Healthy beverages may reduce the genetic risk of abdominal obesity and related metabolic comorbidities: a gene-diet interaction study in Iranian women

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The nutrition transition in developing countries like Iran causes the increasing rise of obesity and abdominal obesity rates. However, it is not yet well proven that environmental modifications like improving the quality of beverage intake can be effective in people who have a genetic predisposition to obesity. So, in the present study, we examine the interaction between genetic predisposition and healthy beverage index (HBI) with abdominal obesity and obesity-related metabolic risk factors in overweight and obese women. METHOD: Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 202 overweight or obese females were chosen for this cross-sectional study. Body composition, anthropometric measures, physical activity, and beverage intake data were collected and analyzed using recognized and trustworthy methodologies. Biochemical tests were performed on serum samples. A genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated based on the results of genetic tests. The predetermined HBI was calculated based on previous studies. A generalized linear model was used to estimate the interactions between GRS and HBI (GLM). RESULTS: We found significant interactions between GRS and HBI on WHR (β = − 0.39, CI: -0.07 to 0.001, P = 0.05) and WC (β = − 6.18, CI: − 13.41 to 1.05, P = 0.09). Also, there were significant gene-diet interactions for HBI and GRS on HDL (β = 7.09, CI: − 0.73 to 14.92, P = 0.07) and FBS (β = − 9.07, CI: − 18.63 to 0.47, P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: These findings emphasize the HBI considering genetics appears to protect against the risks of abdominal obesity and metabolic associated obesity markers.