Journal article
High glycemic index and glycemic load diets as risk factors for insomnia: analyses from the Women's Health Initiative
The American journal of clinical nutrition, Vol.111(2), pp.429-439
02/01/2020
DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz275
PMCID: PMC6997082
PMID: 31828298
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Background
Previous studies have shown mixed results on the association between carbohydrate intake and insomnia. However, any influence that refined carbohydrates have on risk of insomnia is likely commensurate with their relative contribution to the overall diet, so studies are needed that measure overall dietary glycemic index (GI), glycemic load, and intakes of specific types of carbohydrates.
Objective
We hypothesized that higher GI and glycemic load would be associated with greater odds of insomnia prevalence and incidence.
Methods
This was a prospective cohort study with postmenopausal women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, investigating the relations of GI, glycemic load, other carbohydrate measures (added sugars, starch, total carbohydrate), dietary fiber, and specific carbohydrate-containing foods (whole grains, nonwhole/refined grains, nonjuice fruits, vegetables, dairy products) with odds of insomnia at baseline (between 1994 and 1998; n = 77,860) and after 3 y of follow-up (between 1997 and 2001; n = 53,069).
Results
In cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, higher dietary GI was associated with increasing odds of prevalent (fifth compared with first quintile OR: 1.11; CI: 1.05, 1.16; P-trend = 0.0014) and incident (fifth compared with first quintile OR: 1.16; CI: 1.08, 1.25; P-trend < 0.0001) insomnia in fully adjusted models. Higher intakes of dietary added sugars, starch, and nonwhole/refined grains were each associated with higher odds of incident insomnia. By contrast, higher nonjuice fruit and vegetable intakes were significantly associated with lower odds of incident insomnia. Also, higher intakes of dietary fiber, whole grains, nonjuice fruit, and vegetables were significantly associated with lower odds of prevalent insomnia.
Conclusions
The results suggest that high-GI diets could be a risk factor for insomnia in postmenopausal women. Substitution of high-GI foods with minimally processed, whole, fiber-rich carbohydrates should be evaluated as potential treatments of, and primary preventive measures for, insomnia in postmenopausal women.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- High glycemic index and glycemic load diets as risk factors for insomnia: analyses from the Women's Health Initiative
- Creators
- James E Gangwisch - Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USALauren Hale - Program of Public Health, Stony Brook Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USAMarie-Pierre St-Onge - New York Obesity Research Center and Institute of Human Nutrition, Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USALydia Choi - Department of Oncology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USAErin S LeBlanc - Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente NW, Portland, OR, USADolores Malaspina - Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Genetics, and Genomics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USAMark G Opler - Department of Psychiatry, Langone Medical Center, New York University, New York, NY, USAAladdin H Shadyab - Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USAJames M Shikany - Division of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USALinda Snetselaar - Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USAOleg Zaslavsky - Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USADorothy Lane - Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The American journal of clinical nutrition, Vol.111(2), pp.429-439
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- DOI
- 10.1093/ajcn/nqz275
- PMID
- 31828298
- PMCID
- PMC6997082
- ISSN
- 0002-9165
- eISSN
- 1938-3207
- Grant note
- HHSN268201600018C; HHSN268201600001C; HHSN268201600002C; HHSN268201600003C; HHSN268201600004C / U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (10.13039/100000016) NIH (10.13039/100000002) R01HL128226 / National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (10.13039/100000050)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/01/2020
- Academic Unit
- Epidemiology; Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984215147902771
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