Gellan gum in white rice and blood sugar
What it found
In 12 healthy adults, white rice cooked with gellan gum gave a lower blood sugar rise after eating than the same rice cooked without it.
The authors say this could be a simple, low-cost way to soften the blood sugar spike from white rice, if confirmed.
What they found
Studies in people
Blood sugar response
The two-hour blood glucose response was lower for the rice cooked with gellan gum (93 ± 16 mmol/L·min) than for the plain rice (160 ± 18 mmol/L·min).
Peak blood glucose
Blood glucose peaked 30 minutes after eating. The plain rice meal peaked at 7.3 ± 0.2 mmol/L, higher than the gellan gum meal at 6.5 ± 0.2 mmol/L.
Rice in the stomach
MRI scans showed that with the gellan gum, several separate rice boluses stayed in the stomach throughout the digestion time.
Appetite
There were no significant differences in appetite between the two meals.
What the authors conclude
“The addition of LAGG to the cooking process was effective in reducing postprandial blood glucose responses in healthy humans.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that adding low acyl gellan gum to the cooking process reduced the blood sugar response after eating in healthy people.
- They say that if confirmed, this could potentially provide a simple and relatively inexpensive intervention to reduce the post prandial glycemic response to white rice.
How it was done
White rice has a high glycemic index, and eating it has been linked to a higher risk of type-2 diabetes, diabetes-related complications and obesity. Earlier lab work by the same group suggested that adding food hydrocolloids such as low acyl gellan gum when cooking white rice might change how starch is digested, but this had not been tested in people.
After lab characterisation of the gum, 12 healthy adults took part in a randomised, controlled, crossover study. They ate equal-calorie meals of jasmine white rice (232 kcal) cooked with and without 3 % w/dry rice weight of low acyl gellan gum. Blood glucose, how the meal appeared and sat in the stomach, meal volume and appetite were measured repeatedly for 2 hours.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This was a small study of 12 healthy adults, so the results may not apply to other people, such as those with diabetes.
- It only looked at one meal and two hours afterwards, so it cannot show what happens with regular long-term eating.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
- Authors work at
- University of Nottingham, UK; Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and University of Nottingham, UK; Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
The paper
- Title
- Structuring white rice with gellan gum reduces the glycemic response in healthy humans
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Alshammari NA, Riches K, Muttakin S, et al (2024). Structuring white rice with gellan gum reduces the glycemic response in healthy humans. Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.). doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2024.115090PubMed 39614504DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error