ArticleAdvances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.)2021
Perspective: Does Glycemic Index Matter for Weight Loss and Obesity Prevention? Examination of the Evidence on "Fast" Compared with "Slow" Carbs.
Article in Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effect of a Low-Energy and Low-Glycemic Diet on Adipose Tissue Metabolism and Energy Expenditure in Women with Excess Body Weight.Nutrients · 2025Trial
- Prediction of individual weight loss using supervised learning: findings from the CALERIEThe American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Trial
- The New Obesity Treatment Landscape: Challenges and Opportunities to Promote Shared Decision-Making in People With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.Diabetes care · 2026Review
- Harnessing Metabolic Insights: A Framework for Dietary Patterns in Chronic Disease Prevention and Management.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Review
- The role of low glycemic index and load diets in medical nutrition therapy for type 2 diabetes: an update.Hormones (Athens, Greece) · 2024Review
- Nutritional, Biochemical, and Functional Properties of Spinach Leaf-Enriched Dough: A Healthier Alternative to Conventional Pasta.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Initial Exploration of the In Vitro Activation of GLP-1 and GIP Receptors and Pancreatic Islet Cell Protection by Salmon-Derived Bioactive Peptides.Marine drugs · 2024Article
- Obesity and malnutrition in children and adults: A clinical review.Obesity pillars · 2023Review
- Association between changes in carbohydrate intake and long term weight changes: prospective cohort study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Article
- Obesity management in the Saudi population.Saudi medical journal · 2023Review
- Ultraprocessed Foods and Obesity Risk: A Critical Review of Reported Mechanisms.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2023Review
- Position statement on nutrition therapy for overweight and obesity: nutrition department of the Brazilian association for the study of obesity and metabolic syndrome (ABESO-2022).Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2023Review
- Comparison of Glycemic Response to Carbohydrate Meals without or with a Plant-Based Formula of Kidney Bean Extract, White Mulberry Leaf Extract, and Green Coffee Extract in Individuals with Abdominal Obesity.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Thirty Obesity Myths, Misunderstandings, and/or Oversimplifications: An Obesity Medicine Association (OMA) Clinical Practice Statement (CPS) 2022.Obesity pillars · 2022Article
- Competing paradigms of obesity pathogenesis: energy balance versus carbohydrate-insulin models.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2022Review
- Do Body Composition and Values of Selected Nutritional Status Indices Influence the Glycaemic Index Values of Vegetarian Dishes? A Pilot Study in a Group of Older Women.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The energy balance model of obesity: beyond calories in, calories out.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2022Review
- Limitations of the glycaemic index and the need for nuance when determining carbohydrate quality.Cardiovascular research · 2022Article
- Recent Advances in the Treatment of Insulin Resistance Targeting Molecular and Metabolic Pathways: Fighting a Losing Battle?Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Review
- The association of Carbohydrate Quality Index with cardiovascular disease risk factors among women with overweight and obesity: A cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
High-glycemic index (high-GI) foods (so-called fast carbs) have been hypothesized to promote fat storage and increase risk of obesity. To clarify whether dietary GI impacts body weight, we searched PubMed and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for observational studies reporting associations between BMI and dietary GI, and for meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing low-GI and high-GI diets for weight loss. Data on 43 cohorts from 34 publications, totaling 1,940,968 adults, revealed no consistent differences in BMI when comparing the highest with the lowest dietary GI groups. In the 27 cohort studies that reported results of statistical comparisons, 70% showed that BMI was either not different between the highest and lowest dietary GI groups (12 of 27 cohorts) or that BMI was lower in the highest dietary GI group (7 of 27 cohorts). Results of 30 meta-analyses of RCTs from 8 publications demonstrated that low-GI diets were generally no better than high-GI diets for reducing body weight or body fat. One notable exception is that low-GI diets with a dietary GI at least 20 units lower than the comparison diet resulted in greater weight loss in adults with normal glucose tolerance but not in adults with impaired glucose tolerance. While carbohydrate quality, including GI, impacts many health outcomes, GI as a measure of carbohydrate quality appears to be relatively unimportant as a determinant of BMI or diet-induced weight loss. Based on results from observational cohort studies and meta-analyses of RCTs, we conclude that there is scant scientific evidence that low-GI diets are superior to high-GI diets for weight loss and obesity prevention.
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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.