Dietary antioxidants and cardiometabolic health in the Ardabil Persian cohort

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain a major global health burden, with oxidative stress and inflammation playing key roles in their development. This study investigated the cross-sectional association between dietary total antioxidant capacity (DTAC) and cardiovascular risk factors among adults aged 35-75 in Ardabil, Iran. METHODS AND RESULTS: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 500 participants from the Ardabil Persian Cohort Study. Dietary intake was assessed using three 24-h dietary recalls, and DTAC was estimated using the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) approach. DTAC was inversely associated with several cardiometabolic markers, including total cholesterol, body mass index (BMI), hyperglycemia, and hypertension. Two primary dietary patterns were identified a posteriori using principal component analysis (PCA) on 19 nutritionally similar food groups: one rich in fruits and vegetables (fruit-and-vegetable pattern), associated with higher DTAC and a more favorable cardiometabolic risk profile, and another rich in butters, sweets, red meat, and butter (red meat pattern), associated with less favorable cardiometabolic outcomes. Associations between DTAC, dietary patterns and CVD risk factors were examined using regression models. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that higher DTAC and adherence to a fruit-and-vegetable dietary pattern are associated with lower cardiometabolic risk. These results highlight the importance of promoting healthier dietary patterns to reduce cardiometabolic risk in diverse populations, while prospective studies are warranted to confirm temporality and causality.