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The relationship between low-carbohydrate diet score, dietary insulin index and load with obesity in healthy adults

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Abstract

Purpose

Carbohydrate intake and insulinemic potential of diet are suggested to be correlated with the development of different chronic diseases. Considering the limited research on obesity, this study aimed to investigate the association of dietary insulin index (DII), dietary insulin load (DIL), and low-carbohydrate diet score (LCDS) with body weight and obesity in healthy adults.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, DII, DIL, and LCDS were calculated using relevant formulas based on dietary intakes obtained by a valid 168-item food frequency questionnaire, in 393 otherwise healthy adults of either normal-weight, overweight, or obese.

Results

Individuals in the highest tertile of DIL and DII had respectively 73% (OR: 0.27, 95% CI 0.08–0.94, p = 0.049) and 50% (OR: 0.5, 95% CI 0.26–0.96, p = 0.038) lower odds of being overweight compared to the lowest tertile, after adjusting the effects of age, sex, and dietary energy intake. Participants in the highest tertile of DIL had 92% greater odds of being obese compared to the lowest tertile, but this association did not remain significant after adjusting the effect of energy intake. Individuals in the highest tertile of LCDS had about 2 times odds of being overweight compared with those in the lowest tertile (OR: 2.04, 95% CI 1.04–4.01, p = 0.049). There was no relationship between being obese and tertiles of LCDS.

Conclusion

Higher dietary carbohydrate intake and insulinemic potential of diet could not be considered independent dietary risk factors for overweight or obesity.

Level of evidence

Level III: evidence obtained from an observational study.

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Data availability

The dataset of the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences & Health Services with the grant 41175.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition & Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Razieh Karimbeiki

  2. Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, No#44, Hojjatdoust St., Naderi St., Keshavarz Blvd, Tehran, 14155-6117, Iran

    Razieh Karimbeiki, Zahra Namkhah, Elham Alipoor & Mohammad Javad Hosseinzadeh-Attar

  3. Cardiac Primary Prevention Research Center, Cardiovascular Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Elham Alipoor & Mohammad Javad Hosseinzadeh-Attar

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mehdi Yaseri

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  1. Razieh Karimbeiki
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  2. Zahra Namkhah
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Contributions

EA and MJHA contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were done by RK, ZN, EA, and MY. ZN and EA prepared the draft of the manuscript and MY and MJHA have commented on and finalized it. MJHA supervised the study.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Javad Hosseinzadeh-Attar.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Research involving human participants and/or animals

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics committee of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

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Karimbeiki, R., Namkhah, Z., Alipoor, E. et al. The relationship between low-carbohydrate diet score, dietary insulin index and load with obesity in healthy adults. Eat Weight Disord 27, 3341–3350 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-022-01464-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-022-01464-w

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