CONCLUSIONS Pasta in the context of low-GI dietary patterns does not adversely affect adiposity and even reduces body weight and BMI compared with higher-GI dietary patterns .
OBJECTIVE Carbohydrate staples such as pasta have been implicated in the obesity epidemic .
It is unclear whether pasta contributes to weight gain or like other low-glycaemic index ( GI ) foods contributes to weight loss .
We synthesis ed the evidence of the effect of pasta on measures of adiposity .
A low-glycemic-index diet reduces plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 activity, but not tissue inhibitor of proteinases-1 or plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 protein, in overweight women.
BACKGROUND The development of obesity has been suggested to involve plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 ( PAI-1 ) and tissue inhibitor of proteinases-1 ( TIMP-1 ) . Plasma PAI-1 is elevated in obesity . A low-glycemic-index ( LGI ) diet may have a beneficial effect on obesity through a decrease in plasma PAI-1 , but whether it affects plasma TIMP-1 in healthy humans has not been studied . OBJECTIVE We investigated whether a 10-wk intake of an LGI or a high-glycemic-index ( HGI ) , high-carbohydrate , low-fat , ad libitum diet is associated with decreases in plasma PAI-1 and TIMP-1 concentrations in overweight women . DESIGN Forty-four overweight women [ body mass index ( BMI ; in kg/m2 ) : 27.5+/-0.23 ] were r and omly assigned to consume an HGI or an LGI diet for 10 wk . A subgroup of 29 women was assigned to participate in an additional 4-h meal test on the last day of the 10-wk intervention . RESULTS PAI-1 activity decreased after 10 wk of the LGI diet and was significantly different between groups . Changes in PAI-1 antigen followed the same trend , but no significant difference was observed between groups . No difference in plasma TIMP-1 concentrations was observed between groups . PAI-1 and TIMP-1 concentrations after the 4-h meal test were not significantly different between groups . CONCLUSION An LGI diet reduces fasting plasma PAI-1 activity and therefore may be useful for diminishing the adverse cardiovascular effects of obesity . This trial was registered at clinical trials.gov as NCT00324090
CONCLUSIONS Pasta in the context of low-GI dietary patterns does not adversely affect adiposity and even reduces body weight and BMI compared with higher-GI dietary patterns .
OBJECTIVE Carbohydrate staples such as pasta have been implicated in the obesity epidemic .
It is unclear whether pasta contributes to weight gain or like other low-glycaemic index ( GI ) foods contributes to weight loss .
We synthesis ed the evidence of the effect of pasta on measures of adiposity .