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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Metabolism. 2008 Mar;57(3):437–443. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2007.11.002

Table 1.

Characteristics of 18,137 participants in the Women’s Health Study (means or %) by quintile of carbohydrate variables

Quintile dietary glycemic index
 Quintile dietary glycemic load
1 (lowest) 3 5 (highest) p1 1 (lowest) 3 5 (highest) p1
Age (y)2 55.2 55.0 54.3 <0.001 54.3 54.8 55.3 <0.001
Body mass index (kg/m2) 25.6 25.6 26.0 <0.001 26.3 25.8 25.0 <0.001
History of hypertension (%) 23.0 24.3 25.3 0.20 25.9 23.9 22.9 0.04
Strenuous exercise (%) <0.001 <0.001
 Rarely or never 30.5 36.2 44.6 41.4 36.2 34.2
 <1 times/week 17.8 20.2 20.5 21.0 20.0 16.8
 1-3 times/week 35.8 32.4 26.6 28.7 32.6 33.7
 ≥4 times/week 15.9 11.2 8.8 8.9 11.2 15.2
Postmenopausal hormone use (%) 0.50 0.01
 Current 45.5 43.6 42.6 41.6 45.0 44.3
 Past 9.6 10.1 10.4 10.1 9.0 11.0
 Never 44.9 46.4 47.0 48.4 46.0 44.7
Smoking (%) <0.001 <0.001
 Current 13.4 10.6 12.0 20.4 9.5 7.7
 Past 41.5 37.1 31.5 40.3 36.7 33.0
 Never 45.1 52.3 56.5 39.3 53.8 59.4
Multivitamin use (%) 0.11 <0.001
 Current 29.9 29.1 27.7 25.5 30.2 31.4
 Past 56.7 57.9 56.2 60.2 57.4 55.1
 Never 13.4 13.0 13.2 14.3 12.4 13.5
Nutrient intakes
 Carbohydrate (g/d)3 [% energy] 213 [49.2] 222 [51.3] 234 [54.1] <0.001 177 [41.0] 222 [51.4] 267 [61.9] <0.001
 Protein (g/d)3 [% energy] 85.5 [19.9] 80.9 [18.8] 75.6 [17.6] <0.001 88.3 [20.6] 82.1 [19.0] 70.7 [16.5] <0.001
 Saturated fat (g/d) 3 [% energy] 20.2 [10.5] 19.7 [10.3] 18.7 [9.7] <0.001 23.8 [12.4] 19.7 [10.3] 15.0 [7.8] <0.001
 Trans fat (g/d) 3 [% energy] 2.0 [1.1] 2.3 [1.2] 2.4 [1.3] <0.001 2.6 [1.4] 2.3 [1.2] 1.8 [0.9] <0.001
 Monounsaturated fat (g/d)3 [% energy] 21.3 [11.1] 21.7 [11.3] 21.1 [11.0] 0.23 25.9 [13.4] 21.5 [11.2] 16.7 [8.7] <0.001
 Polyunsaturated fat (g/d) 3 [% energy] 11.2 [5.8] 11.2 [5.8] 10.8 [5.6] <0.001 12.6 [6.5] 11.1 [5.8] 9.5 [4.9] <0.001
 Alcohol (g/d) 3 7.1 4.5 2.8 <0.001 10.2 3.9 2.1 <0.001
 Cholesterol (mg/d) 3 230 224 214 <0.001 275 224 166 <0.001
 Fiber (g/d)3 20.5 19.2 17.3 <0.001 15.8 19.1 22.5 <0.001
 Magnesium (mg/d) 3 370 340 305 <0.001 321 342 353 <0.001
 Folate (μg/d) 3 452 431 404 <0.001 384 433 473 <0.001
 Total energy (kcal/d) 1690 1777 1666 0.08 1691 1771 1684 0.20
1

P-values from linear regression (continuous variables) or χ2 test (categorical variables)

2

Means or percents

3

Energy-adjusted using the residuals method