolic reaction) -> energy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqP9JmS_sKo
 Insulin
 Produced by beta cell in pancreas
 Functions during the rising glucose level in blood after a meal
Promote the storage of glucose as glycogen in liver and muscle
Stimulate protein synthesis and increase lipid synthesis
Thus remove glucose from the blood – decreasing blood glucose levels to the normal stage
 Glucagon
 Made in alpha cell in pancreas
 Stimulates the breakdown of liver glycogen so glucose were released to
the bloodstream
 It also help restore blood glucose to normal concentration by
gluconeogenesis in the liver
 Blood glucose level

 Normal condition
 Blood glucose level is about 70 – 110 mg/dl
 Hyperglycemia
 Blood glucose level is exceeds 170 mg/dl
 Having high blood glucose
 Begin to spill over into the urine
 Hypoglycemia
 Blood glucose level falls below 40 – 50 mg/dl
 Having low blood glucose
 Symptom: nervous, hungry, headache
Diabetes: a disorder (technically termed diabetes mellitus) characterized by
insufficiency or relative ineffectiveness of insulin, which renders a person
unable to regulate the blood glucose level normally.
Glycaemic response

 Carbohydrate containing diet have a wide range of effects on blood glucose

concentration during the digestion (glycaemic response)
 Some resulting in a rapid rise followed by a rapid fall in blood glucose
concentration and vice versa
 Determined by quality and quantity of carbohydrate
Factors influencing glycaemic response

 Amount of carbohydrate
 Nature of carbohydrate components – glucose, fructose, galactose
 Nature of the starch – amylose, amylopectin, resistant starch
 Food processing – degree of starch gelatinization, particle size, food form,
cellular structure
 Other food components – fat and protein, dietary fibre, antinutrients, organic acid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LylsVQ8HFIw
Glycemic Index (GI)

 Defined as the incremental area under High GI Medium GI

>70 69 to 55
the blood glucose response curve of a
Raises blood sugar Raises blood sugar less
50g carbohydrate portion of a test quickly quickly
food expressed as a percentage of the
response to the same amount of Low GI
carbohydrate from a standard or <55
reference food taken by the same Raises blood sugar
subject (FAO/WHO, 1998) slowly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm2T2LXZLtU
Glycemic Index (GI)

 Glycemix Index (GI) has been proposed as a

method to classify carbohydrate containing
foods based on their blood glucose-raising
potential
 Measure the extent to which the available
carbohydrate in a food raises blood sugar
compared to equal amount of glucose
 It is a property of food that measure the quality
of carbohydrate
How do low GI foods lower blood glucose?

 Increased fibre intake

 Reduces rate of sugar absorption in intestine
 Improves insulin secretion
Why choose low GI foods

 Improves blood sugar control after eating

 Reduces risk of heart disease
 Increase insulin sensitivity
GI value of selected foods

Fried meehon, Nasi lemak, Currypuff, pau

Medium GI
High GI

Low GI
fragnant rice, Herba ponni kacang merah,
noodle rice, white rice, brown rice, watermelon,
bread, teh tarik, fried rice, white bread with
sweet potato, roti multigrain bread peanut butter,
canai &dhal, durian
Glycemic Load (GL)

 A measure that incorporates both 10-19

>20
quality and amount per serving of
High GL Moderate GL
dietary carbohydrate
 Consider amount of carbohydrate in a
portion of food eaten and its GI value
<10
 GL = GI*carbohydrate content per
serving Low GL
Additional reading

1. Kaur et al. (2015) The glycemic index of rice and rice products: a review and table of GI
values. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 56(2): 215-236
2. Nisak et al. (2005) A Study of Blood Glucose Response Following Temperate and Tropical
Fruit Ingestion in Healthy Adults Mal J Nutr 11 (1) 47-57
3. Nisak et al. (2005) Glycaemic Index of Eight Types of Commercial Rice in Malaysia Mal J
Nutr 11 (2) 151-163