High dietary acid load can potentially worsen cardiometabolic risk factors, study reveals

The dietary acid load is determined by the balance of acid-inducing foods, such as eggs, meats, cheese and cereal grains, and base-inducing foods, such as vegetables and fruits. 

Previous studies have revealed an association between chronic metabolic acidosis and cardiometabolic risk factors. Mohammad Alizadeh, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran, and colleagues aimed to explore the association between Potential Renal Acid Load (PRAL) and Net Endogenous Acid Production (NEAP) with these risk factors in an updated meta-analysis.

For this purpose, the researchers searched the online databases up to May 2023. The mean of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), high- and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C and LDL-C), triglyceride, fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol (TC), and systolic- and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) in highest category versus lowest categories of NEAP and PRAL were recorded. Effect sizes were generated as weighted mean difference (WMD).

The researchers reported the following findings:

• Low PRAL and NEAP scores are significantly related to lower systolic BP and diastolic BP.
• Lower PRAL and NEAP scores are significantly associated with lower waist circumference values.
• The lowest versus highest categories of PRAL were associated with lower body mass index.
• There was a significant association between low serum triglyceride and low PRAL score.

"Findings showed that SBP, DBP, and WC had a significant difference in the upper and lower categories of PRAL (WMDSBP: -1.466 mmHg, WMDDBP: -0.710 mmHg, and WMDWC: -0.819 cm) or NEAP (WMDSBP: -1.690 mmHg, WMDDBP: -1.076 mmHg, and WMDWC: -1.325 cm)," the researchers reported.

"The lowest versus highest categories of dietary PRAL were associated with lower BMI (WMDPRAL: -0.297 kg/m2) and TG (WMD: -2.280 mg/dl)."

"High dietary acid load can be considered as an independent risk factor for increasing blood pressure, anthropometric indices, and TG," they concluded.

Reference:

Dolati, S., Razmjouei, S., Faghfouri, A. H., Moridpour, A. H., & Alizadeh, M. (2024). A high dietary acid load can potentially exacerbate cardiometabolic risk factors: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.numecd.2024.01.013