ArticleEuropean journal of nutrition2020
Lower carbohydrate and higher fat intakes are associated with higher hemoglobin A1c: findings from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey 2008-2016.
Article in European journal of nutrition, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Saturated Fatty Acid Intake and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: An Updated Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Pooled it
- Associations of low-carb diets with glycaemic control and diabetic complications among adult Ghanaians: the RODAM study.European journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- High-Fat Diet and Metabolic Diseases: A Comparative Analysis of Sex-Dependent Responses and Mechanisms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Anti-Diabetic and Anti-Adipogenic Effect of Harmine in High-Fat-Diet-Induced Diabetes in Mice.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Ketones and the cardiovascular system.Nature cardiovascular research · 2023Review
- Relationship between Metal Exposures, Dietary Macronutrient Intake, and Blood Glucose Levels of Informal Electronic Waste Recyclers in Ghana.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
- Low Carbohydrate Dietary Approaches for People With Type 2 Diabetes-A Narrative Review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Review
- Carbohydrate knowledge, dietary guideline awareness, motivations and beliefs underlying low-carbohydrate dietary behaviours.Scientific reports · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeEvidence of low-carbohydrate, high-fat diets (LCHF) for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) prevention is scarce. We investigated how carbohydrate intake relates to HbA1c and T2DM prevalence in a nationally representative survey dataset.
methodsWe analyzed dietary information (4-day food diaries) from 3234 individuals aged ≥ 16 years, in eight waves of the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008-2016). We calculated LCHF scores (0-20, higher score indicating lower %food energy from carbohydrate, with reciprocal higher contribution from fat) and UK Dietary Reference Value (DRV) scores (0-16, based on UK dietary recommendations). Associations between macronutrients and diet scores and diabetes prevalence were analyzed (in the whole sample) using multivariate logistic regression. Among those without diabetes, analyses between exposures and %HbA1c (continuous) were analyzed using multivariate linear regression. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, ethnicity, smoking status, total energy intake, socioeconomic status and survey years.
resultsIn the overall study sample, 194 (6.0%) had diabetes. Mean intake was 48.0%E for carbohydrates, and 34.9%E for total fat. Every 5%E decrease in carbohydrate, and every 5%E increase in fat, was associated with 12% (95% CI 0.78-0.99; P = 0.03) and 17% (95% CI 1.02-1.33; P = 0.02) higher odds of diabetes, respectively. Each two-point increase in LCHF score is related to 8% (95% CI 1.02-1.14; P = 0.006) higher odds of diabetes, while there was no evidence for association between DRV score and diabetes. Among the participants without diagnosed diabetes (n = 3130), every 5%E decrease in carbohydrate was associated with higher %HbA1c by + 0.016% (95% CI 0.004-0.029; P = 0.012), whereas every 5%E increase in fat was associated with higher %HbA1c by + 0.029% (95% CI 0.015-0.043; P < 0.001). Each two-point increase in LCHF score is related to higher %HbA1c by + 0.010% (0.1 mmol/mol), while each two-point increase in the DRV score is related to lower %HbA1c by - 0.023% (0.23 mmol/mol).
conclusionsLower carbohydrate and higher fat intakes were associated with higher HbA1c and greater odds of having diabetes. These data do not support low(er) carbohydrate diets for diabetes prevention.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.