4. Discussion
inflammation
INFLAMMATION, OXIDATIVE STRESS
In this study we investigated the impact of complementary nutritional improvements (SDS, fibers, and polyphenols) of cereal-based food products on GI and II, to demonstrate how food composition and processes can improve post-prandial metabolic responses. Presently, enriched food products containing more than 33% of SDS/available starch, 18 g of fibers, and nearly 2.5 g total polyphenol (expressed in gallic acid equivalent) induced a significant decrease in acute postprandial glycemic and insulinemic responses compared to control cereal-based foods by 30% and 23%, respectively, when considering the mean iAUC of both treatments. The GI values of enriched products were significantly reduced by more than 10 points and the II values by 7 and 16 points compared to control products, with none of the four products exacerbating insulin secretion in parallel to the GR. The reduced glucose excursions associated with a non-exacerbated insulin response have been shown to contribute to the long-term beneficial health effects in non-diseased subjects [The content of SDS was obtained by the strict control of the food process. Indeed, it has been clearly shown for several years that food processes modify the starch structure configuration inside the food matrix depending on its level of gelatinization [The total amount of polyphenols in the enriched products reached nearly 2.5 g gallic acid equivalent per portion with a high amount of proanthocyanidins and flavonoids. This diet enrichment corresponds to the daily intake of total polyphenols in France (2.1 +/− 1 g/d) assayed by the same method [In the studied products, only 16% of dietary fibers were measured as soluble fibers in the enriched products, with 3 g per portion. These fibers might contribute to limiting the accessibility of starch by the digestive enzymes and increasing the viscosity of the bolus in the stomach, if parts of these soluble fibers develop viscosity in the digestive tract [The long-term effects of these enriched products, characterized by lower GI and II, need to be tested to evaluate the full potential of these processed products with improved nutritional profiles in the prevention of cardiometabolic risk. The lower postprandial glycemic and insulin responses may be associated with additional metabolic effects provided by selected active compounds, mainly fibers and polyphenols, which are been shown to interfere with oxidative stress and inflammation processes and could influence gut microbiota composition and activity [