Fresh from the ICQC (International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium) meeting in Kalamata, Greece, our team returned energized; motivated by new research, reconnecting with colleagues, and forming valuable new collaborations. The program featured sessions on dietary fiber, carbohydrate quality, the glycemic index, and sugars and sweeteners. Here are some of the key highlights from this year’s conference:

Dietary Fiber

• • Experts suggested using the term dietary fibers rather than dietary fiber to reflect the many distinct types of fibers, each with unique properties.

• • Higher dietary fiber intake continues to be strongly linked with better health outcomes, including a 22% reduction in overall cancer incidence and a 17% reduction in cancer mortality.

Glycemic Index (GI) and Related Measures

• • Body weight: Weight gain shows a positive association with GI, glycemic load (GL), and added sugars. The higher an individual’s body weight, the more important the GI of their diet becomes.

• • Dementia risk: Low-GI and low-GL diets are associated with a 14–16% reduction in the risk of developing dementia in adulthood.

• • Pregnancy: Low-GI diets during pregnancy have been linked to enhanced motor and language development in offspring.

Sugar Intake and Health

• • There is now robust evidence linking sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) with higher risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular mortality, metabolic syndrome, NAFLD, colorectal cancer, and all-cause mortality. These associations are not observed with solid forms of sugar.

• • Reducing sugar in processed foods is not always beneficial; for example, replacing sugar with refined starch is associated with increases in body fat, BMI, and HbA1c.

• • Fruit consistently shows protective effects despite its natural sugar content.

Risk Patterns

• • Fruit and yogurt show L-shaped risk curves—higher intake is associated with progressively greater health benefits.

• • Fruit juice shows a U-shaped curve, indicating potential benefits at moderate intakes but risk with very high or very low consumption.

• • SSBs show a linear curve, with higher intake steadily increasing risk.

Thank you to the ICQC team for organizing such a high-quality meeting filled with valuable scientific insights. We’re already looking forward to the next one!