Mediterranean and DASH Diets Might Lower The Risk of NAFLD

A recent suggest that both the Mediterranean diet (MeD) and the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) had an inverse association with developing NAFLD implying DASH and MeD diet might lower the risk of NAFLD, especially in women. The study findings were published online in the journal Scientific Reports on February 08, 2022.

Dietary patterns may play a critical role in controlling and preventing this disease, but the available evidence on DASH and MeD on NAFLD is scarce. Therefore, Dr Farhad Zamani and his team conducted a study to ascertain the association of adherence to the MeD and DASH diet with NAFLD among Iranian adults of the Amol Cohort Study (AmolCS).

In a cross-sectional analysis, the researchers included 3220 adults and measured usual dietary intake with a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). They further calculated the dietary pattern scores for DASH and MeD. They collected sociodemographic and lifestyle factors using a structured questionnaire. The presence and degree of NAFLD were also determined by abdominal sonography. They used multiple regression models to estimate NAFLD odds across tertiles of DASH and Mediterranean dietary scores. They adjusted dietary DASH and Mediterranean components for total energy intake, based on the residual methods.

Key findings of the study:

• After adjusting for multiple potential confounders, we found an inverse association of DASH and MeD with NAFLD.
• They noted that those in the highest tertiles of adherence to the DASH and MeD had the lowest risk for NAFLD (OR = 0.80 and OR = 0.64, respectively).
• Upon logistic analysis of MeD, stratified by gender and abdominal obesity, they found favorable association, especially in women (OR = 0.42, Ptrend = 0.004), and in participants with or without abdominal obesity (OR = 0.62, Ptrend = 0.03, OR = 0.64, Ptrend = 0.04, respectively).
• They observed similar results for the adherence to DASH diet score with the prevalence of NAFLD patients with abdominal obesity (OR = 0.75, Ptrend = 0.04).

The authors concluded, "The findings of our study suggested a favorable association between the adherence to DASH and MeD with NAFLD in Iranian adults, especially women and subjects with or without abdominal obesity. However, further prospective investigations are needed to confirm the veracity of this suggestion."

For further information:

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06035-8