The Effect of Dairy and Non-dairy Alternatives on Satiety and Post-meal Glycemia in Healthy Young Adults

Regular consumption of dairy is associated with better body composition and lower incidences of type 2 diabetes and obesity. This may be due to dairy's ability to increase satiety and decrease post-prandial glycemia. However, most clinical studies have only investigated isolated dairy proteins (whey and casein) and the effects of whole dairy products remains unclear. Additionally, as non-dairy alternatives are becoming more popular there is interest to see if they can elicit similar benefits as dairy. Therefore, this study will test the effects of commercially-available dairy and non-dairy beverages when consumed with cereal at breakfast time.

Thirty healthy young males and females (20-30 years, BMI 20.0-24.9 kg/m2) will be recruited for the randomized, unblinded, crossover study. Participants will fast overnight, and at baseline will consume 250 mL of 1% milk, soy beverage, almond beverage, yogurt beverage, or water with 54 g of Cheerios cereal. At 0 (baseline), 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 120 minutes (pre-meal period) 140, and 170 minutes (post-meal period) blood will be collected for glucose analysis and subjective appetite ratings completed. Insulin will be analyzed every 30 minutes and for the last two timepoints. Between 120-140 minutes, an ad libitum lunch will be provided to assess food intake.

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy BMI (20.0 - 24.9 kg/m2)
• Females with regular monthly menstrual cycles

Exclusion criteria

• Diabetes
• Fasting blood glucose higher than 5.8 mmol/L
• Pregnancy
• Medications
• Smoking
• Lactose intolerance or allergies to milk, soy, or almonds
• Elite athletes
• Those trying to lose or gain weight
• Breakfast skippers and those on an energy-restricted diet
• Score equal to or higher than 11 on Eating Habits Questionnaire