Glycemic load is associated with HDL cholesterol but not with the other components and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994

Table 2 Multivariate-adjusted components of metabolic syndrome according to the intakes of glycemic load in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994¹

	Energy-adjusted glycemic load²
	Quartile 1 (< 119)	Quartile 2 (119 – 157)	Quartile 3 (157 – 204)	Quartile 4 (≥ 204)	P value ³
Waist circumference (cm)
All subjects	91 ± 0.2	91 ± 0.2	91 ± 0.2	91 ± 0.2	0.63
Men	94 ± 0.3	94 ± 0.3	95 ± 0.3	95 ± 0.2	0.19
Women	87 ± 0.4	87 ± 0.4	87 ± 0.3	87 ± 0.4	0.82
Triacylglycerol (mmol/L)
All subjects	1.5 ± 0.04	1.6 ± 0.1	1.6 ± 0.04	1.6 ± 0.1	0.70
Men	1.7 ± 0.1	1.8 ± 0.1	1.7 ± 0.1	1.7 ± 0.1	0.60
Women	1.3 ± 0.1	1.3 ± 0.03	1.3 ± 0.04	1.4 ± 0.1	0.24
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)
All subjects	120 ± 0.6	120 ± 0.5	120 ± 0.5	120 ± 0.5	0.99
Men	124 ± 0.8	123 ± 0.6	123 ± 0.6	123 ± 0.7	0.69
Women	115 ± 0.8	117 ± 0.7	116 ± 1.0	117 ± 0.7	0.46
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)
All subjects	74 ± 0.4	74 ± 0.4	74 ± 0.4	74 ± 0.4	0.73
Men	77 ± 0.6	76 ± 0.5	76 ± 0.5	76 ± 0.5	0.54
Women	71 ± 0.5	72 ± 0.5	71 ± 0.6	71 ± 0.4	0.77
Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L)
All subjects	5.2 ± 0.04	5.2 ± 0.03	5.2 ± 0.02	5.2 ± 0.02	0.46
Men	5.4 ± 0.04	5.3 ± 0.04	5.3 ± 0.03	5.4 ± 0.03	0.28
Women	5.1 ± 0.04	5.1 ± 0.04	5.1 ± 0.1	5.0 ± 0.3	0.65
HDL cholesterol (mmol/L)
All subjects	1.32 ± 0.02^a	1.30 ± 0.01^a,b	1.28 ± 0.01^a,b	1.25 ± 0.02^b	0.007
Men	1.27 ± 0.02^a	1.20 ± 0.02^a,b	1.16 ± 0.02^b	1.15 ± 0.02^b	0.0001
Women	1.40 ± 0.2	1.43 ± 0.02	1.43 ± 0.02	1.39 ± 0.03	0.39

¹ n = 5011 (men, 3047; women, 1964). Glycemic load is the product of the glycemic index of a food item and carbohydrate intake from that food in g divided by 100. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the Adult Treatment Panel III Guidelines (waist circumference >40 inches for men and >35 inches for women, triacylglycerol <150 mg/dL (1.69 mmol/L) for both sexes, HDL-cholesterol <40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L) for men and <50 mg/dL (1.29 mmol/L)for women, blood pressure ≥ 130/85 mm Hg for both sexes, and fasting blood glucose ≥ 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) for both sexes.
² Values are mean ± SEs. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with energy-adjusted glycemic load as the independent variable and indicators of metabolic syndrome as dependent variables. Values not sharing common superscript (a, b) are significantly different from each other within the indicator of metabolic syndrome (across row) using Bonferonni adjustment for multiple comparisons after testing the hypothesis with unpaired, two-tailed t-test. Analysis was adjusted for age, race-ethnicity, smoking status, poverty income ratio, prescription medication use, vitamin/mineral supplement use, and intakes of alcohol, protein, fat, and dietary fiber.
³ Significance of metabolic syndrome indicator variable in the analysis of covariance (P for Wald F).