Effect of solid and liquid carbohydrates upon postprandial pancreatic endocrine function.

The present study was designed to determine the effect of sucrose-containing liquids upon postprandial pancreatic endocrine function in comparison to an identical quantity of sucrose contained in the solid part of the test meal. In 10 normal subjects, the ingestion of a solid-liquid meal with sucrose in the liquid part elicited a significantly greater increase in the plasma insulin and glucose levels during the first 20 min than did the ingestion of the same meal in homogenized form. Plasma glucagon levels fell below baseline during the early phase of the meal in response to the solid-liquid meal, whereas values increased immediately upon ingestion of the homogenized meal. To determine the effect of repeated ingestion of sucrose-containing liquids, 6 subjects ingested a meal containing sucrose in solid form together with water (solid sucrose); on another occasion, the same subjects ingested the sucrose in liquid form. In response to the liquid-sucrose meal, mean postprandial plasma insulin levels were significantly higher than those observed in response to the solid-sucrose meal (110 +/- 11.3 vs. 80 +/- 8.5 microunits/ml; P less than 0.01) as were plasma glucagon levels (284 +/- 12.2 vs. 198 +/- 8.2 pg/ml; P less than 0.001). Mean postprandial plasma glucose levels and the insulin to glucagon ratio were not different. The present data demonstrate that the ingestion of sucrose in the liquid part of a meal results in a significant elevation of plasma insulin concentrations compared to the ingestion of sucrose in the solid part of the meal.