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Carbohydrates, Glycemic Index and Diabetes Mellitus

Dietary patterns, insulin sensitivity and inflammation in older adults

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 66, pages 18–24 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Several studies have linked dietary patterns to insulin sensitivity and systemic inflammation, which affect risk of multiple chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dietary patterns of a cohort of older adults, and to examine relationships of dietary patterns with markers of insulin sensitivity and systemic inflammation.

Subjects/Methods:

The Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study is a prospective cohort study of 3075 older adults. In Health ABC, multiple indicators of glucose metabolism and systemic inflammation were assessed. Food intake was estimated with a modified Block food frequency questionnaire. In this study, dietary patterns of 1751 participants with complete data were derived by cluster analysis.

Results:

Six clusters were identified, including a ‘healthy foods’ cluster, characterized by higher intake of low-fat dairy products, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish and vegetables. In the main analysis, the ‘healthy foods’ cluster had significantly lower fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance values than the ‘breakfast cereal’ and ‘high-fat dairy products’ clusters, and lower fasting glucose than the ‘high-fat dairy products’ cluster (P⩽0.05). No differences were found in 2-h glucose. With respect to inflammation, the ‘healthy foods’ cluster had lower interleukin-6 than the ‘sweets and desserts’ and ‘high-fat dairy products’ clusters, and no differences were seen in C-reactive protein or tumor necrosis factor-α.

Conclusions:

A dietary pattern high in low-fat dairy products, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish and vegetables may be associated with greater insulin sensitivity and lower systemic inflammation in older adults.

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Acknowledgements

The Health ABC Study was supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) contracts N01-AG-6-2101, N01-AG-6-2103 and N01-AG-6-2106. This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of NIA/NIH.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    A L Anderson & N R Sahyoun

  2. National Institute on Aging, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA

    T B Harris

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN, USA

    F A Tylavsky

  4. School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA

    S E Perry

  5. Sticht Center on Aging, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    D K Houston

  6. Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    J S Lee

  7. Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    A M Kanaya

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  1. A L Anderson
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  2. T B Harris
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  4. S E Perry
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for the Health ABC Study

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Correspondence to A L Anderson.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Contributors: ALA, NRS and TBH were responsible for the study concept and research design. ALA and NRS drafted the article. FAT, SEP, DKH, JSL and AMK critically reviewed the article and contributed important intellectual content.

Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on European Journal of Clinical Nutrition website

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Anderson, A., Harris, T., Tylavsky, F. et al. Dietary patterns, insulin sensitivity and inflammation in older adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 18–24 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.162

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