Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Glucose and insulin responses in healthy women after intake of composite meals containing cod-, milk-, and soy protein

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 60, pages 949–954 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To evaluate the metabolic effect of three different kinds of dietary proteins as part of composite meals with similar macronutrient composition in healthy subjects.

Design:

A randomised meal study.

Setting:

Metabolic ward.

Subjects and methods:

In total, 17 healthy women, 30–65 years old, consumed three meals in randomised order. The meals consisted of foodstuffs with similar nutrient composition but different types of protein (cod, cottage cheese, or soy protein isolate). The distribution of energy from protein, fat and carbohydrates was 33, 26, and 41 energy percent, respectively. Total amount of energy was 2300 kJ. Blood samples were drawn for assay of B-glucose, S-insulin, S-free fatty acids, S-triglycerides, and C-peptide in the fasting state and at seven times (20, 40, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 min) after starting to eat the test meal.

Results:

The blood glucose response after the cod protein meal differed from that of the soy protein meal, with a larger area under the curve (AUC) calculated up to 120 min. The serum insulin response after the milk protein meal differed from that of the cod protein meal with a larger AUC calculated up to 240 min. The insulin/C-peptide and the insulin/glucose ratios differed between the meals; the insulin/C-peptide ratio was higher after the milk protein meal compared to the cod, and soy protein meal at 120 min. The insulin/glucose ratio was lower after the cod protein meal compared to the milk, and soy protein meals at 120 min. The results showed that the metabolic responses differed after meals with similar macronutrient composition containing cod-, milk-, or soy protein.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allison DB, Paultre F, Maggio C, Mezzitis N, Pi-Sunyer FX (1995). The use of areas under curves in diabetic research. Diabetes Care 18, 245–250.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Björck I, Liljeberg H, Östman E (2000). Low glycaemic-index foods. Br J Nutr 83 (Suppl 1), S149–S155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryant EC (1983). Area-under-the-curve analysis and other analyses strategies for repeated measures clinical trials. Institute of Statistics Mimes series, No. 1453 Thesis, North Carolina.

  • Calbet JAL, MacLean DA (2002). Plasma glucagon and insulin responses depend on the rate of appearance of amino acids after ingestion of different protein solutions in humans. J Nutr 132, 2174–2182.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • FAO/WHO (1997). Carbohydrates in human nutrition. Report of a joint FAO/WHO expert consultation. FAO Food and Nutrition paper 66, pp 25–30. Geneva: FAO/WHO.

  • Farmer A, Montori V, Dinneen S, Clar C (2001). Fish oil in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Cochrane Database System Rev 3, CD003205.

  • Gannon MC, Nuttall FQ, Neil BJ, Westphal SA (1988). The insulin and glucose responses to meals of glucose plus various proteins in Type II diabetic subjects. Metabolism 37, 1081–1088.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gannon MC, Nuttall JA, Nuttall FQ (2002). Oral arginine does not stimulate an increase in insulin concentration but delays glucose disposal. Am J Clin Nutr 76, 1016–1022.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gannon MC, Nuttall JA, Damberg G, Gupta V, Nuttall FQ (2001). Effect of protein ingestion on the glucose appearance rate in people with Type 2 diabetes. J Clin Endoc & Metab 86, 1040–1047.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iritani N, Sugimoto T, Fukuda H, Komiya M, Ikeda H (1997). Dietary soybean protein increases insulin receptor gene expression in Wistar fatty rats when dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid level is low. J Nutr 127, 1077–1083.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lang V, Bellisle F, Alamowitch C, Bornet F, Slama G, Guy-Grand B (1999). Varying the protein source in mixed meals modifies glucose, insulin and glucagons kinetics in healthy men, has weak effects on satiety and fails to affect food intake. Eur J Clin Nutr 53, 959–965.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lavigne C, Marette A, Jaques H (2000). Cod and soy proteins compared with casein improve glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in rats. Am J Physol Endocrinol Metab 278, 491–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavigne C, Tremblay F, Asselin G, Jaques H, Marette A (2001). Prevention of skeletal muscle insulin resistance by dietary cod protein in high fat-fed rats. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 281, 62–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liljeberg Elmståhl H, Björck I (2001). Milk as a supplement to mixed meals may elevate postprandial insulinaemia. Eur J Clin Nutr 55, 994–999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson M, Stenberg M, Frid AH, Holst JJ, Björck IME (2004). Glycemia and insulinemia in healthy subjects after lactose-equivalent meals of milk and other food proteins: the role of plasma amino acids and incretins. Am J Clin Nutr 80, 1246–1253.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Östman EM, Liljeberg Elmståhl HGM, Björk ME (2001). Inconsistency between glycemic and insulinemic responses to regular and fermented milk products. Am J Clin Nutr 74, 96–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soucy J, Le Blanc J (1999). The effects of a beef and fish meal on plasma amino acids, insulin and glucagons levels. Nutr Res 19, 17–24.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Storlien L, Higgins JA, Thomas TC, Brown MA, Wang HQ, Huang XF et al. (2000). Diet composition and insulin action in animal models. Br J Nutr 83 (Suppl 1), S85–S90.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stout RW (1996). Hyperinsulinemia and atherosclerosis. Diabetes 45 (Suppl 3), S45–S46.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay F, Lavigne C, Jaques H, Marete A (2003). Dietary cod protein restores insulin-induced activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinas/Akt and GLUT4 translocation to the T-tubules in skeletal muscle of high-fat-fed rats. Diabetes 52, 29–37.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vessby B, Boberg M (1990). Dietary supplementation with n-3 fatty acids may impair glucose homeostasis in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. J Intern Med 228, 165–171.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vessby B, Karlström B, Boberg M, Lithell H, Berne C (1992). Polyunsaturated fatty acids may impair blood glucose control in type 2 diabetic patients. Diab Med 9, 126–133.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yahia DA, Madani S, Prost E, Prost J, Bouchenak M, Belleville J (2003). Tissue antioxidant status differ in spontaneously hypertensive rats fed fish protein or casein. J Nutr 133, 479–482.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X, Beynen AC (1993). Influence of dietary fish proteins on plasma and liver cholesterol concentrations in rats. Br J Nutr 69, 767–777. (abstract).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences, and Spatial Planning (Formas). We thank the staff at the Center for Clinical Testing of Foodstuffs (KPL), Uppsala University, where blood samples were taken.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Unit for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    M von Post-Skagegård, B Vessby & B Karlström

Authors
  1. M von Post-Skagegård
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. B Vessby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B Karlström
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M von Post-Skagegård.

Additional information

Guarantor: B Karlström.

Contributors: BV originally designed the study. MvP-S and BK performed the study and processed the material. MvP-S, BV, and BK all contributed to writing the paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

von Post-Skagegård, M., Vessby, B. & Karlström, B. Glucose and insulin responses in healthy women after intake of composite meals containing cod-, milk-, and soy protein. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 949–954 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602404

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602404

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links