Incorporating healthy dietary changes in addition to an increase in fruit and vegetable intake further improves the status of cardiovascular disease risk factors: A systematic review, meta-regression, and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

CONTEXT: Fruit and vegetable (FV) intake has been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Beyond increasing FV intake, the incorporation of other healthy dietary changes may help to further attenuate CVD risk. OBJECTIVE: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to determine the effect of increasing FV intake to > 3 servings daily as well as incorporating other healthy dietary changes on classical CVD risk factors through a systematic review, meta-regression, and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. DATA SOURCES: The following databases were searched: PubMed, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Medline (ProQuest), and Cochrane Library. DATA EXTRACTION: 82, 24, and 10 articles were selected for the systematic review, meta-regression, and meta-analysis, respectively. DATA ANALYSIS: Meta-regression analysis showed a dose-dependent response between the number of FV servings consumed in each intervention group and the blood triglyceride change value. Pooled weighted mean differences from the meta-analysis suggested that increasing FV intake to > 3 servings daily contributes to significant decreases in triglyceride (-0.10 mmol/L; 95%CI, -0.18 to -0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (-1.99 mmHg; 95%CI, -2.28 to -1.70) as well as marginal decreases in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. While improvements were observed in the triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol response following the incorporation of other healthy dietary changes, no additional cardiovascular benefits were observed when FV intake was increased from > 3 to > 5 servings daily. CONCLUSION: Increasing FV intake to > 3 servings daily improves CVD risk factors, most distinctly triglyceride, especially when complemented with other healthy dietary changes.

Lowering breakfast glycemic index and glycemic load attenuates postprandial glycemic response: A systematically searched meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Low glycemic index (GI) diets are recommended to reduce the risk for chronic diseases by managing postprandial elevations in blood glucose and insulin. However, to our knowledge, a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to investigate this relationship and interpret its clinical relevance has yet to be performed. This review aims to assess the effect of low versus high GI breakfast meals on postprandial glycemic and insulinemic responses in adults. Two researchers independently screened 1100 articles from PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, and Cochrane databases and extracted data from 11 qualified RCTs. Meta-analyses were performed to calculate overall effect sizes of postintervention blood glucose concentration change values at different time points (60, 90, and 120 min) using a random-effects model, reporting their weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Low GI breakfasts significantly reduced postprandial blood glucose concentrations at all time points: 60 min (WMD: -1.32 mmol/L; 95% CIs, -1.64 to -0.99), 90 min (WMD: -0.74 mmol/L; 95% CI, -0.92 to -0.56), and 120 min (WMD: -0.44 mmol/L; 95% CI, -0.63 to -0.26). Further analyses not only indicated similar trends following the stratification of studies according to the glycemic load, but also showed a more pronounced decline in glycemic response among individuals with metabolic impairments. These results highlight the benefits of lowering breakfast meal GI to provide clinically relevant reductions in acute glucose response.