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

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.

Association between the dietary inflammatory index and obesity in otherwise healthy adults: Role of age and sex.

AIM: The dietary inflammatory index (DII® ) can estimate the overall inflammatory potential of diet. This study aimed to assess the association between DII score and other diet quality parameters with weight status among normal weight, overweight and obese otherwise healthy adults. METHODS: This retrospective observational study investigated DII, energy-adjusted DII (E-DIITM ), dietary energy density (DED) and mean adequacy ratio (MAR) scores, based on a valid 168-item food frequency questionnaire, in 100 normal weight, 100 overweight and 100 obese healthy adults (age > 18yr). RESULTS: Normal-weight participants had higher DII scores than obese participants (mean difference (MD): 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.004 - 1.33, P = .048). Body mass index (BMI) had an effect on DII score after adjusting for age (P = .03). A statistically significant interaction was observed between BMI and age on E-DII (P = .03) and MAR (P = .004). E-DII scores were lower (more anti-inflammatory) and MAR was higher with increasing age in the obese compared with normal-weight participants. Additionally, male participants had higher DII (MD: -0.53, 95% CI: -0.97 - -0.09, P = .02), E-DII (MD: -0.76, 95% CI: -1.12 - -0.35, P < .001), DED (MD: -0.09, 95% CI: -0.15 - -0.03, P = .004) and lower MAR (MD: 0.04, 95% CI: 0.02 - 0.06, P = .001), after adjusting for BMI. Obesity (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.26 - 0.91, P = .02) and DED (AOR =5.81, 95% CI: 2.28 - 14.81, P < .001) were the most important factors associated with high DII. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that having a normal body weight is not necessarily indicative of less inflammatory potential of diet and better diet quality. Male sex and increasing age were important determinants of diet quality across BMI subgroups.

The efficacy of sour tea (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) on selected cardiovascular disease risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

This study sought to summarize clinical evidence of sour tea (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) administration on cardiovascular disease risk factors. PubMed, Scopus, Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science, and Google Scholar were systematically searched from inception to June 2019 to identify randomized clinical trials, which assessed the effect of sour tea consumption on lipid profiles, fasting plasma glucose, and blood pressure in adult populations. Mean and standard deviation for each parameter were extracted to calculate effect size. Cochrane Collaboration tools were used to evaluate risk of bias assessment. A total of seven randomized clinical trials consisting 362 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled effect size demonstrated that sour tea consumption significantly reduces fasting plasma glucose (-3.67 mg/dl, 95% confidence interval, CI [-7.07, -0.27]; I2 = 37%), systolic blood pressure (-4.71 mmHg, 95% CI [-7.87, -1.55]; I2 = 53%), and diastolic blood pressure (-4.08 mmHg, 95% CI [-6.48, -1.67]; I2 = 14%). Although no significant effect was observed on triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol following sour tea consumption, a trend toward a significant reduction was found in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol serum concentrations (p = 0.08). This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that sour tea consumption could have beneficial effect in controlling glycemic status and blood pressure among adult population.

Dietary inflammatory index and parameters of diet quality in normal weight and obese patients undergoing hemodialysis.

OBJECTIVE: Better nutritional reserves are proposed as a mechanism for the protective role of obesity in hemodialysis. Little is known about the quality of diet as a major contributor to nutritional status, specifically body mass index and obesity. The aim of this study was to assess dietary inflammatory index (DII®) score and other parameters of diet in normal-weight and obese patients undergoing hemodialysis to understand whether there is a benefit for obese patients. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 85 hemodialysis patients (44 obese and 41 normal-weight). Four-day 24-h dietary recalls and anthropometric measurements were collected. DII, energy-adjusted DII (E-DII), dietary energy density (DED), mean adequacy ratio (MAR), and malnutrition inflammation score (MIS) were calculated. RESULTS: Median E-DII score (1 [0.29-1.47] versus 0.42 [0.12-1.27]; P = 0.047) was higher and DII score (1.18 [0.03-2.26] versus 1.79 [0.47-2.49]; P = 0.046) was lower in the obese group. Obese patients had higher DED (1.52 ± 0.23 versus 1.43 ± 0.28; P = 0.034) and lower MIS (6.3 ± 2.5 versus 10.5 ± 3.1; P < 0.001) compared with the normal weight group. There was no significant difference in MAR between groups (P = 0.358). E-DII had significant positive correlation with weight (r = 0.226; P = 0.037), triceps skinfold thickness (r = 0.239; P = 0.035), and DED (r = 0.227; P = 0.036). MAR had significant negative correlation with MIS (r = -0.287; P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Observed higher diet inflammatory potential and energy density and lower wasting in the obese group, along with similar adequacy of nutrients intake between groups, indicates that lower wasting, but not other indicators of nutritional status, are involved in better prognosis of obese patients with hemodialysis. Further studies are required to assess the potential dietary factors involved in determining wasting in advanced kidney failure.

Healthy Eating Index/Alternative Healthy Eating Index and Breast Cancer Mortality and Survival: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. The effects of overall diet quality instead of single nutrients after breast cancer diagnosis on mortality have been a growing area of research interest. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the relationship between the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)/the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) and risk of breast cancer mortality or survival rates as a primary outcome, and some related inflammatory factors, as secondary outcomes among postdiagnosed women. METHODS: This study methodology was performed based on the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis statement recommendation and had been registered at PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42015015605). The systematic search was conducted in the electronic databases including PubMed, ISI, Scopus, Cochrane, and Google before July 2016. Researches that had not reported risk of breast cancer mortality or survival rates separately were excluded from the study. Similarly, this review excluded studies which only had examined the HEI or AHEI without reporting their association with the risk of mortality or survival rates. RESULTS: After primary search, of 643 studies identified, 4 studies including eligible criteria were selected for the final assessment. All selected studies had been conducted in the USA and used self-report food-frequency questionnaire for diet quality assessment. In two studies HEI-2005, in one study AHEI, and in another study AHEI-2010 were applied. Meta-analysis result showed no significant association between these indexes and risk of breast cancer mortality/survival among women with this malignancy [relative risk: (RR) 1.04; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.69-1.56; P = 0.87]. CONCLUSIONS: Regarding the adherence HEI/AHEI, we found no association between mentioned indexes and risk of mortality or survival from breast cancer in women with breast cancer. However, evidence in this field is limited and inconsistence and further studies are needed.