Background
The glycaemic index (GI) is a physiological measure of the abili
ty of a carbohydrate to affect blood glucose. Interest is growin
g in this
area for the clinical management of people at risk of, or with, e
stablished cardiovascular disease. There is a need to review t
he current
evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in this area
. This is an update of the original review published in 2008.
Objectives
To assess the effect of the dietary GI on total mortality, cardi
ovascular events, and cardiovascular risk factors (blood lipids
, blood
pressure) in healthy people or people who have established ca
rdiovascular disease or related risk factors, using all eligi
ble randomised
controlled trials.
Search methods
We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL in July 2016.
We also checked reference lists of relevant articles. No
language restrictions were applied.
Selection criteria
We selected RCTs that assessed the effects of low GI diets compar
ed to diets with a similar composition but a higher GI on cardiov
ascular
disease and related risk factors. Minimum trial duration was
12 weeks. Participants included were healthyadults or those a
t increased risk
of cardiovascular disease, or previously diagnosed with cardi
ovascular disease. Studies in people with diabetes mellitus
were excluded.
Data collection and analysis
Two reviewers independently screened and selected studies. T
wo review authors independently assessed risk of bias, eval
uated the overall
quality of the evidence using GRADE, and extracted data follow
ing the
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
. We
contacted trial authors for additional information. Analyse
s were checked by a second reviewer. Continuous outcomes were syn
thesized
using mean differences and adverse events were synthesized n
arratively.