Abstract MP064: Dietary Contributors to Glycemic load in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study

Abstract

Glycemic load (GL) is a measure that incorporates both the quality (i.e., glycemic index) and quantity of dietary carbohydrate and is a measure of the overall glycemic impact of the diet. In observational studies, high-GL diets have been associated with a greater prevalence of multiple coronary heart disease risk factors, including type 2 diabetes, overweight/obesity, dyslipidemia, inflammation, and abnormal blood clotting. To begin to develop interventions to reduce dietary GL, it is necessary to identify the major contributors to GL at the population level. We studied contributors to GL in 21,636 participants in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study (7074 white men, 2472 black men, 7287 white women, and 4803 black women) whose mean (SD) age was 64.9 (9.3) years at baseline (2003-2007). Mean daily GL, as well as individual carbohydrate food and food group contributors to GL, were determined for each participant using intake data from the Block 1998 semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline. Mean (SD) daily GL was 107.1 (44.1), 115.0 (53.8), 89.9 (40.6), and 100.0 (49.6) g/d in white men, black men, white women, and black women, respectively. Sugar-sweetened beverages was the main carbohydrate food group contributing to GL in both black men and women and were important contributors to GL in white men and women (Figure). Regular soft drinks in particular were the leading individual carbohydrate contributor to GL in black men (4.0 median % of daily GL). The main carbohydrate food group contributing to GL in both white men and women was breads. Dark breads were the leading individual carbohydrate contributors to GL in white men, white women, and black women (2.7, 3.2, and 2.4 median % of daily GL, respectively). Sugar-sweetened beverages were a major contributor to dietary GL in this sample of US adults, especially in blacks. Decreasing the consumption of these beverages should be considered in future interventions to reduce dietary GL.