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Research: LIU, WILLETT and colleagu
Listed in Issue 58
Abstract
LIU, WILLETT and colleagues, Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition, the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA. simin.liu@channing.harvard.edu conducted a study to evaluate the relationship between dietary glycaemic load, carbohydrate intake and risk of coronary heart disease in US women.
Background
Little is known about the effects of the amount and type of carbohydrates on the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Thus the objective of the authors was to prospectively evaluate the relations of the amount and type of carbohydrates with risk of CHD.
Methodology
A cohort of 75521 women (38-63 years) with no previous diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, myocardial infarction, angina, stroke or other cardiovascular diseases in 1984 was followed for 10 years. Each participants dietary glycemic load was calculated as a function of glycemic index, carbohydrate content and frequency of intake of individual foods reported on a validated food-frequency questionnaire at baseline. All dietary variables were updated in 1986 and 1990.
Results
During 10 years of follow up (729472 person-years), 761 cases of CHD (208 fatal and 553 nonfatal) were documented. Dietary glycemic load was directly associated with risk of CHD after adjustment for age, smoking status, total energy intake and other coronary disease risk factors. The relative risks from the lowest to the highest quintiles of glycemic load were 1.00. 1.01, 1.25, 1.51 and 1.98. Carbohydrate classified by glycemic index as opposed to its traditional classification as either simple or complex was a better predictor of CHD risk. The association between dietary glycemic load and CHD risk was the most evident among women with body weights above average i.e. body mass index (in kg/m(2)) >/23.
Conclusion
The authors concluded that these epidemiological data suggest that a high dietary glycemic load from refined carbohydrates increases the risk of CHD, independent of known coronary disease risk factors.
References
Liu S, Willett WC et al. A prospective study of dietary glycemic load, carbohydrate intake and risk of coronary heart disease in US women. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 71(6): 1455-61. Jun 2000.
