In the United States, many adult men and women have diets high in both saturated fats and added sugars. The American Heart Association recommends getting no more than 6% of daily calories from saturated fats. Research shows that this type of diet is a risk factor for high triglycerides and that added sugars are associated with insulin resistance. Additionally, high triglyceride levels and insulin resistance are likely to increase cardiovascular disease mortality. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the association between high dietary saturated fat and sugar intake, and triglyceride levels and insulin resistance. METHODS: A sample of 20 overweight (93.0kg ± 13.5) older adults (64.2 years ± 4.7) was used. All participants had a saturated fat (g) intake of ≥ 6% of daily calorie intake. A series of 3-24 hour dietary recalls were completed where a detailed record of the prior day’s intake was analyzed using NDSR 2017 software. Bloodwork was collected and analyzed using the Cholestech LDX automated system after a twelve-hour fast. Added sugar, saturated fat, and triglyceride levels were collected. HOMA-IR was used to measure insulin resistance. Using IBM SPSS Statistical Software, bivariate correlations were performed to compare both added sugar and saturated fat intake with triglycerides, added sugar intake with HOMA-IR, and added sugar intake with saturated fats. RESULTS: When comparing triglycerides with both added sugar (r(18) = -.240, p = .229) and saturated fat intake (r(18) = -.04, p = .842), there were no significant associations. The correlation between added sugar intake and HOMA-IR (r(18) = .407, p = .067) is approaching significance. There was a positive correlation (r(18) = .482, p = .009) between added sugar and saturated fat intake. CONCLUSION: Results of this study indicate that diets that are high in added sugars are also typically high in saturated fat. The small sample size of the study is a limitation, and further research with a larger sample size is necessary to determine if added sugar intake is correlated with insulin resistance.
Author: Iris C. Puthoff
Faculty Advisor: M. Elizabeth Miller, Department of Kinesiology and Health
You must be logged in to post a comment.