Dietary amino acids and anthropometric indices: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study.

Objective: Recent studies investigated the role of amino acids (AAs) in weight management. We aimed to determine the association between AAs and three-year change of anthropometric indices and incident obesity. Materials and methods: Height, weight, hip, and waist circumference (WC) were collected at baseline and follow up. Three-year changes in anthropometric indices and obesity incident according to body mass index (BMI) (overweight & obesity) and WC cutoffs (obesity-WC) were ascertained. Dietary intakes of AAs were collected at baseline, using a food frequency questionnaire. Data analyses were conducted on 4976 adult participants and two subsamples, including 1,570 and 2,918 subjects, for assessing the AAs relationship with 3-year changes on anthropometric indices and obesity incident. Results: Lysine and aspartic acid were positively associated with higher weight change, whereas acidic AAs, cysteine, and glutamic acid showed a negative correlation with weight change. Furthermore, a weak positive correlation was shown for alkaline AAs, lysine, and valine with WC; however, acidic AAs, tryptophan, cysteine, and glutamic acid were negatively associated with WC. Aromatic and acidic AAs also demonstrated a weak negative relation with changes in BAI. Phenylalanine and Aromatic AAs showed a negative association with overweight &obesity incidence adjusting for potential confounders. Each quartile increases the dietary lysine, arginine, alanine, methionine, aspartic acid, and alkaline AAs related to a greater risk of obesity-WC, while tryptophan, glutamic acid, proline, and acidic AAs associated with lower obesity-WC risk. Conclusion: Our results suggested that certain dietary AAs may potentially change anthropometric indices and risk of obesity incident.

Dietary amino acids and anthropometric indices: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

ABSTRACT Objective: Recent studies investigated the role of amino acids (AAs) in weight management. We aimed to determine the association between AAs and three-year change of anthropometric indices and incident obesity. Materials and methods: Height, weight, hip, and waist circumference (WC) were collected at baseline and follow up. Three-year changes in anthropometric indices and obesity incident according to body mass index (BMI) (overweight & obesity) and WC cutoffs (obesity-WC) were ascertained. Dietary intakes of AAs were collected at baseline, using a food frequency questionnaire. Data analyses were conducted on 4976 adult participants and two subsamples, including 1,570 and 2,918 subjects, for assessing the AAs relationship with 3-year changes on anthropometric indices and obesity incident. Results: Lysine and aspartic acid were positively associated with higher weight change, whereas acidic AAs, cysteine, and glutamic acid showed a negative correlation with weight change. Furthermore, a weak positive correlation was shown for alkaline AAs, lysine, and valine with WC; however, acidic AAs, tryptophan, cysteine, and glutamic acid were negatively associated with WC. Aromatic and acidic AAs also demonstrated a weak negative relation with changes in BAI. Phenylalanine and Aromatic AAs showed a negative association with overweight &obesity incidence adjusting for potential confounders. Each quartile increases the dietary lysine, arginine, alanine, methionine, aspartic acid, and alkaline AAs related to a greater risk of obesity-WC, while tryptophan, glutamic acid, proline, and acidic AAs associated with lower obesity-WC risk. Conclusion: Our results suggested that certain dietary AAs may potentially change anthropometric indices and risk of obesity incident.

Does the association between patterns of fruit and vegetables and metabolic syndrome incidence vary according to lifestyle factors and socioeconomic status?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the identified patterns of fruits and vegetables and metabolic syndrome (MetS) incidence, and to investigate whether lifestyle factors and socioeconomic status modify the effect of the patterns on MetS risk. METHODS AND RESULTS: We prospectively studied 1915 participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study, who were aged 19-74 years and followed up for dietary assessment using a validated, semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. After adjustment for confounding factors, total vegetable intake was inversely related to the risk of MetS. Total fruit and total fruit and vegetable were not associated with MetS risk. We identified four major patterns of fruits and vegetables by factor analysis: "fresh fruit pattern", "vegetable pattern", "dried fruit and cruciferous vegetable pattern", and "potatoes and fruit juice pattern". "Vegetable pattern" was negatively associated with MetS risk, and "potatoes and fruit juice pattern" increased the risk of MetS. Among participants with weight gain <7% during follow-up, all four identified patterns reduced MetS risk. When stratified by smoking, "vegetable pattern" and "dried Fruit and cruciferous vegetable pattern" lowered MetS risk among non-smokers. Stratification based on education resulted in MetS risk reduction across tertiles of "fresh fruit pattern" and "vegetable pattern". First and second tertiles of "dried fruit and cruciferous vegetable pattern" lowered MetS risk among educated participants, compared to the reference. CONCLUSIONS: The reduction in MetS risk caused by fruits and vegetables intake depends on the modifying effect of lifestyle and socioeconomic factors.

Dietary determinants of unhealthy metabolic phenotype in normal weight and overweight/obese adults: results of a prospective study.

We aimed to investigate associations of dietary intakes with unhealthy metabolic phenotype development, in normal weight and overweight/obese adults separately. A total of 1114 individuals, aged ≥19 years, with healthy phenotype in the third examination cycle of Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study were followed until the fifth examination. Dietary intakes were estimated using the food frequency questionnaires, collected during the study. The participants were grouped as normal weight and overweight/obese according to the baseline body mass index (BMI). Unhealthy metabolic status was determined as having more than one component of metabolic syndrome using the Joint Interim Statement. Regardless of BMI, higher intakes of magnesium, dairy products, poultry, apples/pears, citrus fruits, and tea/coffee decreased the risk of developing unhealthy phenotype, while higher intakes of fast foods, organ meats, and potatoes increased the risk. Food intake can influence the transition to unhealthy phenotype in metabolically healthy adults, irrespective of the BMI status.

Relationship of Food Security with Type 2 Diabetes and Its Risk Factors in Tehranian Adults.

BACKGROUND: As food insecurity has negative effects on health, the aim of this study was to determine tahe relationship between household food security and type 2 diabetes mellitus and its related risk factors. METHODS: In this case-control study, 200 individuals with and 200 individuals without type 2 diabetes mellitus, aged over 40 years, were randomly selected from among participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. The questionnaire on household food security proposed by the United States Department of Agriculture was completed for them by trained personnel. Logistic regression was used to determine the variable that had the most significant relationship with food security status. RESULTS: The average of food security score was 2.38 ± 2.0 in non-diabetic and 2.25 ± 2.0 in diabetic individuals (P = 0.6). In both groups, the risk for food insecurity in women was more than in men. In the diabetic group, being single and having education levels below high school increased the risk of food insecurity. In the non-diabetic group, the risk of food insecurity in obese individuals was 3.3 times higher than normal individuals (odds ratio = 2.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.2-4.1). CONCLUSIONS: There were no significant differences in food security levels of diabetic and non-diabetic groups. However, some risk factors of type 2 diabetes including sex, marital status, educational level, and obesity were associated with food insecurity.

Reliability and validity of the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire (MAQ) in an Iranian urban adult population.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity and reliability of a Persian translation of the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire (MAQ) in a sample of adults from Tehran, Iran. METHODS: There were 48 adults (53.1% males) enrolled to test the physical activity questionnaire. A sub-sample included 33 participants (45.5% males) who assessed the reliability of the physical activity questionnaire.The validity was tested in 25 individuals (48.0% males). The reliability of two MAQs was calculated by intraclass correlation coefficients. The validation study was evaluated with the Spearman correlation coefficients to compare data between the means of 2 MAQs and the means of 4 physical activity records. RESULTS: Intraclass correlation coefficients between 2 MAQs for the previous year's leisure time was 0.94; for occupational, it was 0.98; and for total (leisure and occupational combined) physical activity, it was 0.97. The Spearman correlation coefficients between the means of the 2 MAQs and means of the 4 physical activity records was 0.39 (P = 0.05) for leisure time, 0.36 (P = 0.07) for occupational, and 0.47 (P = 0.01) for total (leisure and occupational combined) physical activities. CONCLUSION: High reliability and relatively moderate validity were found for the Persian translated MAQ in adults from Tehran. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are suggested to more precisely assess the validity of the MAQ.