The Study
Dietary carbohydrates, refined grains, glycemic load, and risk of coronary heart disease in Chinese adults.
This study found that people who ate a lot of white rice and other refined carbs were more likely to get heart disease later on — but it doesn’t prove the carbs caused it. Maybe people who ate more carbs also had other habits (like less exercise or lower income) that made heart disease more likely.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Eating lots of white rice and other refined carbs like white bread may raise your chance of heart disease, even if you eat little fat.
Where does this study sit?
Systematic Reviews & Meta-analyses
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control
Max 58Cross-Sectional
Max 44Case Reports & Series
Max 30Expert Opinion
Max 559 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — doubling or nearly doubling heart disease risk is very significant for public health, especially in populations eating mostly white rice.
- 2People who ate the most carbs had 2.88 times higher heart disease risk.
- 3Those who ate the most refined grains had 1.8 times higher risk.
- 4High glycemic load = 1.87 times higher risk.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
American journal of epidemiology
Year
2013
Authors
Danxia Yu, X. Shu, Hong-Lan Li, Y. Xiang, Gong Yang, Yutang Gao, W. Zheng, Xianglan Zhang
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.