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Dietary glycaemic index and insulin index in association with incident type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2025

Peyman Sarsangi
Affiliation:
Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Mohammadi
Affiliation:
Food Health Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran
Azadeh Nadjarzadeh
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Food Security Research Center, Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
Amin Salehi-Abargouei*
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Food Security Research Center, Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran Yazd Cardiovascular Research Center, Non-communicable Diseases Research Institute, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
Ahmad Esmaillzadeh*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular-Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Food Security Research Center, Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Masoud Mirzaei
Affiliation:
Yazd Cardiovascular Research Center, Non-communicable Diseases Research Institute, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
*
Corresponding authors: Amin Salehi-Abargouei; Emails: abargouei@ssu.ac.ir; abargouei@gmail.com, Ahmad Esmaillzadeh; Email: a-esmaillzadeh@tums.ac.ir
Corresponding authors: Amin Salehi-Abargouei; Emails: abargouei@ssu.ac.ir; abargouei@gmail.com, Ahmad Esmaillzadeh; Email: a-esmaillzadeh@tums.ac.ir

Abstract

There is a lack of information from Middle Eastern countries regarding diet–disease associations. We examined dietary glycaemic and insulinemic potential in relation to risk of incident diabetes among a large group of Iranian adults. The present study was carried out using data from Yazd Health Study-Taghzieh Mardom Yazd, a prospective cohort study on adults aged 20–70 years in Yazd Greater Area, Iran. This study was initiated in 2014–2016 (baseline examination), and data are collected prospectively at one 5-year intervals. Data on demographic characteristics, dietary intakes and potential confounders were gathered by interview. During the follow-up phase of the study, diabetes incidence was confirmed by laboratory tests and physician diagnoses. This study included a total of 6178 participants in the cross-sectional analysis and 5105 subjects in the prospective phase. Examining the cross-sectional phase, we failed to find any significant association between dietary glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) as well as dietary insulin index (DII) or dietary insulin load (DIL) and prevalence of diabetes. No significant relationship was also seen between DII/DIL and risk of T2DM in the prospective phase; however, in the stratified analysis by BMI status, there was an inverse significant association between DII and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (hazard ratio for T3 v. T1: 0·19; 95 % CI: 0·04, 0·92; P = 0·03) in non-obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and overweight (BMI < 25 kg/m2) participants. No significant association was found between dietary GI/ dietary GL/ DII/ or DIL with risk of T2DM. More research, particularly with a longer follow-up duration, is needed to confirm these findings.

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Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society

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