Research led by United Arab Emirates University, UAEU, has produced new insights into how traditional Emirati foods affect blood sugar levels, with the aim of helping to encourage healthy eating and provide dietary guidance.

The study has analysed 18 commonly-consumed delicacies, from bread and main courses to entrees and sweet dishes, to assess their glycaemic index, GI, and glycaemic load, GL, values, which are pivotal to understanding the impact of a particular food on a person’s blood glucose.

Led by Dr. Ayesha Al-Dhaheri of the Nutrition and Food Department within UAEU’s College of Food and Agriculture, the team tested each food by asking at least 15 healthy participants, drawn from the UAEU student body and the university’s staff, to eat small portions and then taking blood samples.

88 volunteers participated in the study, which also involved researchers from Yong Loo School of Medicine in Singapore and the University of Oxford in the UK, with baseline blood samples being taken, followed by further samples before consumption and at six different intervals after