Relative Carbohydrate Intake Casually Associated with Lower Risk of Hypertension

by | Jan 18, 2024 | 2023, Blood Pressure, Cardiovascular Health

Written by Taylor Woosley, Staff Writer. Data from meta-analyses of multivariable mendelian randomization estimates show that each one-standard deviation higher relative carbohydrate intake was associated with a 71% lower risk of hypertension. 

blood pressureHypertension, also known as high blood pressure, arises when the body’s smaller blood vessels narrow, causing the blood to exert excessive pressure against the vessel walls, forcing the heart to worker harder to maintain the pressure1. It is the leading preventable risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality worldwide2. Hypertension affects at least 1.13 billion people worldwide and is a key factor for disability-adjusted years globally3.

Following a healthy diet plays an important role in the prevention and management of hypertension4. A cross-sectional study found that high-carbohydrate intake was associated with hypertension through increased inflammatory markers5. Furthermore, research suggests an association between low carbohydrate intake and a reduction in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure6.

Ye et al. conducted a two-step, two-sample mendelian randomization (MR) study to analyze the bidirectional association between carbohydrate intake and hypertension. Additionally, they investigated the mediating effects of psychological well-being and adiposity in the association pathway. The two analysis phases consisted of performing uni-variable MR (UVMR) and multivariable MR (MVMR) to assess the association between carbohydrate intake and hypertension. Then, a two-step MR was applied to assess whether psychological well-being indicators and adiposity traits play a causal role in the mediating pathway between carbohydrate intake and hypertension.

Data used in the study was from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) featuring European-descent participants from large-scale studies. Macronutrient intake from GWAS data was obtained from the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (SSGAC) of 268,922 subjects that completed comprehensive food-item questionnaires. Potential mediators included five psychological well-being indicators and five adiposity traits. GWAS data for well-being indicators were from a model-averaging genome-wide association meta-analysis of 1,295,946 participants from the SSGAC, Understanding Society, UK Biobank, 23 and Me, and Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Consortium.

GWAS data on major depressive disorder was from 500,199 subjects from the Psychiatric Genomic Consortium. GWAS data for BMI, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC) were from the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits Consortium. Body fat percentage GWAS data was obtained from the UK Biobank of 454,633 participants. GWAS hypertension data were from the FinnGen Study (n=42,857 with hypertension, n=162,837 without hypertension) and the UK Biobank (n=77,723).

UVMR analysis was utilized to assess the total causal effects of relative carbohydrate intake, protein intake, and fat intake on hypertension, along with the causal effect of hypertension on relative carbohydrate intake. MVMR was performed to investigate the independent causal effect on relative carbohydrate intake on hypertension with adjustment for other macronutrient intakes that had a casual effect on hypertension. Significant findings of the study are as follows:

  • Each one-standard deviation (SD) increase in genetically determined carbohydrate intake and protein intake, but not fat intake, was casually associated with a lower risk of hypertension in UVMR.
  • Each one-SD increase in genetically determined relative carbohydrate intake was associated with improved psychological well-being and life satisfaction, lower levels of neuroticism and depressive symptoms, a lower MDD risk, along with less adiposity, lower levels of BMI, WHR, WC, HC, and body fat percentage.
  • In MVMR, with adjustment for relative carbohydrate intake, positive affect and life satisfaction were associated with a lower risk of hypertension, while neuroticism, depressive symptoms, and MDD were associated with a higher risk of hypertension.

Results of the mendelian randomization study show a protective effect of higher relative carbohydrate intake on risk of hypertension. Furthermore, improved psychological well-being was associated with a lower risk of hypertension. Further research focused on the effects of specific carbohydrates is necessary to better comprehend the favorable effect of higher carbohydrate intake on hypertension.

Source: Ye, Chaojie, Lijie Kong, Yiying Wang, Chun Dou, Min Xu, Jie Zheng, Ruizhi Zheng et al. “Causal Effect of Relative Carbohydrate Intake on Hypertension through Psychological Well-Being and Adiposity: A Mendelian Randomization Study.” Nutrients 15, no. 22 (2023): 4817.

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Posted January 18, 2024.

Taylor Woosley studied biology at Purdue University before becoming a 2016 graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a major in Writing. She currently resides in Glen Ellyn, IL.

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