1. Mediterranean diet and the prevention of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: results from a case-control study
- Author
-
Giraldi, Luca, Miele, Luca, Aleksovska, K., Manca, F., Leoncini, Emanuele, Biolato, Marco, Arzani, D., Pirro, Maria Antonia, Marrone, Giuseppe, Cefalo, Chiara Maria Assunta, Racco, S., Liguori, Antonio, Rapaccini, Gian Ludovico, Miggiano, G. A., Gasbarrini, Antonio, Boccia, Stefania, and Grieco, Antonio
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Epidemiology ,Settore MED/12 - GASTROENTEROLOGIA ,Rome ,Feeding Behavior ,Case-control ,Middle Aged ,Protective Factors ,Diet, Mediterranean ,Risk Assessment ,Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ,Risk Factors ,Mediterranean diet ,Prevalence ,Humans ,Female ,Diet, Healthy ,Risk Reduction Behavior ,Aged ,Retrospective Studies - Abstract
Few studies report that Mediterranean dietary (MD) pattern has a beneficial role in the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Evidence on its potential effect on the onset of disease are, however, scanty. With our study, we evaluated whether MD affects the risk of NAFLD with a large case-control study performed in Italy.Three hundred and seventy-one cases of NAFLD and 444 controls were questioned on the demographic data and their dietary habits before diagnosis. Additionally, information about lifestyles and other related diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus were collected. The MD adherence was assessed using a pre-defined Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained using a multiple logistic regression model.A high adherence to the MD is significantly associated with decreased risk of NAFLD (OR: 0.83 95% CI: 0.71-0.98). When the different MD components were examined separately, higher legumes consumption (OR: 0.62 95% CI: 0.38-0.99) and high fish consumption (OR 0.38 95% CI: 0.17-0.85) were reported to be protective against NAFLD.Our study shows that a high adherence to the MD decreases the risk of NAFLD.
- Published
- 2020