Table 1 Baseline characteristics of participants across tertiles of dietary insulin load and dietary insulin index

Median intake (g/d)

30,531

129,542

14.7

55.8

Range of intake (g/d)

≤ 47,449

≥ 92,720

≤ 21.4

≥ 39.6

Age at baseline (y)

37.6 ± 0.5

36.2 ± 0.5

0.024

37.1 ± 0.5

36.8 ± 0.5

0.035

Female (%)

72.6

52.4

< 0.001

96.8

55.7

< 0.001

Physical activity (MET hour-week) at baseline

4.6 ± 0.3

4.9 ± 0.3

0.128

4.9 ± 0.3

4.8 ± 0.3

0.396

Smoker at baseline (%)

16.3

24.3

< 0.001

18.6

23.8

0.060

Academic degrees (%)

30.3

22.4

0.005

29.0

22.0

0.043

Occupational status, unemployed (%)

61.0

54.1

0.033

59.5

56.3

0.228

Family history of diabetes (%)

32.1

31.8

0.452

35.8

32.6

0.587

Family history of CVD events (%)

19.0

18.6

0.906

18.6

18.2

0.923

BMI at baseline (kg/m²)

25.8 ± 0.2

25.5 ± 0.2

0.359

25.8 ± 0.2

25.6 ± 0.2

0.200

Wight change (kg)

5.4 ± 1.2

11.0 ± 1.2

< 0.001

7.5 ± 1.2

10.8 ± 1.2

0.037