Adherence to the dietary approaches to stop hypertension trial (DASH) diet is inversely associated with incidence of insulin resistance in adults: the Tehran lipid and glucose study

Beneficial effects of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension trial (DASH) diet on features of metabolic syndrome have been indicated in clinical studies. In this study, we aimed to assess possible association of DASH diet score and the risk of insulin resistance in an Iranian population. In this prospective cohort study, 927 adult men and women, were recruited. Fasting serum insulin and glucose were measured at baseline and again after 3 years. Usual dietary intakes were measured using a validated 168 item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and DASH score was calculated. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the occurrence of the insulin resistance across tertiles of DASH diet. To investigate possible superiority of DASH score over other scoring system, we also assessed the association of healthy eating index and Mediterranean diet score with the risk of insulin resistance. Mean age of the participants was 40.34 ± 12.14 years old. The incidence rate of insulin resistance was 12.8%. Participants with higher DASH score had also higher intakes of potassium, calcium, magnesium, fiber, and lower intakes of cholesterol (p<0.05). After 3-years of follow-up, a significant negative association was observed between DASH score and the risk insulin resistance in the highest compared to the lowest tertile (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.20–0.76, p for trend = 0.007). There was no significant association between healthy eating index and Mediterranean diet score with the incidence of insulin resistance. In conclusion, adherence to the DASH dietary pattern may be associated with a lower risk of insulin resistance and its related metabolic outcomes.