Carbohydrate staple foods - facing the challenge to improve their quality for a better metabolic health

Research Project, 2019 – 2022

Carbohydrates are the main energy source in most European diets. Their metabolic effects depend on several aspects ranging from chemical structure to food matrix and food processing which are best captured by the combined consideration of dietary fiber, whole grain, glycemic index or load and dietary sugar. In Northern and Central European diets, bread is a major carbohydrate source, however, beneficial metabolic effects of bread may be confined to breads rich in fiber, whole grain and/or with a low glycemic index (GI) only. The five partners from Norway, Germany and Sweden in this consortium will run a 16-week RCT involving 250 persons at risk of type 2 diabetes to test a newly developed bread containing the oat-derived fiber beta-glucan characterized by a comparably low GI of 57 for its effects on glycemic control (i.e. HbA1c). Furthermore, the long-term relevance of bread intake and carbohydrate quality for body weight and T2DM or glycemic control will be analyzed in observational cohorts involving healthy adults (HUSK study, Norway) followed up during middle age and in lean and obese children followed-up until adulthood (KFO and Life child, Germany). Alkyresorcinols, an accepted biomarker of wholegrain consumption will be measured in plasma samples . Finally, RCTs and observational studies on the relevance of bread consumption for body weight, glycemic control/T2DM and associated cardiometabolic outcomes will be summarized in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.