The association of dietary insulin load and dietary insulin index with body composition among professional soccer players and referees

Abstract

BackgroundThere has been limited research undertaken about the association of dietary insulin load (DIL) and dietary insulin index (DII) with body composition in non-athletic adults, however, to the best of our knowledge No previous study has investigated such an association in an athletic population.PurposeThe aim of this study was to explore the association of DII and DIL with body compositions in male and female soccer players and referees.MethodsThe cross-sectional study was conducted on 199 professional male and female soccer players and referees. A 147-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was adopted to congregate the participants’ dietary data. Body composition was measured using InBody to gain a detailed understanding of fat mass, percent body fat (PBF), lean mass, percent muscle mass (PMM), and bone mineral content (BMC). Waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were obtained from all participants. Other body composition parameters include a body shape index (ABSI), abdominal volume index (AVI), body adiposity index (BAI), body roundness index (BRI), conicity index (CI), weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and waist-to-hip-to-height ratio (WHHR) were calculated using a particular defined formula.ResultsResults of multiple linear regression revealed that there is a significant association between DIL and BMI (P = 0.04) in < 18 male soccer players, CI (P = 0.04) and WWI (P = 0.03) in ≥ 18 female soccer players, PBF (P = 0.02), PMM (P = 0.01) and WWI (P = 0.01) in ≥ 18 female soccer players. Nevertheless, no significant associations between DIL and body composition parameters were found in the referees. Additionally, there is a significant association between DII and BMC (P = 0.02) in male soccer referees, however, no significant associations were found in young soccer players and female athletes.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that DIL is positively associated with BMI, CI, and WWI in male soccer players and PBF, and WWI in female soccer players. Although, there was an observed negative association between DIL and PMM in females. In addition, a significant negative association between DII and BMC was observed in male soccer players.