An Italian study has found that a diet high in refined carbohydrates can put women at increased risk for heart disease. Too many refined carbohydrates can more than double a woman's chances of suffering heart problems, researchers say.
A similar effect was not seen in men.
The study took into account not only the quantity of carbohydrates consumed, but also the quality. Researchers looked at the glycemic index (GI) score of various carbohydrates. The GI score measures how quickly blood sugar rises after a carbohydrate is consumed, and to what extent.
Carbohydrate-rich foods can have totally different GI scores even if their caloric content is similar. White bread and white rice were among those foods with higher GI scores, while whole grain products and lentils were on the lower end of the scale.
A sharp increase in blood sugar can lower the concentration of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, a form of cholesterol considered good for cardiovascular health.
The study followed 15,000 men and 32,000 women over the course of eight years. Subjects' diets were examined according to their GI values. After eight years, 305 of the men and 158 women had suffered from heart disease. The women who ate the most high-GI carbohydrates had twice the risk of developing heart disease than the women eating the least.
Consumption of low-GI carbohydrates was not found to pose a risk.