No Link Between Glycemic Index/Load & Cancer

[Guest guest]

American Journal of Epidemiology, February 1, 2007

Dietary Carbohydrate, Glycemic Index, and Glycemic

Load in Relation to Risk of Colorectal Cancer in Women

http://aje.oxfordjo urnals.org/ cgi/content/ abstract/

165/3/256

Diets with a high glycemic index and glycemic load

have been hypothesized to be implicated in the

etiology of colorectal cancer owing to their potential

to increase postprandial glucose and insulin levels.

Prospective data on glycemic index and glycemic load

in relation to colorectal cancer risk are limited and

inconsistent. Therefore, the

authors prospectively investigated the associations of

dietary carbohydrate, glycemic index, and glycemic

load with the incidence of colorectal cancer among

61,433 Swedish women who were free of cancer in

1987-1990 and completed a 67-item food frequency

questionnaire. During follow-up through June 2005, 870

incident cases of colorectal adenocarcinoma were

diagnosed. Carbohydrate intake, glycemic index, and

glycemic load were not associated with risk of

colorectal cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer. The

multivariate hazard ratios for colorectal cancer

comparing the highest with the lowest quintile were

1.10 (95% confidence interval: 0.85, 1.44) for

carbohydrate intake, 1.00 (95% confidence interval:

0.75, 1.33) for glycemic index, and 1.06 (95%

confidence interval: 0.81, 1.39) for glycemic load.

Results did not vary by body mass index. The findings

from this prospective study do not support the

hypothesis that a high carbohydrate intake, a high

glycemic index, and a high glycemic load increase the

risk of colorectal cancer.