The relationship between dietary intake and other cardiovascular risk factors with blood pressure in individuals without a history of a cardiovascular event: Evidence based study with 5670 subjects.

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Raised blood pressure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide; improved nutritional approaches to population-wide prevention are required.We aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary intake and other cardiovascular risk factors with blood pressure in individuals without a history of a cardiovascular event in an Iranian cohort.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

A cross-sectional study of 5670 healthy subjects [approximately 40% (n=2179) males and 60% (n=3491) females] was undertaken in a sample from northeastern Iran. Subjects were recruited from an urban population, using a stratified-cluster method and derived from the Mashhad Stroke Heart Atherosclerosis Disorder (MASHAD) study, Mashhad, Iran. The age of the subjects was between 35 and 64 years. None of the subjects had a past history of major disease.

RESULTS

The mean ages for the male and female subgroups were 50.1± 8.1years and 48.2 ±7.8 y respectively. Not unexpectedly, subjects without hypertension (HTN) were younger than those with established HTN. Individuals with HTN were significantly more adipose than those without (p<0.01). We found no significant differences in crude or total energy adjusted intake of nutrients between the three groups (p>0.05), except for crude and energy adjusted phosphorus intake (p<0.05) and crude intake of the cholesterol (p<0.05). There was a significant correlation between the dietary intake of total fatty acids, phosphorus and vitamin E with both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). PUFA (odds ratio [OR] [95% confidence interval (CI)], 1.56 [1.05-1.06]; P<0.01), sodium (OR [95% CI], 1.00 [(1.00-1.01)]; P<0.01) and phosphorus (OR [95% CI], 1.00 [(1.00-1.01)]; P<0.01)were significant independent predictors of HTN after adjustment for energy intake.

CONCLUSION

In our representative population from North-Eastern Iran, it appears that in adults without a history of cardiovascular disease, crude or energy adjusted intake of phosphorus and total fatty acid intake were significant determinants of BP, however we found no association between sodium and potassium intake with BP.