J Intern Med. 2013 Jan;273(1):79-93.
Adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern in early life is associated with lower arterial stiffness in adulthood: the Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study.
van de Laar RJ, Stehouwer CD, van Bussel BC, Prins MH, Twisk JW, Ferreira I.
Source
Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre,
Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
To investigate whether adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern during
adolescence and early adulthood affects arterial stiffness in adulthood, and the
extent to which any such association may be attributed to a beneficial impact of
this diet on cardiovascular disease risk factors such as blood pressure, central
fatness and dyslipidaemia.
SETTING:
The Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study.
DESIGN AND SUBJECTS:
We compared longitudinal levels of adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern
(aMED score with range 0-9) during adolescence and adulthood (two to eight
repeated measures obtained between the ages of 13 and 36) between individuals
with different levels of arterial stiffness in adulthood. The study population
included 373 (196 women) apparently healthy adults in whom properties of the
carotid, brachial and femoral arteries were assessed using ultrasonography at 36
years of age.
RESULTS:
After adjustments for potential confounders, individuals with stiffer carotid
arteries (defined on the basis of the most adverse tertile of, for instance, the
distensibility coefficient) had lower aMED scores (-0.32, 95% CI -0.60; -0.06)
and were less likely to have adhered to this dietary pattern (aMED score >=5,
odds ratio 0.69, 95% CI 0.50; -0.94) during the preceding 24 years compared with
those with less stiff arteries. Differences in aMED scores were already present
in adolescence and were only in part explained by the favourable associations
between the Mediterranean dietary pattern and other cardiovascular disease risk
factors (up to 26%), particularly mean blood pressure (up to 19%).
CONCLUSIONS:
Promoting the Mediterranean diet in adolescence and early adulthood may
constitute an important means of preventing arterial stiffness in adulthood.
© 2012 The Association for the Publication of the Journal of Internal Medicine.
PMID: 22809371 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]