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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #260956
Title: Dietary carbohydrates and cardiovascular disease risk factors in the Framingham Offspring Cohort

Author
item MCKEOWN, NICOLA - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item MEIGS, JAMES - Massachusetts General Hospital
item LIU, SIMIN - University Of California
item ROGERS, GAIL - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item YOSHIDA, MAKIKO - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item SALTZMAN, EDWARD - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item JACQUES, PAUL - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University

Submitted to: Journal of American College of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/20/2007
Publication Date: 8/20/2009
Citation: Mckeown, N.M., Meigs, J.B., Liu, S., Rogers, G., Yoshida, M., Saltzman, E., Jacques, P.F. 2009. Dietary carbohydrates and cardiovascular disease risk factors in the Framingham Offspring Cohort. Journal of American College of Nutrition. 28(2):150-158.

Interpretive Summary: Glycemic index (GI) is a measure that ranks foods on the basis of the glucose response of a test food relative to a reference food (white bread or glucose) for a given amount of carbohydrate. Dietary carbohydrates that produce low post-prandial glucose response, as reflected by their low GI, have been hypothesized to improve glucose and insulin control and reduce type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between total carbohydrate intake and dietary GI, and individual CVD risk factors, and our hypothesis was that higher dietary GI diets were unfavorably associated with several CVD factors. We examined these associations in a sample of 2,941 Framingham Offspring Participants. CVD risk factors include waist, blood pressure, lipids, fasting insulin, fasting glucose, and the insulin sensitivity index (ISI0,120). Dietary GI was positively associated with fasting triglycerides, fasting insulin, and inversely associated with HDL cholesterol and ISI0,120. Intakes of total carbohydrate were inversely associated with waist circumference and HDL cholesterol, and positively associated with fasting triglycerides. These findings support the hypothesis that a high GI diet unfavorably affects CVD risk factors and therefore, substitution of high with low GI dietary carbohydrates may reduce the risk of CVD.

Technical Abstract: Evidence from observational studies has suggested that carbohydrate quality rather than absolute intake is associated with greater risk of chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between carbohydrate intake and dietary glycemic index and several cardiovascular disease risk factors. We examined cross-sectional associations between total carbohydrate and dietary glycemic index (GI) intakes and several cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a sample of 2,941 Framingham Offspring Participants. CVD risk factors included waist, blood pressure, lipids, fasting insulin, fasting glucose, and the insulin sensitivity index (ISI0,120). Dietary intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and categorized by quintiles of dietary intake. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, dietary GI was positively associated with fasting triglycerides (mean: 115mg/dL in the lowest and 127 mg/dL in the highest quintile of intake; P for trend <0.001), fasting insulin (26.8 and 28.9 u/mL, respectively, P for trend <0.0001), and inversely associated with HDL cholesterol (49 and 47 mg/dL, respectively, P for trend 0.003) and ISI0,120 (26.8 and 25.1, P for trend <0.001). There was no significant relationship between dietary GI and waist circumference, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and fasting glucose. Intakes of total carbohydrate were inversely associated with waist circumference and HDL cholesterol, and positively associated with fasting triglycerides. These cross-sectional findings support the hypothesis that a high GI diet unfavorably affects CVD risk factors and therefore, substitution of high with low GI dietary carbohydrates may reduce the risk of CVD.