title: Dietary variety is a protective factor for elevated systolic blood pressure.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diet directly influences systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), which is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To associate hypertension with dietary factors in adults clinically selected for a change-of-lifestyle program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study comprising 335 individuals, aged between 44 and 65 years, clinically selected for a change-of-lifestyle program. We evaluated anthropometric data (BMI, %body fat and waist circumference), biochemical components (plasma glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL-C and LDL-c) and diet, through the 24-hour recall method. The quality of the diet was assessed by the Healthy Eating Index. Blood pressure was measured according to the V Brazilian Guidelines on Hypertension and classified according to NCEP-ATPIII. Logistic regression was performed to determine the likelihood of changes in SBP and DBP according to dietary intake. The level of significance was set at p <0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a positive correlation between diastolic blood pressure and sugar and cholesterol intake, and a negative one with intake of fiber, portions of oil and fats and diet quality. Dietary variety with ≥ 8 food items showed a protective effect for alterations in systolic blood pressure, OR = 0.361 (0.148 to 0.878).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A greater dietary variety had a protective effect on the systolic blood pressure.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Metabolismo em Exercício e Nutrição (CeMENutri) - Departamento de Saúde Pública - Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu (UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brazil. erick_po@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Erick Prado de
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Karina Fernandes de
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.forename: Gabriela Kaiser Fullin
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Castanho
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nicola
authors.forename: Kátia Cristina
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Portero-McLellan
authors.forename: Roberto Carlos
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Burini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric