Glycemic Index Helps with Inflammation Levels in Obese People

by | Mar 5, 2012 | 2012, Blood Sugar, Diabetes, Obesity, Pancreatic Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Eating foods that minimize blood sugar changes and help maintain insulin sensitivity may help maintain healthy levels of inflammation in obese people.  Eating foods with low amount of substances that convert quickly to sugar reduced a marker of inflammation by 27%.

The latest statistics from the Center for Disease Control show that 1 in 3 U.S.adults (33.8%) (1) and 1 in 6 U.S.children (17%) are obese, with obesity prevalence in children almost tripling since 1980 (2). In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion. Medical costs for the obese are $1,429 higher than for those of normal weight (1).

The high cost of obesity comes in the form of poor blood sugar control, decreased insulin sensitivity (3) and disrupted hormones, as well as increased levels of inflammation. These conditions all combine to increase the risk for numerous chronic diseases (4), including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes mellitus (5, 6, 7).

Now a new study (8) suggests that a low glycemic diet (eating foods that minimize blood sugar changes and help maintain insulin sensitivity (9)) may help maintain healthy levels of inflammation in obese people. In the study, 40 patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m2 and 42 patients with a Body Mass Index between 28.0 and 40.0 kg/m2 completed two 28-day food intake periods where one period consisted of following a high-Glycemic Index diet and another period consisted of following a low-Glycemic Index diet.

The high-Glycemic Index diet produced a “Glycemic Load” per day of 250, while the low Glycemic-Index diet produced a “Glycemic Load” of 125 per day. The glycemic load of a food is calculated by multiplying the glycemic index by the amount of grams of carbohydrate it contains and dividing that total by 100 (10). Blood samples were obtained at the beginning and end of each intake period.

By the end of the two periods, no differences were seen in the normal BMI group between the low-GI and high-GI diet regarding levels of 3 different inflammatory proteins, c-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (11), interleukin-6 (12), and serum amyloid a (13).  In the high-BMI group, however, there was a 27% decrease in hs-CRP with the low-GL diet compared to the high-GL diet with no significant differences noted with interleukin-6 and serum amyloid a. Previous research has shown hs-CRP to be “highly predictive of future risk of heart attack, stroke, sudden cardiac death, and the development of peripheral arterial disease ” (14). As a result, a low-GL diet can be a simple yet effective way to help maintain heart health.

For the researchers, “Adhering to a low-GL diet may help individuals at risk of obesity-related metabolic dysfunction improve their cardiac health.”

Source: Neuhouser, Marian L., et al. “A low-glycemic load diet reduces serum C-reactive protein and modestly increases adiponectin in overweight and obese adults.” The Journal of nutrition 142.2 (2012): 369-374.

© 2012 American Society for Nutrition

Posted March 5, 2012.

References:

  1.  “Adult Obesity” – see the Centers for Disease Control website.
  2. “Obesity rates among Children in the United States” – see the Centers for Disease Control website.
  3. Shoelson SE, Herrero L, Naaz A. Obesity, inflammation, and insulin resistance. Gastroenterology. 2007;132:2169–80.
  4. Bray GA. Medical consequences of obesity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004;89:2583–9.
  5. Coussens LM, Werb Z. Inflammation and cancer. Nature. 2002;420: 860–7.
  6. Freeman DJ, Norrie J, Caslake MJ, Gaw A, Ford I, Lowe G, O’Reilly DSJ, Packard CJ, Sattar N. C-reactive protein is an independent predictor of risk for the development of diabetes in the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study. Diabetes. 2002;51:1596–600.
  7. Mokdad AH, Ford ES, Bowman BA, Dietz WH, Vinicor F, Bales VS, Marks JS. Prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and obesity-related health risk factors. JAMA. 2003;289:76–9.
  8. Neuhouser ML. A Low-Glycemic Load Diet Reduces Serum C-Reactive Protein and Modestly Increases Adiponectin in Overweight and Obese Adults. J.Nutr. 142: 369–374, 2012.
  9.  “Glycemic Index and Diabetes” – see the American Diabetes Association website.
  10. “Glycemic Load” – see the Oregon State University, Linus Pauling Institute website.
  11. Ridker PM C-Reactive Protein: A Simple Test to Help Predict Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke Circulation. 2003; 108: e81-e85 doi: 10.1161/​01.CIR.0000093381.57779.67.
  12. Heinrich PC. Principles of interleukin (IL)-6-type cytokine signaling and its regulation. Biochem J 2003 Aug 15;374(Pt 1):1-20.
  13. Rosenthal CJ.  Serum Amyloid A: Evidence for its origins in polymorphonucelar leukocytes. J Clin Invest 1978; 62(6): 1181-1186.
  14. Ridker PM. C-Reactive Protein: A Simple Test to Help Predict Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke. Circulation. 2003; 108: e81-e85 doi: 10.1161/​01.CIR.0000093381.57779.67.