EXAMINING THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF CARBOHYDRATES AND VASCULAR HEALTH
Date
2023-05
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Arterial stiffness, endothelial dysfunction, and high blood pressure (BP) are
risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), all of which can be influenced by diet.
Different types of carbohydrates, such as added sugar, have been shown to cause
endothelial dysfunction acutely, while high dietary fiber intake has been associated
with reduced arterial stiffness and BP in various populations. One of the proposed
mechanisms for these findings is postprandial increases in blood glucose
concentration. The extent of this increase in blood glucose level is measured by a
food’s glycemic index (GI). While previous research focused on the acute effects of
various types of carbohydrates on vascular health, less is known about habitual
consumption and whether these associations begin in early adulthood. This study
aimed to examine the relations between added sugar, fiber, and diet GI with measures
of vascular health. Fifty-five participants (21M/34W; 26.76.1 years; BP
11312/699 mmHg) completed this cross-sectional study. Dietary intake was
assessed using 3-day diet records. Measures of vascular health included pulse wave
velocity (PWV), a measure of arterial stiffness, augmentation index (AIx), a measure
of wave reflection, brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), a measure of
endothelial function, and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).
Associations between the types of carbohydrate and vascular measures were assessed
using Pearson bivariate and partial correlations. Participants consumed an average of
2039553 kcal with 9.6% (193.6 kcal) of this energy coming from added sugar, which
meets the USDA guideline. The average fiber intake was 22.78.7 grams/day, which
is below the recommendation. Added sugar intake was negatively associated with
PWV (r=-0.291, p=0.033) but was no longer significant after controlling for age and
sex (r=-0.228, p=0.119). There were no associations between added sugar intake and
AIx, FMD, or BP (all p>0.05). Both fiber and the GI were not associated with PWV,
AIx, or FMD (all p>0.05). However, fiber intake was positively associated with
systolic BP (SBP; r=0.315, p=0.026) and pulse pressure (PP; r=0.293, p=0.039);
however, these no longer remained significant when controlling for age and sex (both
p>0.05). GI was not associated with any measure of BP (all p>0.05). In conclusion,
while added sugar was negatively associated with arterial stiffness and fiber was
positively associated with SBP and PP, both counter to our hypotheses, neither
relation remained significant when controlling for sex and age. In our cross-sectional
study of young, healthy adults, various types of carbohydrate were not associated with
declines in vascular function. Future work should include a wider range of intakes for
both added sugars, fiber, and diet GI as well as account for the nutrient density of the
sources of added sugar and fiber.