The association of minerals intake in three meals with cancer and all-cause mortality: the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003–2014

BACKGROUND: Intake time of diet has recently been demonstrated to be associated with the internal clock and circadian pattern. However, whether and how the intake time of minerals would influence the natural course of cancer was largely unknown. METHODS: This study aimed to assess the association of mineral intake at different periods with cancer and all-cause mortality. A total of 27,455 participants aged 18–85 years old in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were recruited. The main exposures were the mineral intakes in the morning, afternoon and evening, which were categorized into quintiles, respectively. The main outcomes were mortality of cancer and all causes. RESULTS: During the 178,182 person-years of follow-up, 2680 deaths, including 601 deaths due to cancer, were documented. After adjusting for potential confounders, compared to the participants who were in the lowest quintile(quintile-1) of mineral intakes at dinner, the participants in the highest quintile intake(quintile-5) of dietary potassium, calcium and magnesium had lower mortality risks of cancer (HRpotassium = 0.72, 95% CI:0.55–0.94, P for trend = 0.023; HRcalcium = 0.74, 95% CI:0.57–0.98, P for trend = 0.05; HRmagnesium = 0.75, 95% CI:0.56–0.99, P for trend = 0.037) and all-cause (HRpotassium = 0.83, 95% CI:0.73–0.94, P for trend = 0.012; HRcalcium = 0.87, 95% CI:0.76–0.99, P for trend = 0.025; HRmagnesium = 0.85, 95% CI:0.74–0.97, P for trend = 0.011; HRcopper = 0.80, 95%CI: 0.68–0.94, P for trend = 0.012). Further, equivalently replacing 10% of dietary potassium, calcium and magnesium consumed in the morning with those in the evening were associated with lower mortality risk of cancer (HRpotassium = 0.94, 95%CI:0.91–0.97; HRcalcium = 0.95, 95%CI:0.92–0.98; HRmagnesium = 0.95, 95%CI: 0.92–0.98). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that the optimal intake time of potassium, calcium and magnesium for reducing the risk of cancer and all-cause mortality was in the evening. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-08643-5.