Whole grains are those that contain intact cereal germ, endosperm, and bran. Whole grain intake is associated with a variety of beneficial health effects. In large epidemiological studies, whole grain intake is associated with lower body mass index (BMI) [
1], and lower incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease [
2,
3], and colorectal cancer [
4]. Likewise, legume consumption is associated with a reduction in the incidence of type


2 diabetes [
5] and, in small prospective intervention studies, with increased glucose tolerance and improved lipemia [
6]. One of the mechanisms that may be responsible for the beneficial effects of whole grain and legume consumption is their ability to lower postprandial glucose and insulin responses which, in turn, has effects on hepatic and lipid metabolism [
7]. Although the ability of certain whole grains and legumes to lower postprandial glycemia is well documented [
8,
9], little attention has been given to the subsequent meal effect of whole grain and legume ingestion. The subsequent or second meal effect is the ability of whole grains and legumes to lower postprandial glycemia not only after the meal at which they are consumed but also at a subsequent meal later in the day or even on the following day. This effect could be useful for blood glucose control in diabetic patients but could also confound insulin dosing regimens by causing an uncalculated or unexpected decrease in insulin requirements at the subsequent meal.
Whole grains and legumes are a collection of different foods with differing structural and physicochemical properties. The amount of insoluble fiber, resistant starch, phytochemicals, granule size, porosity, the interaction of starch and protein within the structural matrix, and other bioactive compounds differs amongst different whole grains and legumes so it is important to examine the effect of different foods on day-long glycemia. Also, given these different properties, it is possible that different whole grains and legumes could possess distinctly different mechanisms of action with regard to the subsequent meal effect. These ideas will be explored in this review, the purpose of which is to describe the subsequent meal effect as it pertains to consumption of whole grains and legumes, discuss the implications for blood glucose control on long-term health, and examine the possible mechanisms whereby whole grains and legumes exert this effect. This is a comprehensive review that utilized all literature examining the subsequent meal effect found using the following search strategy: whole grain plus fermentation or glycemia or insulinemia or (meal and lunch) or (meal and dinner) or (breakfast and lunch) or (dinner and breakfast). If a paper was found that studied any form of whole grain and glycemia at a subsequent meal, it was included. No studies that met this criterion were excluded for any reason.