Go Ad-Free
logoThe People's Perspective on Medicine

High or Low Glycemic Index in Diet Doesn’t Matter for Blood Pressure

With a high-vegetable diet, whether the veggies and grains were likely to raise blood sugar quickly did not make a difference on blood pressure and insulin.

People at risk for diabetes are often advised to concentrate on whole grains, vegetables and other types of minimally processed foods that don’t make blood sugar rise quickly.

A new study from Harvard suggests, however, that focusing the diet on foods with a low glycemic index–the technical term for foods that don’t produce a rapid rise in blood sugar–doesn’t matter for insulin sensitivity, blood pressure or cholesterol levels.

In the study, 163 overweight people with borderline high blood pressure were divided into 4 groups who were provided specific diets for 5 weeks. All the meals were provided to them based on a DASH diet plan with lots of vegetables and low-fat dairy.

Some participants got a high-carb, high-glycemic index diet, while others got a low-carb, low-glycemic index diet. The other two groups got different combinations-a high-carb, low-glycemic index diet and a low-carb, high-glycemic index diet. The maximum difference was between high-carb high-glycemic index and low-carb low-glycemic index.

There were no significant benefits for blood pressure, blood fat levels or insulin sensitivity among any of the groups. Perhaps this is because the DASH diet is already effective at lowering blood pressure, so further tweaking wasn’t enough to change the body’s responses noticeably.

[JAMA, Oct. 17, 2014]

You can learn more about the DASH diet, low-carb diet and Mediterranean diet in our book, The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies.

Rate this article
star-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-emptystar-fullstar-empty
4.7- 20 ratings
About the Author
Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist who has dedicated his career to making drug information understandable to consumers. His best-selling book, The People’s Pharmacy, was published in 1976 and led to a syndicated newspaper column, syndicated public radio show and web site. In 2006, Long Island University awarded him an honorary doctorate as “one of the country's leading drug experts for the consumer.”.
Tired of the ads on our website?

Now you can browse our website completely ad-free for just $5 / month. Stay up to date on breaking health news and support our work without the distraction of advertisements.

Browse our website ad-free
Join over 150,000 Subscribers at The People's Pharmacy

We're empowering you to make wise decisions about your own health, by providing you with essential health information about both medical and alternative treatment options.