Issue 21, 2021

Association of the low-carbohydrate dietary pattern with postpartum weight retention in women

Abstract

Low-carbohydrate diets (LCD) have been considered a popular dietary strategy for weight loss. However, the association of the low-carbohydrate dietary pattern with postpartum weight retention (PPWR) in women remains unknown. The present study involved 426 women from a prospective mother-infant cohort study. Overall, animal or plant LCD scores, which represent adherence to different low-carbohydrate dietary patterns, were calculated using diet intake information assessed by three consecutive 24 h dietary surveys. PPWR was assessed by the difference of weight at 1 year postpartum minus the pre-pregnancy weight. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, women in higher quartiles of total and animal-based LCD scores had a significantly lower body weight and weight retention at 1 year postpartum (P < 0.05). The multivariable-adjusted ORs of substantial PPWR (≥5 kg), comparing the highest with the lowest quartile, were 0.47 (95% confidence interval 0.23–0.96) for the total LCD score (P = 0.021 for trend) and 0.38 (95% confidence interval 0.19–0.77) for the animal-based LCD score (P = 0.019 for trend), while this association was significantly attenuated by rice, glycemic load, fish, poultry, animal fat and animal protein (P for trend <0.05). A high score for plant-based LCD was not significantly associated with the risk of PPWR (P > 0.05). The findings suggested that a low-carbohydrate dietary pattern, particularly with high protein and fat intake from animal-source foods, is associated with a decreased risk of weight retention at 1 year postpartum. This association was mainly due to low intake of glycemic load and high intake of fish and poultry.

Graphical abstract: Association of the low-carbohydrate dietary pattern with postpartum weight retention in women

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Mar 2021
Accepted
25 Aug 2021
First published
25 Aug 2021

Food Funct., 2021,12, 10764-10772

Association of the low-carbohydrate dietary pattern with postpartum weight retention in women

Y. Chen, Y. Qin, Z. Zhang, S. Huang, C. Jiao, Z. Zhang, W. Bao and L. Mao, Food Funct., 2021, 12, 10764 DOI: 10.1039/D1FO00935D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements