James Woolnough
Doctor of Philosophy, (Nutritional Sciences)
Study Completed: 2011
College of Sciences
Citation
Thesis Title
Standardisation of in vitro carbohydrate digestion methods for predicting the relative glycemic response to foods
Read article at Massey Research Online: 
Mr Woolnough investigated the feasibility of replicating human carbohydrate digestion in a laboratory-based in vitro model that mimicked oral, gastric and intestinal phase digestion processes. By measuring the rate and extent to which sugar was released from a range of commonly-consumed foods under simulated human digestion conditions, Mr Woolnough proposed an in vitro method, that, with further validation, could enable routine and affordable analysis and prediction of the likely relative glycemic effects of foods. Such analyses, in future, could form the basis of a new food-labelling system that ranks foods according to their glycemic potency – a useful tool enabling informed food choices in a consumer community that currently exhibits 2.4% global prevalence of type II diabetes.
Supervisors
Dr Alistair Carr
Dr John Monro
Professor Charles Brennan
Dr Tony Bird