Association of plant-based dietary patterns with metabolic syndrome: baseline results from the Persian Kavar cohort study (PKCS)
Fatemeh Jafari, Masoud Amini Kahrizsangi, Wasiuddin Najam, Mohammad Reza Fattahi, Mehran Nouri, Hamid Ghalandari, Moein Askarpour, Maryam Hamidian Shirazi, Marzieh Akbarzadeh
Abstract
Plant-based diets (PBDs) have gained a positive reputation among experts as a solution to combat the epidemic of MetS. A total of 2225 healthy Iranian individuals aged 35-70 years were considered eligible to be included in this cross-sectional investigation. Various dietary, anthropometric, and biochemical assessments were conducted using standard, valid methods/tools. Relevant PBD scores were calculated using three a posteriori indices, including the overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthful PDI (hPDI), and unhealthful PDI (uPDI). Our findings showed that women with the highest adherence to hPDI had a lower chance of MetS. Also, participants in the top tertiles of hPDI were more likely to have a lower risk of low serum HDL-c and abnormal glucose homeostasis. Additionally, a significant increasing trend was observed for low serum HDL-c across tertiles of uPDI. Our observations suggest that healthful-rich plant foods may have a protective effect against MetS, especially in women.