Agar and pectin slow stomach emptying in healthy men
What it found
In healthy men, meals with agar or pectin left the stomach more slowly than a fibre-free meal.
Neither agar nor pectin changed the blood sugar response after eating.
What they found
Studies in people
Stomach emptying slowed
Both the agar meal and the pectin meal took longer to empty from the stomach than the fibre-free meal. The breath test showed the agar effect between 40 and 105 minutes and the pectin effect between 40 and 180 minutes after eating.
Blood sugar unchanged
Neither the agar meal nor the pectin meal changed the blood sugar response after eating compared with the fibre-free meal.
What the authors conclude
“In healthy adults, agar and pectin delay gastric emptying but have no impact on the post-prandial glucose response.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that in healthy adults, agar and pectin delay gastric emptying but have no impact on the post-prandial glucose response.
How it was done
Pectin, a fibre, is known to slow stomach emptying and may help blood sugar control after meals. Agar is high in fibre and common in the traditional Japanese diet, but little was known about its short-term effects on stomach emptying and blood sugar.
Ten healthy male volunteers ate three test meals of 450 kcal/500 mL on separate occasions: one with no fibre, one with 2.0 g agar, and one with 5.2 g pectin. Stomach emptying was tracked with a breath test and blood was sampled over time.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This was a small short-term study in healthy men. It cannot show what happens with long-term use or in people with diabetes.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital, Japan
The paper
- Title
- Effects of agar and pectin on gastric emptying and post-prandial glycaemic profiles in healthy human volunteers
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Sanaka M, Yamamoto T, Anjiki H, Nagasawa K, Kuyama Y (2007). Effects of agar and pectin on gastric emptying and post-prandial glycaemic profiles in healthy human volunteers. Clinical and experimental pharmacology & physiology. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1681.2007.04706.xPubMed 17880369DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error