Glycemic Index of Some Traditional Ethiopian Foods

Background: Glycemic index (GI) describes the blood glucose response after consumption of a carbohydrate containing test food relative to a reference food, typically glucose or white bread. Glycemic index was originally designed for people with diabetes as a guide to food selection, advice being given to select foods with a low GI. In Ethiopia information with regard to the glycemic index of commonly consumed traditional foods are not known. Therefore, the current study aims atassessingthe glycemic index of some common traditional Ethiopian foods. Thus generating information for the dietary management of diabetes mellitus.

Materials and Methods: Twelve different traditional Ethiopian foods were randomly selected from the local market and prepared at home following traditional methods. The foods were dried with sun light and oven (<85°C) and then the dried foods were manually grinded and powdered. The powders were kept in clean glasses at room temperature until used for the experiment. Twelve healthy mice (six for control and six for the test group) for each tested foods were used for the study. The mice were divided into two groups, group 1 is standard (each mouse administered 0.25 g of glucose) and group 2 is test (each mouse administered 0.25 g of test food). The test food and standard glucose were administered after overnight fasting and the blood glucose were measured at 30 minute intervals for the next twohours (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes). The blood glucose response curve was used to calculate the incremental area under the curve (IAUC) of each food and glucose. Glycemic index of food was calculated as a percentage of incremental area under the curve (IAUC) of each food from standard glucose and expressed as Mean±SE of each food.

Results: The result indicated thatamong the twelve traditional Ethiopian foods eight were found to have low glycemic index (GI≤55); these include: 1. White teff enjera, GI=35, 2. Red teff enjera, GI=39, 3. Maize enjera, GI= 43, 4. Barley bread, GI=25, 5. Qocho bread, GI=38, 6. pea sauce, GI=41, 7. Chickpeas sauce, GI=27, 8. Lentil sauce, GI=17, three foods had a moderate glycemic index (GI=56-69):1. Maize bread, GI= 56, 2. wheat bread, GI= 57, 3. Bullagenfo, GI=60 and one had a high glycemic index (GI≥70): 1. White bread, GI= 73.

Conclusions: The examined traditional Ethiopian foods provided important information for the public to guide food choice and could be useful for the prevention of diabetes mellitus.