Meal patterns in healthy adults: Inverse association of eating frequency with subclinical atherosclerosis indexes.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Meal patterns and their relationship with cardiovascular disease are insufficiently examined with important clinical implications. Our aim was to investigate associations between eating frequency (EF) and early markers of atherosclerosis.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, we consecutively recruited 164 healthy subjects (46.8 ± 9.3years, 62 men). EF among other dietary parameters and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis, including flow mediated dilatation (FMD), pulse wave velocity (PWV), intima media thickness (IMT) and the presence of plaques in the carotid arteries were evaluated in all volunteers.

RESULTS

EF was positively associated with total energy intake (EI) and a favorable profile in terms of adiposity, glucose tolerance and blood lipids. Subjects with an increased EF (> median), had significantly lower IMT (p = 0.024) and prevalence of plaques (5.3% vs. 21.3%, p = 0.003), as compared to those below median. IMT and the prevalence of plaques were also significantly lower in those with increased EF compared with subjects with low EF belonging to the same group of energy intake (EI) by EI median. By multivariate regression analysis, carotid plaques remained significantly associated with EF (OR: 0.71, 95% CI 0.56-0.89), while IMT also remained significantly associated with EF after adjustment for age and dietary factors (beta: -0.010, 95% CI: -0.020 to -0.0002), but not after adding obesity-related risk factors.

CONCLUSION

Increased EF is associated with lower prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries in apparently healthy individuals. Whether consumption of the same amount of energy in more eating episodes favorably affects cardiovascular risk should be further investigated.