Determinants of glycated haemoglobin in the general population: associations with diet, alcohol and cigarette smoking

Abstract

Objective: We evaluated cigarette smoking, alcohol intake and consumption of different foods as determinants of glycated haemoglobin in a general population sample. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: England. Subjects: Representative sample of 15 809 adults aged 16 y and older. Data analysed for 9772 non-diabetic, white European subjects. Main outcome measures: Glycated haemoglobin (GHb). Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), waist ± hip circumference ratio, activity level, and educational attainment. Results: After adjusting for confounding, GHb was 0.277% (95% con®dence interval 0.218 to 0.336) higher in current smokers of 20 or more per day, compared with non-smokers. GHb was 0.189% (0.101 to 0.277) lower in those drinking 42 or more units of alcohol per week than in non-drinkers. GHb was not associated with frequency of consumption of pulses, fruit, vegetables and salads, cakes, bread or confectionery. GHb was higher in subjects who took sugar in tea (0.051%, 0.015 to 0.087%) or in coffee (0.069%, 0.034 to 0.105%). GHb was higher in subjects who used solid fat for cooking (0.082%, 0.022 to 0.142%), or who drank whole rather than reduced-fat milk (0.088%, 0.036 to 0.140%), or used butter or hard margarine rather than low-fat spreads (0.075%, 0.029 to 0.121%). Conclusions: In the general population, higher GHb may be associated with cigarette smoking, or frequent consumption of fat-containing foods. Consumption of alcohol may be associated with lower GHb.

Association between Alcohol Drinking and Metabolic Syndrome in Japanese Male Workers with Diabetes Mellitus

“…This finding agrees with the findings of an inverse relationship between alcohol intake and hemoglobin A1C in previous studies using general populations 30,31) . However, the amount of alcohol intake is recommended to be less than 20-30 g ethanol per day from the viewpoint of prevention of hypertension 21) , and this amount corresponds to the alcohol intake of light drinkers in the present study.…”

Factors Associated with Poor Glycemic Control among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Ambo Hospital, Ambo; Ethiopia

“…This finding was in line with the study conducted in India [18]. Other studies also found a significant relationship in age categories, smoking, duration of diabetes [20][21][22] and male gender [18], however, our study did not bring any significant values in the latter three. The mean FBG of three month consecutive measure in our study was 168.69 (SD=71.37) mg/dl and it was again similar to the study conducted in Ethiopia [19].…”

“…But, other studies reported the presence of association between HTN and glycemic control [14,18]. Still other studies shown that, smoking [21] and duration of diabetes [22] could result in major adverse events in patients with type 2 diabetes.…”

The Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption and Glycemic Control Among Patients with Diabetes: The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Diabetes Registry

“…Among people without diabetes, moderate alcohol consumption may enhance insulin sensitivity [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51] and has been shown to decrease A1C. [52][53][54][55][56] It is plausible that regular, moderate alcohol consumption by people with diabetes similarly enhances insulin sensitivity and improves glycemic control. If this is the case, it might follow that the effect would be greater among type 2 diabetes patients, as they typically have much greater insulin resistance than those with type 1 diabetes; we did not, however, find different patterns of effect by diabetes type in our cohort.…”