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Characterising dietary glycemic load in a representative sample of Irish adults

Glycemic Index (GI) is a method of ranking the quality of carbohydrate (CHO) containing foods according to their response to postprandial glycemia, whereas glycemic load (GL) assesses the total glycemic effect of the diet ranking both the quality and quantity of CHO foods. The underlying principle is that a low GI/GL diet is digested and absorbed more slowly than a high GI/GL diet hence regulating postprandial insulin and blood glucose levels. Potential health benefits of following a low GI diet include a reduced risk of obesity, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. To date, there is little published data regarding the overall GI and GL of Irish adults’ diets. The aim of this research is to describe the dietary GL of a representative sample of 1500 Irish adults and to analyse their GL in relation to nutrients consumed. Data from the National Adult Nutrition Survey (NANS), which recorded food and beverage consumption using a semi-weighed 4-day food diary, was used for this analysis. The final sample consisted of 1051 adults aged 18–90 y after exclusion of under-reporters. NANS includes 2552 individual food codes; for the current analysis the GI of food items was assigned using previously published data. Dietary GL was calculated as the product of the food’s GI and its CHO content (g) divided by 100. Mean daily intakes of energy and nutrients were examined across quartiles of GL.