Noodle Consumption is Positively Associated with Incident Hypertension in Middle-aged and Older Korean Women

Background/objectives: This study examined the association between refined grain consumption by subtype and the incidence of hypertension from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study data.

Subjects/methods: In total, 5,018 participants (2,439 men and 2,579 women) from 40 to 69 years without hypertension were recruited at the beginning (2001-2002). Blood pressure and antihypertensive medication use were assessed biennially for the incidence of hypertension during the 8-year follow-up period (2009-2010). Hypertension was diagnosed as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg or antihypertensive medication use. Dietary intake including refined grains was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire at baseline and the follow-up (2005-2006). A multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was used to examine hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident hypertension according to refined-grain consumption.

Results: A total of 1,377 cases of hypertension (710 men and 667 women) were newly ascertained. Frequent noodle consumers (≥ 5 servings/week) among the women had a 2.3-fold higher risk of hypertension than infrequent noodle consumers after adjustment for potential confounders (HR = 2.31, 95% CI = 1.33-4.01, for trend = 0.0001). However, no significant association was found among the men. The intake of other refined grain products such as white rice and breads was not associated with the incidence of hypertension.

Conclusions: Frequent noodle consumption was positively associated with a risk of incident hypertension in South Korean women.