1. Home>
2. Specialties>
3. Women's Health>
4. Summary and Comment

Choosing to Avoid Diabetes

Adherence to 2005 dietary guidelines reduced insulin resistance in women.

The USDA 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide recommendations about calorie and nutrient intake (Table 1) to maintain ideal body weight and to reduce risk for chronic disease.

When followed, are these guidelines actually effective at reducing risk? Approximately 1600 women and 1400 men in the Framingham Offspring Cohort completed a food frequency questionnaire during the preceding year. Researchers assessed whether diets were consistent with the 2005 DGA using a standardized tool, the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Adherence Index (DGAI). The index includes items such as food-intake patterns, calorie intake, and calorie expenditure. Higher DGAI scores reflect stricter adherence to the guidelines. Height, weight, waist circumference, and fasting plasma glucose and insulin were measured for calculations of BMI and insulin resistance. Participants also provided information about age, smoking, multivitamin use, physical activity, and sleep habits.

Mean age and BMI were 54.2 years and 26.5 for women and 54.0 years and 27.3 for men. Participants in the highest DGAI quintile were about three times more likely to be women than men. A higher DGAI score was significantly inversely related to insulin resistance in women; no association was noted for men. Adjustment for BMI, smoking, multivitamin use, waist circumference, physical activity, and energy intake did not affect the results.

Comment: Although these study results are limited by their basis in retrospective dietary recall, they show that women with the healthiest eating patterns had reduced insulin resistance, and thus lower diabetes risk, compared with those making less-healthy food choices. Women frequently ask their clinicians to recommend "a diet"; the 2005 DGA (http://www.mypyramid.gov/guidelines/ or http://www.mypyramid.gov/sp-index.html [Spanish]) provide basic information about nutrition and physical activity that women can tailor to their individual needs.

— Diane E. Judge, APN/CNP

Published in Journal Watch Women's Health May 17, 2007

Citation(s):

Fogli-Cawley JJ et al. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and insulin resistance in the Framingham Offspring Cohort. Diabetes Care 2007 Apr; 30:817-22.

• Original article (Subscription may be required)
• Medline abstract (Free)