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Background: A healthy eating pattern such as the Mediterranean-style healthy eating pattern (MED-HEP) is associated with favorable effects on both cardiometabolic risk markers and self-reported health outcomes. Limited evidence exists regarding the influence of the glycemic index (GI) of carbohydrate foods consumed within a healthy eating pattern on self-reported health status and sleep., Objectives: To investigate the effects of a low- compared with high-GI MED-HEP on changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and sleep., Methods: The MEDGICarb-intervention trial is a 12-wk randomized, controlled, parallel multi-center trial in adults with ≥2 features of the metabolic syndrome. Participants consumed an eu-energetic diet profiled as a MED-HEP with either low GI (experimental) or high GI (control). HRQoL and sleep were measured with Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short-form health survey version 2, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale at baseline and postintervention., Results: One hundred and sixty adults with ≥2 features of the metabolic syndrome completed the intervention [53% females, age 56 ± 10 y, body mass index (kg/m 2 ) 31.0 ± 3.1]. Low- compared with high-GI MED-HEP resulted in differential changes between the groups in the HRQoL domains role physical [5.6 ± 2.2 arbitrary units (AU) compared with -2.5 ± 2.5 AU) and vitality (6.9 ± 1.7 AU compared with 0.0 ± 1.8 AU] (P < 0.05), which were driven mostly by improvements in the low-GI group. There were no significant differences between the MED-HEPs for changes in aggregated physical or mental components or for the other individual domains of HRQoL (physical functioning, bodily pain, general health, social functioning, role emotional, and mental health) or for sleep quality or daytime sleepiness., Conclusions: Low compared to high GI in the context of a MED-HEP resulted in modest improvements in some, but not all, health domains of HRQoL. No major differences were seen between the groups for measures of sleep. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03410719., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background & Aims: Recent evidence suggests that the ability to regulate glucose and insulin homeostasis is different in men and women. Against this background, it has been hypothesized that the impact on daily plasma glucose and insulin profiles of the glycemic index (GI) of the habitual diet may differ according to sex. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether 8-h average plasma glucose and insulin profiles during a low- or a high-GI diet in individuals at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes are influenced by sex., Methods: We conducted a randomized, controlled, parallel group dietary intervention, comparing high-versus low-GI diets in a multi-national (Italy, Sweden, and the United States) sample of 156 adults at risk for type 2 diabetes. For 12 weeks, 82 vs 74 participants consumed either a low-GI or high-GI Mediterranean diet, respectively. The two experimental diets contained the same quantity of available carbohydrate (270 g/d) and fiber (35 g/d) and the same foods and beverages, except for the major sources of starch that was specific to the low-GI and high-GI groups (pasta, brown rice, flatbread, all bran, and wheat bread plus rye and seeds, vs jasmine rice, potato, couscous, wholegrain bread, and rusks). At baseline and after the intervention plasma glucose and insulin profiles were evaluated for 8 h in the two intervention groups - separately for men and women - with both breakfast and lunch resembling food choices of the assigned diet., Results: One hundred fifty-six adults (82 women, 74 men) with at least two traits of the metabolic syndrome completed the intervention. In women, the high-GI induced significantly higher (23%, p < 0.05) 8-h average plasma glucose concentrations in comparison to the low-GI diet already on the first day of the intervention; the difference increased up to 37% (p < 0.05) after 12 weeks of diet. Conversely, there were no significant differences between the two diets in men. These results were confirmed by the two-way analysis of variance showing a statistically significant interaction between the effects of sex and diet on the glucose profile after breakfast and lunch (F = 7.887, p = 0.006)., Conclusion: The results of our intervention show that women, compared to men, are more sensitive to the metabolic effects of the dietary GI. This has a strong clinical and scientific relevance and, if confirmed in further studies, it might have important implications for dietary strategies for diabetes and cardiovascular disease prevention in the context of personalized nutrition., Registration Number of Clinical Trial: Clinicaltrials.gov n. NCT03410719., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest G.R. is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Nutrition Foundation of Italy and of the Istituto Nutrizionale Carapelli Foundation; he is a member of the Health and Wellbeing Advisory Board of the Barilla G. e R. Fratelli Company. R.B. is currently employed by ADM. Research presented in this paper was conducted in a former role and has no connection with ADM., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.)

Emerging research indicates the importance of gut microbiota in mediating the relationship between meat intake and human health outcomes. We aimed to assess the state of available scientific literature on meat intake and gut microbiota in humans (PROSPERO, International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews, CRD42020135649). We first conducted a scoping review to identify observational and interventional studies on this topic. Searches were performed for English language articles using PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and CINAHL (Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) databases from inception to August 2021 and using keywords related to meat (inclusive of mammalian, avian, and aquatic subtypes) and gut microbiota. Of 14,680 records, 85 eligible articles were included in the scoping review, comprising 57 observational and 28 interventional studies. One prospective observational study and 13 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified in adults without diagnosed disease. We included the 13 RCTs, comprising 18 comparisons, in the systematic review to assess the effects of higher and lower intakes of total meat and meat subtypes on the gut microbiota composition. The bacterial composition was differentially affected by consuming diets with and without meat or with varied meat subtypes. For example, higher meat intake tended to decrease population sizes of genera Anerostipes and Faecalibacterium, but it increased the population size of Roseburia across studies. However, the magnitude and directionality of most microbial responses varied, with inconsistent patterns of responses across studies. The data were insufficient for comparison within or between meat subtypes. The paucity of research, especially among meat subtypes, and heterogeneity of findings underscore the need for more well-designed prospective studies and full-feeding RCTs to address the relationships between and effects of consuming total meat and meat subtypes on gut microbiota, respectively., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)