Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study
Abstract Background Considering the associations of insulin resistance and glycemic control with immunity, the present study sought to evaluate the association between dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL), as the main dietary determinants of these conditions, with the risk of COVID-19...
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BMC
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-025-00958-4 |
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| author | Elahe Shamshirgardi Seyed Jalil Masoumi Asma Kazemi Mehran Nouri Zeynab Shahsavani Cain C. T. Clark Mehrdad Behzadi Marzieh Akbarzadeh |
| author_facet | Elahe Shamshirgardi Seyed Jalil Masoumi Asma Kazemi Mehran Nouri Zeynab Shahsavani Cain C. T. Clark Mehrdad Behzadi Marzieh Akbarzadeh |
| author_sort | Elahe Shamshirgardi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Considering the associations of insulin resistance and glycemic control with immunity, the present study sought to evaluate the association between dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL), as the main dietary determinants of these conditions, with the risk of COVID-19 infection in the participants of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences employees’ health cohort. Methods In this prospective study, data from 3319 cohort study participants were analyzed. Demographic, anthropometric and dietary intake data were collected at the time of recruitment. Dietary GI and GL were calculated based on the data from the food frequency questionnaire. In the follow-ups, data on COVID-19 infection were recorded. To investigate the associations between dietary GI and GL with COVID-19, Cox regression statistics were used. Analysis of variance was used to compare the rate of COVID-19 infection in the tertiles of GI and GL. Results The mean age of the participants was 40.92 ± 6.99 years. Of these, 210 cases with COVID-19 were recorded. The hazard ratios of COVID-19 infection in the second and third tertile of the GI were 3.44 (95% CI = 2.13–5.55) and 6.45 (95% CI = 4.11–10.12) times greater than in the first tertile, respectively. Also, this risk ratio in the second and third tertile of the GL was 8.78 (95% CI = 4.62–16.69) and 54.04 (95% CI = 27.18–107.46) times more than in the first tertile. Conclusions The present study showed a higher risk of COVID-19 infection in higher tertiles of dietary GI and GL. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1c90cb451d3c4614a75f1ce67e65ef65 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2072-1315 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition |
| spelling | doaj-art-1c90cb451d3c4614a75f1ce67e65ef652025-08-20T02:10:31ZengBMCJournal of Health, Population and Nutrition2072-13152025-06-0144111110.1186/s41043-025-00958-4Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of COVID-19: a prospective cohort studyElahe Shamshirgardi0Seyed Jalil Masoumi1Asma Kazemi2Mehran Nouri3Zeynab Shahsavani4Cain C. T. Clark5Mehrdad Behzadi6Marzieh Akbarzadeh7Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical SciencesNutrition Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical SciencesNutrition Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical SciencesInfertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical SciencesStudent Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical SciencesCentre for Intelligent Healthcare, Coventry UniversityStudent Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical SciencesNutrition Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical SciencesAbstract Background Considering the associations of insulin resistance and glycemic control with immunity, the present study sought to evaluate the association between dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL), as the main dietary determinants of these conditions, with the risk of COVID-19 infection in the participants of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences employees’ health cohort. Methods In this prospective study, data from 3319 cohort study participants were analyzed. Demographic, anthropometric and dietary intake data were collected at the time of recruitment. Dietary GI and GL were calculated based on the data from the food frequency questionnaire. In the follow-ups, data on COVID-19 infection were recorded. To investigate the associations between dietary GI and GL with COVID-19, Cox regression statistics were used. Analysis of variance was used to compare the rate of COVID-19 infection in the tertiles of GI and GL. Results The mean age of the participants was 40.92 ± 6.99 years. Of these, 210 cases with COVID-19 were recorded. The hazard ratios of COVID-19 infection in the second and third tertile of the GI were 3.44 (95% CI = 2.13–5.55) and 6.45 (95% CI = 4.11–10.12) times greater than in the first tertile, respectively. Also, this risk ratio in the second and third tertile of the GL was 8.78 (95% CI = 4.62–16.69) and 54.04 (95% CI = 27.18–107.46) times more than in the first tertile. Conclusions The present study showed a higher risk of COVID-19 infection in higher tertiles of dietary GI and GL.https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-025-00958-4Glycemic indexGlycemic loadInsulin resistanceCOVID-19InfectionSUMS-EHCS |
| spellingShingle | Elahe Shamshirgardi Seyed Jalil Masoumi Asma Kazemi Mehran Nouri Zeynab Shahsavani Cain C. T. Clark Mehrdad Behzadi Marzieh Akbarzadeh Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition Glycemic index Glycemic load Insulin resistance COVID-19 Infection SUMS-EHCS |
| title | Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study |
| title_full | Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study |
| title_fullStr | Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study |
| title_short | Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study |
| title_sort | dietary glycemic index glycemic load and risk of covid 19 a prospective cohort study |
| topic | Glycemic index Glycemic load Insulin resistance COVID-19 Infection SUMS-EHCS |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-025-00958-4 |
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