Digestion of Foods Consumed in Africa

Purdue University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obesity and Other Hyperalimentation

Treatments: Other: Millet thin porridge; Other: Pasta; Other: Millet thick porridge; Other: Sorghum thick porridge; Other: Millet thin monikuru porridge; Other: Potato; Other: Rice; Other: Millet couscous

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03007368

1104010761

Details and patient eligibility

About

As populations become urbanized in Africa, the change to a more Westernized diet has been associated with rise in obesity and related metabolic syndrome diseases. The current study shows that in the West African Sahel, these replacement starchy staple foods have fast gastric emptying compared to traditional sorghum and millet foods; and implies that the latter could be beneficial in lowering glycemic response, providing energy from a meal over a longer time, and providing a satiety effect. Knowledge of this attribute of sorghum and millet foods could be useful to improve their image in West African cities to increase their consumption and to improve markets for local smallholder farmers.

Full description

As suggested by anecdotal evidence that traditional Malian sorghum and millet foods are filling and provide sustained energy, we hypothesized that gastric emptying rates of sorghum and millet foods are slow, particularly compared to non-traditional starchy foods (white rice, potato, wheat pasta) that are now commonly consumed in urban areas of the West African Sahel. A broader purpose for the study was to understand whether sorghum and millet foods have positive health attributes that can be promoted in urban areas to provide better markets for local farmers.

Two human trials of similar design were conducted approximately one year apart. The carbon 13 (13C)-labelled octanoic acid breath test method was used to measure gastric emptying rate, and subjective pre-test and satiety response questionnaires were used. In the first study, 14 healthy volunteers in Bamako, Mali participated in a crossover design to test eight starchy foods for gastric emptying rate and satiety feelings. The second study with six volunteers was done to correct for endogenous 13C differences in the starch component of the foods.

Enrollment: 20 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 20 to 50 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Normal body mass index (18 kg/m2 ≤ BMI ≤ 25 kg/m2)

Exclusion criteria

• Under any medication
• History of any gastrointestinal disease or surgery
• Diabetes
• Smoker

Trial design

20 participants in 8 patient groups

Rice

Experimental group

Description:

Cooked white rice and tomato-based sauce

Treatment:

Other: Rice

Potato

Experimental group

Description:

Cooked white peeled potato and tomato-based sauce

Treatment:

Other: Potato

Pasta

Experimental group

Description:

Cooked macaroni product and tomato-based sauce

Treatment:

Other: Pasta

Sorghum thick porridge

Experimental group

Description:

Sorghum thick porridge and tomato-based sauce

Treatment:

Other: Sorghum thick porridge

Millet thick porridge

Experimental group

Description:

Millet thick porridge and tomato-based sauce

Treatment:

Other: Millet thick porridge

Millet couscous

Experimental group

Description:

Cooked millet couscous and tomato-based sauce

Treatment:

Other: Millet couscous

Millet thin porridge

Experimental group

Description:

Millet thin porridge

Treatment:

Other: Millet thin porridge

Millet thin monikuru porridge

Experimental group

Description:

Millet thin porridge containing cooked millet granules (monikuru)

Treatment:

Other: Millet thin monikuru porridge