HEALTH ASPECTS OF VARIOUS DIGESTIBLE CARBOHYDRATES

The present review adresses the question whether simple and complex carbohydrates may result in different physiological responses with emphasis on glucose tolerance, human energy metabolism, and blood lipid spectrum. Furthermore, the implications of possible different physiological responses are discussed in relation to diabetes mellitus, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Previously, it was believed that all starches were digested more slowly than simple carbohydrates, resulting in a slower release of glucose into the bloodstream. The presumed higher insulinemic response of simple carbohydrates would eventually give rise to hyperinsulinemia and diabetes mellitus. At present, thinking in this area has changed and from many acute experimental studies it has become clear that there is a wide range of glycemic responses to both simple and complex carbohydrate foods, so that some complex carbohydrates give comparable glycemic and insulinemic responses to some simple carbohydrates. These responses to both forms of carbohydrates are appreciably influenced by certain other food components such as dietary fibre an