Carbohydrate tolerance and serum lipid responses to type of dietary carbohydrate and oral contraceptive use in young women.

The responses of serum glucose, insulin, and lipids to a glucose load were compared in two groups of college-age women fed two different carbohydrate diets. One group of women took oral contraceptives (OC) and the other group had never taken OC. Two experimental diets supplied approximately 13% of the calories from protein, 36% from fat, and 51% from carbohydrate. Of the carbohydrate, 84% was either sucrose or wheat starch. Each diet was fed for 4 weeks in a cross-over design. The subjects were given a glucose load dose, 1 g/kg of body weight, before and after each dietary period. Serum glucose, insulin, and lipids were measured before and 30, 60, 120, and 180 minutes after the load dose. Serum insulin was significantly affected by the type of carbohydrate in the diet (p less than .01). The sucrose diet generally gave lower insulin levels in response to the glucose load. Serum triglyceride levels were significantly higher (p less than .01) in users than nonusers of OC. Serum free fatty acids and total lipids were not significantly affected by OC use. There was no effect of different carbohydrates on any of the serum lipid parameters. Significant responses from fasting levels were observed for serum glucose, insulin, and triglyceride levels (p less than .01).