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Relationship of three different types of low-carbohydrate diet to cardiometabolic risk factors in a Japanese population: the INTERMAP/INTERLIPID Study

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Abstract

Purpose

Low-carbohydrate diets (LCD) are a popular dietary strategy for weight reduction. The effects of LCD on long-term outcome vary depending on type of LCD, possibly due to the fact that effects on cardiometabolic risk factors may vary with different types of LCD. Accordingly, we studied these relations.

Methods

We assessed serum concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol, glycated hemoglobin, and uric acid, and nutrient intakes by standardized methods in men and women ages 40–59 years from four population samples of Japanese in Japan (553 men and 544 women, combined). For people consuming usual, animal-based, and plant-based LCDs, we calculated LCD scores, based on relative level of fat, protein, and carbohydrate, by modifying the methods of Halton et al. Instead of calculating scores based on animal or vegetable fat, we used saturated fatty acids (SFA) or monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) + polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).

Results

In multivariate regression analyses with adjustment for site, age, sex, BMI, smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, and years of education, all three LCD scores were significantly positively related to HDLc (all P < 0.001), but not to LDLc. The plant-based LCD score was significantly inversely related to log CRP (coefficient = −0.010, P = 0.018).

Conclusions

All three LCD scores were significantly positively related to HDLc. The plant-based LCD score was significantly inversely related to CRP. Carbohydrate intake below 50 % of total energy with higher intakes of vegetable protein and MUFA + PUFA, and lower intakes of SFA may be favorable for reducing cardiometabolic risk factors.

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Acknowledgments

The INTERMAP/INTERLIPID Study has been accomplished through the fine work of staff at local, national, and international centers. We thank Dr. Robert D. Abbott, Shiga University of Medical Science for pertinent suggestions on statistical analyses. A partial listing of colleagues is in the acknowledgement of Ref. [15]. This study was supported in part by a grant-in-aid of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research: (A) 090357003, (C)17590563 and (C)19590655 in Japan and the Suntory Company; the Pacific Research Institute is supported by the Robert Perry Fund and the Hawaii Community Foundation. The INTERMAP Hawaii Center was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health (Grant 5-RO1-HL54868-03). The INTERMAP Study is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, U.S.A. (Grant 2-RO1-HL50490), as well as national and local agencies in the four countries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Ryukoku University, 1-5 Yokotani, Seta Oe-cho, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, 520-2194, Japan

    Yasuyuki Nakamura

  2. Department of Health Science, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan

    Yasuyuki Nakamura, Hirotsugu Ueshima, Katsuyuki Miura & Naoko Miyagawa

  3. Department of Health and Nutrition, University of Human Arts and Sciences, Saitama, Japan

    Nagako Okuda

  4. Tsuruga City University of Nursing, Tsuruga, Japan

    Yoshikuni Kita

  5. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan

    Katsushi Yoshita

  6. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Kanazawa Medical University, Ishikawa, Japan

    Hideaki Nakagawa

  7. Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Iwate, Japan

    Kiyomi Sakata

  8. School of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan

    Shigeyuki Saitoh

  9. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Tomonori Okamura

  10. Research Center for Lifestyle-Related Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

    Akira Okayama

  11. Department of Epidemiology and Research, National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Sohel R. Choudhry

  12. John A Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Beatriz Rodriguez & Kamal H. Masaki

  13. Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Queenie Chan & Paul Elliott

  14. Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Jeremiah Stamler

Authors
  1. Yasuyuki Nakamura
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  2. Hirotsugu Ueshima
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  3. Nagako Okuda
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  4. Katsuyuki Miura
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  5. Yoshikuni Kita
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  6. Naoko Miyagawa
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  7. Katsushi Yoshita
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  8. Hideaki Nakagawa
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  9. Kiyomi Sakata
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  10. Shigeyuki Saitoh
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  11. Tomonori Okamura
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  12. Akira Okayama
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  13. Sohel R. Choudhry
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  14. Beatriz Rodriguez
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  15. Kamal H. Masaki
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  16. Queenie Chan
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  17. Paul Elliott
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  18. Jeremiah Stamler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yasuyuki Nakamura.

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Nakamura, Y., Ueshima, H., Okuda, N. et al. Relationship of three different types of low-carbohydrate diet to cardiometabolic risk factors in a Japanese population: the INTERMAP/INTERLIPID Study. Eur J Nutr 55, 1515–1524 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-0969-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-0969-z

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