A pro-inflammatory diet is associated with increased risk of developing hypertension among middle-aged women.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A pro-inflammatory diet is thought to lead to hypertension through oxidative stress and vessel wall inflammation. We therefore investigated the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and developing hypertension in a population-based cohort of middle-aged women. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health included 7169 Australian women, aged 52 years (SD 1 year) at baseline in 2001, who were followed up through 4 surveys until 2013. The DII, a literature-derived dietary index that has been validated against several inflammatory markers, was calculated based on data collected via a validated food-frequency questionnaire administered at baseline. Hypertension was defined as new onset of doctor-diagnosed hypertension, ascertained through self-report between 2001 and 2013. Generalised Estimating Equation analyses were used to investigate the association between the DII and incident hypertension. The analyses were adjusted for demographic and hypertension risk factors. During 12-years follow-up we identified 1680 incident cases of hypertension. A more pro-inflammatory diet was associated with higher risk of hypertension in dichotomised analyses with an ORfully adjusted of 1.24, 95% CI: 1.06-1.45. CONCLUSION: A pro-inflammatory diet might lead to a higher risk of developing hypertension. These results need to be replicated in other studies.

Association of diet and lifestyle with glycated haemoglobin in type 1 diabetes participants in the EURODIAB prospective complications study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Diet and lifestyle advice for type 1 diabetes (T1DM) patients is based on little evidence and putative effects on glycaemic control. Therefore, we investigated the longitudinal relation between dietary and lifestyle variables and HbA1c levels in patients with type 1 diabetes. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A 7-year prospective cohort analysis was performed in 1659 T1DM patients (52% males, mean age 32.5 years) participating in the EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study. Baseline dietary intake was assessed by 3- day records and physical activity, smoking status and alcohol intake by questionnaires. HbA1c during follow-up was centrally assessed by immunoassay. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and restricted cubic spline regression analyses were performed to assess dose-response associations between diet and lifestyle variables and HbA1c levels, adjusted for age, sex, lifestyle and body composition measures, baseline HbA1c, medication use and severe hypoglycaemic attacks. RESULTS: Mean follow-up of our study population was 6.8 (s.d. 0.6) years. Mean HbA1c level was 8.25% (s.d. 1.85) (or 66.6 mmol/mol) at baseline and 8.27% (s.d. 1.44) at follow-up. Physical activity, smoking status and alcohol intake were not associated with HbA1c at follow-up in multivariable ANOVA models. Baseline intake below the median of vegetable protein (<29 g/day) and dietary fibre (<18 g/day) was associated with higher HbA1c levels. Restricted cubic splines showed nonlinear associations with HbA1c levels for vegetable protein (P (nonlinear)=0.008) and total dietary fibre (P (nonlinear)=0.0009). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that low intake of vegetable protein and dietary fibre are associated with worse glycaemic control in type 1 diabetes.

Dietary saturated fat and fibre and risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality among type 1 diabetic patients: the EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Low adherence to recommendations for dietary saturated fatty acid (SFA) and fibre intake in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus may heighten their increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. We examined the relationship of SFA and total, soluble and insoluble fibre with incident CVD and all-cause mortality in type 1 diabetic patients. METHODS: A prospective cohort analysis was performed in 2,108 European type 1 diabetic patients aged 15-60 years who were free of CVD at baseline and enrolled in the EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study (51% male). Diet was assessed from a standardised 3 day dietary record. HR were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 7.3 years, 148 incident cases of fatal and non-fatal CVD and 46 all-cause deaths were documented. No statistically significant association was found between SFA and CVD and all-cause mortality. Total dietary fibre, per 5 g/day, was associated with lower all-cause mortality risk (HR 0.72; 95% CI 0.55, 0.95). This association was stronger for soluble fibre (per 5 g/day, HR 0.34; 95% CI 0.14, 0.80) compared with insoluble fibre (per 5 g/day; HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.45, 0.97). Similar results were found for the association with CVD. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: This study suggests that reported dietary SFA is not significantly associated with CVD and all-cause mortality in type 1 diabetic patients. On the contrary, higher dietary fibre consumption, especially soluble fibre, within the range commonly consumed by type 1 diabetic patients, may contribute to the prevention of CVD and all-cause mortality in type 1 diabetic patients.