**5. Conclusions**

This study demonstrated that adding aqueous extracts of corn silk, cumin, and tamarind at dietary doses, in two separate forms, to a high-GI rice consisting of approximately 50 g of available carbohydrates in healthy volunteers conferred no additional benefits on postprandial glycemia or insulinemia. Our randomized, controlled clinical trial findings are insightful and advantageous in that these ingredients are traditionally believed in Asia to be beneficial in reducing the risk of diabetes, although to date, the majority of the previous evidence supporting these claims had been undertaken in animals, most often at relatively high doses. Some of the limitations of this study were the acute nature of the study design, the limited number of postprandial parameters being measured, and the fact that this study was undertaken in a cohort of healthy, normoglycemic, non-diabetic individuals. While other longer-term beneficial e ffects (e.g., anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, etc.) of the test ingredients in a population with a compromised glucose homeostasis (e.g., type 2 diabetics) cannot be ruled out, this study highlights the need for more controlled clinical trials in the future before specific claims are assumed regarding the specific benefits of traditional ingredients. Finally, this study also highlights the importance of the food form on postprandial insulinemia, in that phytochemical-rich ingredients in liquid forms (e.g., soups and beverages) may elicit greater postprandial insulinemic response than when consumed within a solid meal. Therefore, future applications of our study findings include the manipulation of food forms via various food consumption, preparation, and processing methods, in order to improve the metabolic consequences of certain foods and/or composited dishes.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, S.H., L.G., and C.J.H.; methodology, S.H., L.G., S.P., and S.L.T.; statistical software, S.P.; validation, S.H., L.G., and S.P.; formal analysis, S.H., L.G., and S.P.; investigation, S.H., L.G., and S.L.T.; resources, S.H., L.G., and S.L.T.; data curation, S.H., L.G., and S.P.; writing—original draft preparation, S.H. and L.G.; writing—review and editing, S.H, L.G., S.L.T., and C.J.H.; visualization, S.P. and S.L.T.; supervision, S.H.; project administration, S.H., C.J.H.; funding acquisition, C.J.H.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore, and the APC was funded by the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore.

**Acknowledgments:** We thank Joseph Lim, Sze Han Lee, and Susanna Lim Poh Suan for their technical assistance. We thank all volunteers for taking part in this study.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
