Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, Mediterranean diet and blood lipid profiles in less-developed ethnic minority regions

Different from developed countries, there is a paucity of research examining how the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and Mediterranean diets relate to lipids in less-developed ethnic minority regions (LEMR). A total of 83 081 participants from seven ethnic groups were retrieved from the baseline data of the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort study, which was conducted in less-developed Southwest China between May 2018 and September 2019. Multivariable linear regression models were then used to examine the associations of the DASH and alternative Mediterranean diet (AMED) scores, assessed by modified DASH score and AMED, as well as their components with total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, TAG and TC/HDL-cholesterol. The DASH scores were negatively associated with TC, HDL-cholesterol and TAG. Comparing the highest quintiles with the lowest DASH scores, TC decreased 0 center dot 0708 (95 % CI -0 center dot 0923, -0 center dot 0493) mmol/l, HDL-cholesterol decreased 0 center dot 0380 (95 % CI -0 center dot 0462, -0 center dot 0299) mmol/l and TAG decreased 0 center dot 0668 (95 % CI -0 center dot 0994, -0 center dot 0341) mmol/l. The AMED scores were negatively associated with TC, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol. Comparing the highest quintiles with the lowest AMED scores, TC decreased 0 center dot 0816 (95 % CI -0 center dot 1035, -0 center dot 0597) mmol/l, LDL-cholesterol decreased 0 center dot 0297 (95 % CI -0 center dot 0477, -0 center dot 0118) mmol/l and HDL-cholesterol decreased 0 center dot 0275 (95 % CI -0 center dot 0358, -0 center dot 0192) mmol/l. Although both the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet were negatively associated with blood lipids, those associations showed different patterns in LEMR, particularly for TAG and HDL-cholesterol.

Automated summary

In the less-developed ethnic minority regions of Southwest China, both DASH and Mediterranean diets were found to have negative associations with blood lipids, but the patterns of these associations differed, particularly for triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol.