title: Higher adherence to a diet score based on American Heart Association recommendations is associated with lower odds of allostatic load and metabolic syndrome in Puerto Rican adults.
abstract: A score based on diet and lifestyle recommendations from the AHA has been associated with cardiovascular risk factors. We aimed to assess whether the diet components alone were associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and allostatic load (AL; a composite measure of 10 physiologically dysregulated variables). The diet score ranged from 0 to 90 and included intake components for dietary fats, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, salt, added sugars, and alcohol and was tested in a cross-sectional analysis of 1318 Puerto Rican adults (aged 45-75 y; 72% women) living in Boston, MA. The mean ± SD diet score was 28.0 ± 9.9 for men and 30.0 ± 10.1 for women. Replicating findings from a previous study in this cohort that used both the diet and lifestyle components, we observed associations between the diet-only score and insulin, waist circumference, and HDL cholesterol. We found novel significant associations between the continuous diet score and AL components, namely an inverse association with urinary cortisol and a positive association with serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in women as well as an inverse association with urinary norepinephrine in men (all P < 0.05). In multinomial logistic regression, every 10 AHA diet score units were associated with 22% (95% CI: 1, 38; P = 0.043) lower odds of having ≥6 (vs. ≤2) dysregulated AL components in women. In men, every 10 diet score units were associated with lower odds of MetS (OR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.52, 0.93; P = 0.016). Following AHA recommendations for a healthy diet may protect against the development of components of MetS and AL in Puerto Rican adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Josiemer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mattei
authors.forename: Shilpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhupathiraju
authors.forename: Katherine L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Tucker
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D052636:Allostasis; D000572:American Heart Association; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014675:Vegetables; D055105:Waist Circumference
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D004041:Dietary Fats