Diet high in poor quality carbohydrates linked to heart attacks, death risk

Anew study has found that consuming a diet high in poor quality carbohydrates has many ill effects ranging from a higher risk of heart attacks to strokes, and even death. The findings of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The global study focused on people living in five continents and concluded that a diet high in poor quality carbohydrates leads to a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death.

The higher risks of a diet high in poor quality carbohydrates, called a high glycemic diet, were similar to whether people had previous cardiovascular disease or not. A total of 137,851 people aged 35 to 70 years old were followed for a median of 9.5 years through the Population Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study run by the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences.

The research team used food questionnaires to measure the long-term dietary intake of participants and estimate the glycemic index (the ranking of food based on their effect on blood sugar levels) and glycemic load (the amount of carbohydrates in food times its glycemic index) of diets. There were 8,780 deaths and 8,252 major cardiovascular events recorded among the participants during the followup period.

The investigators categorised dietary intake of carbohydrates depending on whether specific types of carbohydrates increased blood sugars more than others (high glycemic index) and compared this index to the occurrence of cardiovascular disease or death.

Those people consuming a diet in the highest 20 per cent of the glycemic index were 50 per cent more likely to have a cardiovascular attack, stroke, or death if they had a pre-existing heart condition, or 20 per cent more likely to have an event if they did not have a preexisting condition.

These risks were also higher among those people who were obese.

"I have been studying the impact of high glycemic diets for many decades, and this study ratifies that the consumption of high amounts of poor quality carbohydrates is an issue worldwide," said first author David Jenkins, professor of nutritional sciences and medicine at the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine, who is also a scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto.

"PURE study papers have already indicated that not all carbohydrate foods are the same. Diets high in poor quality carbohydrates are associated with reduced longevity, while diets rich in high-quality carbohydrates such as fruit, vegetables, and legumes have beneficial effects," he said.

PHRI research investigator Mahshid Dehghan added, "This study also makes it clear that among a diverse population, a diet low in both its glycemic index and load has a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death."

Most fruits, vegetables, beans, and intact whole grains have a low glycemic index, while white bread, rice, and potatoes have a high glycemic index.