Impact of preloading either dairy or soy milk on postprandial glycemia, insulinemia and gastric emptying in healthy adults

Lijuan Sun, Kevin Wei Jie Tan, Cathy Mok Sook Han, Melvin Khee-Shing Leow, Christiani Jeyakumar Henry

Milk protein ingestion reduces post-meal glycemia when consumed either before or together with carbohydrate foods. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of dairy and soy milk consumed either before (preload) or together with (co-ingestion) a carbohydrate (bread), on postprandial blood glucose, insulin and gastric emptying in healthy participants. Twelve healthy Chinese male participants were studied on five separate occasions using a randomized crossover design. White wheat bread consumed with water was used as a reference meal. Capillary and venous bloods were sampled pretest and 3.5 h post-test meal for glucose and insulin measurement. Gastric emptying was measured using real-time ultrasonography. Co-ingestion of dairy milk or soy milk with bread lowered postprandial blood glucose response and glycemic index. Co-ingesting soy milk with bread increased insulin response and insulinemic index significantly compared to co-ingestion of dairy milk and preload treatments. Preloads (30 min prior to bread) significantly lowered postprandial glycemia and insulinemia compared to co-ingestion. Gastric emptying was slower after co-ingesting dairy milk with bread than after reference meal. Preloading either soy milk or dairy milk results in greater reduction in glycemic response compared to co-ingestion alone. This dietary practice may have therapeutic advantage in communities consuming high GI diets. Optimal glucose control may have the potential for increasing the time of transition from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes in Asian communities. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT 02151188.