Postprandial Glycemic Response to Whole Fruit versus Blended Fruit in Healthy, Young Adults.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Within-subject experimental intervention trial in humans
PubMed 36364827 · doi:10.3390/nu14214565
What was done
In a within-subject repeated measures trial, 20 healthy college students (12 females, 8 males) consumed either whole fruit or blended fruit consisting of seeded Gala apples and blackberries. Postprandial glycemic response was evaluated by measuring glucose maximum, glucose incremental area under the curve (iAUC), and 60-minute blood glucose, analyzed with a repeated measures two-way ANOVA incorporating fruit treatment as a within-subject variable and sex as a between-subject factor.
What was found
Glucose maximum and glucose iAUC were significantly lower following consumption of blended fruit compared to whole fruit (p < 0.05). Blood glucose at 60 minutes was marginally lower for blended fruit (p = 0.057). No exact numerical values or effect sizes were reported in the abstract. There were no significant main effects of sex or sex-by-treatment interactions for any glycemic outcome.
Why it matters
These findings challenge the assumption that blending fruit inherently accelerates sugar absorption, suggesting that blending specific fruits with ground seeds may attenuate postprandial glucose excursions.
Limits
The study is limited by a small sample size of 20 young, healthy participants, which restricts generalizability to clinical populations such as individuals with diabetes. The abstract does not report exact numerical values, effect sizes, or whether treatment order was randomized, and evaluates only a single specific fruit pairing.
Cited by
- context Blending a banana allows the human digestive tract to extract more energy from it than consuming the banana whole.