Dietary glycemic load and risk of coronary heart disease

January 01, 0001

Dietary glycemic load and risk of coronary heart disease

The present EPICOR study investigated the association of glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GLL with coronary heart disease (CHD) in a large and heterogeneous cohort of Italian men and women originally recruited to the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. Participants were 47,749 volunteers (15,171 men and 32,578 women) who completed a dietary questionnaire. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards modeling estimated adjusted relative risks (RR) of CHD.

They found: "During a median of 7.9 years of follow-up, 463 CHD cases (158 women and 305 men) were identified. Women in the highest carbohydrate intake quartile had a significantly greater risk of CHD than did those in the lowest quartile (RR 2.00), with no association found in men. Increasing carbohydrate intake from high-GI foods was also significantly associated with greater risk of CHD in women (RR 1.68), whereas increasing the intake of low- GI carbohydrates was not. Women in the highest GL quartile had a significantly greater risk of CHD than did those in the lowest quartile (RR 2.24), with no significant association in men."

The authors concluded: "In this Italian cohort, high dietary GL and carbohydrate intake from high-GI foods increase the overall risk of CHD in women but not men."

Men had an overall higher risk of CHD in this population and most likely are disproportionately exposed to other CHD risk factors, smoking for example.

For the full abstract, click here.

Arch Intern Med 170(7):640-647, 12 April 2010 © 2010 to the American Medical Association
Dietary Glycemic Load and Index and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in a Large Italian Cohort-The EPICOR Study. Sabina Sieri, Vittorio Krogh, Franco Berrino, et al. Correspondence to Dr. Krogh: [email protected]

Category: T. Endocrine/Metabolic/Nutritional, K. Circulatory. Keywords: glycemic index, glycemic load, diet, coronary heart disease, cohort study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 27 April 2010 2010

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

COVID-19 Resources

WONCA webinars, journal links and more

WONCA position statements

WONCA statements on a variety of issues

PEARLS

577 Individual behavioural counselling helps people to quit smoking 575 Antioxidant vitamin and mineral supplements may be beneficial in age-related macular degeneration 574 Oral antifungals effective for toenail onychomycosis 570 Decision aids beneficial for people facing health treatment or screening decisions 569 Computer-generated reminders on paper benefit quality of care