Therese Hjorth at Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Life Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. in the Department of Food Science, focusing on carbohydrate quality and its impact on health.
In one of the studies, Therese evaluated whether the glycemic index (GI) plays a role when following a healthy diet. She found that a low-GI diet improved postprandial blood sugar control compared to a high-GI diet in people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes who followed a Mediterranean diet. The low-GI diet also contributed to smaller fluctuations in blood sugar. The study clearly shows that one should choose low-GI foods even when eating a healthy diet.
Another exciting finding was that different individuals exhibit different patterns in their blood sugar response after eating the same meal. This was linked to both the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and the composition of gut bacteria, as well as carbohydrate quality and its impact on health.
Read Therese’s entire doctoral thesis here.