Abstract

Onimawo I. A., Ijeh I., Ukoha U. and Nwachukwu G. T.

This study was carried out to determine the blood glucose response and glycemic index of food for diabetics and nondiabetics. The subjects comprised of 10 diabetics and 7 non-diabetics. The results of the physical characteristics showed that the diabetic subjects were on the average older (age bracket between 51 and 70years) than the nondiabetics (18 and 23years) . The Body mass index (BMI) values indicated that over 90% of the diabetics were obese while the non-diabetics were on the average normal. Results also showed that the blood glucose response of the diabetics were significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of the non- diabetics. When fed on the test diets (“okpa” and “moin–moin”), the blood glucose response was significantly reduced when compared to bread diet for both diabetics and non-diabetics. The results further indicated that the blood glucose response was better with “okpa” than with “moin–moin”, suggesting that “okpa” is a better diet for diabetic patients. The glycemic index values for “okpa” and “moin–moin” were 78 and 38 respectively for the non-diabetics while the values were 59 and 66 respectively, for the diabetics indicating that “okpa” is a better diet for the diabetics.