Association of dietary fats with ischemic heart disease (IHD): a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the association between different types of dietary fats with ischemic heart disease (IHD). METHODS: This case-control study was conducted on 443 cases and 453 controls aged 40-80 years in Tehran, Iran. The semi-quantitative 237-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess the amount of food intake. Nutritionist IV was applied to test the amount of consumption of dietary fats. RESULTS: The case group had a lower intake of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (11.36 ± 12.58 vs. 14.19 ± 19.57, P = 0.01) than the control group. A negative association was found between IHD and DHA (OR 0.98, CI 95% 0.97-0.99, P = 0.01). No significant association was observed between IHD with the intake of cholesterol, trans fatty acids (TFA), saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), eicosatetraenoic acid (EPA), and α-Linolenic acid (ALA). CONCLUSION: It was found that DHA may reduce the risk of IHD, whereas there was no significant association between other types of dietary fats with the odds of IHD. If the results of this study are confirmed in future research, a higher intake of DHA in diet can be recommended as a strategy to prevent IHD events.

Is dietary diversity a proxy measurement of nutrient adequacy in Iranian elderly women?

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether consumption of more diverse diets would increase the probability of nutrients adequacy among elderly women in Tehran, Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 292 women aged ≥60 years who were randomly selected from 10 public health centers among 31 centers in south area of Tehran. Because of some limitations we randomly chose these 10 centers. The sample sizes provided 80% statistical power to meet the aim of study for test the relationship between Nutrient Adequacy Ratio (NAR), Mean Adequacy Ratio (MAR) as a dependent variable and total Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) as an independent variable. Dietary intakes were assessed by two 24-h recall questionnaires. The mean probability of adequacy across 12 nutrients and energy were calculated using the Dietary Reference Index (DRI). Dietary diversity Score was defined according to diet quality index revised (Haines et al. method). To investigate the relationship between MAR and DDS some demographic and socioeconomic variables were examined. RESULTS: Mean ± SD of total dietary diversity was 4.22 ± 1.28 (range 1.07-6.93). The Fruit and vegetable groups had the highest (1.27 ± 0.65, range 0-2.0) and the lowest (0.56 ± 0.36, range 0-1.71) diversity score, respectively. We observed that total DDS has significant positive correlation with MAR (r = 0.65, P < 0.001). Total DDS was significantly associated with NAR of all 12 studied nutrients (P < 0.01); probability adequacy of vitamin B2 revealed the strongest (r = 0.63, P < 0.01) and vitamin B12 revealed the weakest (r = 0.28, P < 0.01) relationship with total DDS. When maximizing sensitivity and specificity, the best cut-off point for achieving MAR≥1 was 4.5 for DDS. CONCLUSION: The results of our study showed that DDS is an appropriate indicator of the probability of nutrient adequacy in Tehranian elderly women.