Institute of Psychological Sciences
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Human Nutrition research group
Human Appetite Research Unit
Effects of Macronutrients on Glycaemic Response and Cognition
Professor Louise Dye and Dr Clare Lawton have conducted numerous industrially funded projects at the Human Appetite Research Unit (HARU) in the Institute of Psychological Sciences which examined the effects of products with differing macronutrient compositions on glycaemic response, appetite control, food intake, subjective state and cognitive performance.
The group has state of the art equipment to assess glycaemic response using the gold standard Yellow Springs Glucose
Analyser which can also profile lactate. Ongoing collaboration with Dr Steve Brooks is developing assays for analysis
of insulin from capillary samples which is important in the light of recent EFSA guidelines for measurement of the
glycaemic effects of foods.
The HARU team have examined glycaemic response to various foods and food components in adults and children using capillary
and interstitial glucose measurement. (link to papers)
They have substantial experience of using interstitial glucose monitors in carefully controlled and free living studies to examine the impact of specific foods or food components on glycaemic response as well the longer term effects of weight loss and habitual diet on glycaemic response.
This work has been supported by many industrial projects to examine the effects of new products or to help develop new products with particular glycaemic profiles and cognitive effects for adults and children.
Dye and Lawton are members of the ILSI expert group on Post prandial Carbohydrate Metabolism and contributed chapters on cognitive function and weight management to a forthcoming publication (Blaak et al., under review).