(P29-003-23) Dietary Carbohydrate Intake and Carbohydrate Quality in Relation to Healthy Aging in Women

Objectives: Our objective was to evaluate the long-term role of carbohydrate intake and dietary carbohydrate quality in healthy aging among women in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS). We hypothesized that higher intakes of total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, and carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables and whole grains were associated with higher odds of healthy aging.

Methods: We included 29,635 NHS participants aged < 60 years old in 1984. Total carbohydrate, refined carbohydrate, dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL), dietary fiber intake and carbohydrate from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and refined grains were derived from validated food-frequency questionnaires. Healthy aging was defined as being free from 11 major chronic diseases, having good mental health, and not having any impairments in either cognitive or physical function as assessed in the 2014 or 2016 NHS participant questionnaires. We used multivariate logistic regression to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) for each carbohydrate exposure in relation to healthy aging.

Results: A total of 3,731 (12.6%) NHS participants met our criteria for healthy aging. Total carbohydrate intake was associated with higher odds of healthy aging (ORs [95% CIs] per 5%-calorie increase: 1.08 [1.04, 1.11]), whereas refined carbohydrate was associated with lower odds of healthy aging: 0.94 [0.90, 0.97]. Intakes of carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables were associated with 2% to 6% higher odds of healthy aging for every 1%-calorie increase. Additionally, intakes of total fiber, fruit fiber, vegetable fiber and cereal fiber were associated with 12% to 25% higher odds of healthy aging per 1%-calorie increment, and were positively associated with the individual components of the healthy aging phenotype. Lastly, the dietary GI was associated with lower odds of healthy aging: 0.84 (0.77, 0.92) per interquartile range increase.

Conclusions: Intakes of carbohydrate from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and dietary fiber in middle adulthood were favorably associated with healthy aging in a large cohort of women. Furthermore, dietary fiber was favorably associated with several domains of health status in older women. Conversely, refined carbohydrate intake was unfavorably associated with healthy aging.

Funding Sources: USDA Agricultural Research Service, NIH