Glycaemic index and load of five Ivorian staple foods including pounded yam
What it found
In 50 healthy adults, pounded yam and most other Ivorian staples had a high glycaemic index, while attieke had a medium one.
Attieke, pounded cassava-plantain and pounded yam also had high glycaemic loads.
What they found
Studies in people
Pounded yam GI
Pounded yam had a glycaemic index of 85, which falls in the high category. This was measured in 10 healthy adults.
Other high-GI foods
Placali had the highest glycaemic index at 106, followed by pounded cassava-plantain at 91 and maize meal stiff porridge at 74. All are high-GI foods.
Attieke GI
Attieke had a glycaemic index of 63, the only food tested that fell into the medium category.
Glycaemic loads
Attieke, pounded cassava-plantain and pounded yam had high glycaemic loads of 29, 26 and 22. Placali and maize meal stiff porridge had medium loads of 17 and 16.
Other findings
Serving sizes tested
To get 50 g of available carbohydrate, serving sizes were 197.5 g for pounded yam, 317.1 g for placali, 173.9 g for pounded plantain, 231.5 g for maize meal stiff porridge and 108.2 g for attieke.
Daily limits suggested
Based on a daily glycaemic load under 80, the authors suggest limiting daily intake to 1554 g of placali, 500 g of pounded cassava-plantain, 751 g of pounded yam, 207 g of attieke and 313 g of maize meal stiff porridge.
What the authors conclude
“The consumption of attieke agbodjama could minimize postprandial blood glucose spikes, in spite of high GL and potentially have benefit in the management and prevention of some chronic diseases.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the majority of foods tested have a high glycaemic index.
- They conclude that eating attieke could reduce blood sugar spikes after meals and may help manage and prevent some chronic diseases.
- They advise exploring food processing methods that lower the glycaemic index and say more studies on other Ivorian foods are needed.
How it was done
The authors wanted to fill the gap in glycaemic index and glycaemic load data for staple foods in Côte d'Ivoire, because some people, especially those with diabetes, avoid tubers and grains without knowing these values.
Fifty healthy, non-diabetic adults aged 25 to 45 ate 50 g of available carbohydrate from each of five staple foods and from a glucose reference, on separate days. Blood glucose was measured over 2 hours after each meal.
What it can’t tell you
- The study measured blood sugar responses over 2 hours in healthy adults, so it cannot show long-term health effects.
- It did not measure insulin, so it cannot show how these foods affect insulin levels.
- The results may differ with other processing methods, varieties or ripeness of the foods.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Nangui Abrogoua University, Cote D'Ivoire
The paper
- Title
- Glycaemic index and load values tested in normoglycemic adults for five staple foodstuffs: pounded yam, pounded cassava-plantain, placali, attieke and maize meal stiff porridge
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Kouamé AC, Kouassi KN, N'dri YD, Amani NG (2015). Glycaemic index and load values tested in normoglycemic adults for five staple foodstuffs: pounded yam, pounded cassava-plantain, placali, attieke and maize meal stiff porridge. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu7021267Free full textPubMed 25690417DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error