High dietary insulin index related to increased risk of metabolic unhealthiness, research show

A recent Scientific Reports study explored the association between dietary insulin index (DII) and dietary insulin load (DIL) with metabolic healthy (MH) status and the serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and adropin among the many Iranian adult population.

Background

At present, the worldwide prevalence of obesity and being chubby has increased significantly. Obesity has been related to several health-related issues, including insulin resistance, hypertension, and hypertriglyceridemia. It should be noted that every one obese individuals wouldn’t have metabolic abnormalities.

Globally, the prevalence of metabolically healthy adults with obesity is 7.27%, while metabolically unhealthy (MU) adults with normal weight are almost 20%. A recent study estimated the prevalence of metabolically unhealthy normal weight (MUNW) among the many adult Iranian population to be 17.2%.

Besides genetic aspects, many aspects, including cardio-respiratory fitness, lifestyle, chronic stress, and adipose tissue function, play vital roles in determining MH status. Insulin resistance that induces chronic inflammation can be linked with MH status. Due to this fact, diets that increase blood sugar levels elevate the danger of insulin resistance. DII indicates the postprandial insulin secretion after ingestion of common food as compared to an isoenergetic reference food. DIL provides the DII of every food and its energy.

BDNF belongs to a member of the neurotrophic growth family, which facilitates a discount in the danger of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), heart problems (CVD), obesity, hyperglycemia, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and dyslipidemia. Moreover, adropin is a brief peptide hormone expressed in lots of organs, including the center and liver, and has been related to metabolic disorders. Interestingly, this protein is affected by dietary components.

Previous studies have established the link between DII and DIL with metabolic disorders, including T2DM and obesity. An elevated DIL increases the danger of insulin resistance. No population-based studies have been performed to judge how DII and DIL are linked with adropin and serum BDNF with regard to MH amongst Iranian adults.

Concerning the study

This cross-sectional study invited a complete of 600 adults in 2022 from Isfahan, an Iranian city. These participants were chosen based on a multistage cluster random sampling method. To pick the overall adult population with different socioeconomic statuses, adults working in 20 schools, including teachers, principals, assistants, school managers, crews, and other staff were considered.

A complete of 527 adults fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were finally considered on this study. Food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) were used to evaluate the long-term dietary intake of participants. The food insulin index (FII) was used to investigate insulin levels in participants after 2 hours of eating a 1000 kJ meal. FII of each food was obtained from previous investigations.

On this study, participants were divided into two groups, namely, MH and MU. Participants with two or more risk aspects that include fasting glucose level ≥ 100 mg/dL, uantidiabetic drugs, abnormal HDL-c and serum triglyceride levels, systolic/diastolic blood pressure ≥ 130/85 mmHg, antihypertensive drugs, and C reactive protein (CRP) level > ninetieth percentile, were grouped under MU.

Study findings

The mean age of the participants was 42 years, and around 54% were men. Roughly 43% of the cohort was MU. This study observed that adherence to a food regimen with high DII increased the chances of MU within the study population. Nevertheless, no significant association between DIL and metabolic health status was observed.

The next DII was linked with increased blood pressure, while moderate DIL was significantly related to hypertriglyceridemia. Notably, no significant association between DII and DIL with adropin and serum BDNF was observed. These findings have been attributed to the insulinogenic effects of a food regimen with high DII and DIL. This food regimen type could enhance postprandial insulin and insulin resistance. 

Individuals with normal weight or with obesity/chubby are advisable to scale back consumption of food with high DII. This can elevate food regimen quality and, subsequently, decrease metabolic disease burden and improve quality of life. Consumption of foods, akin to refined grains, sugar, potatoes, and desserts, which influence insulin response should be avoided or restricted. 

Consistent with the outcomes of the present study, a previous study reported a big association between DII and insulin resistance, and better DIL was linked with an increased risk of insulin resistance. Contradictory findings of this study with previous studies may very well be resulting from differences in participants’ age range, study design, meal preparation in numerous societies, and varied assessment tools used for evaluation.

Conclusions

This study also has some limitations, including using self-administered FFQ for dietary assessment, which increases the danger of misclassifications and biases. There’s a possibility of the presence of unknown or unmeasured confounders that would impact the outcomes. Moreover, causality couldn’t be determined resulting from the cross-sectional nature of the study. 

Despite the constraints, this study highlighted the association between DIL and DII with metabolic health status and adropin and BDNF within the Iranian adult population. A greater DII increases the danger of hypertension and MU. Interestingly, no relation was found between DIL and metabolic health.