Frigid Zone Medicine

The link between dietary nutrients intake and cardiovascular diseases in cold regions

Rennan Feng, Qianqi Hong, Jingjing Cao, Jian Li, Lanxin Deng, Jing Wang, Yang Zhao, Cheng Wang

2024, 4(1): 1-11. doi: 10.2478/fzm-2024-0001

Keywords: nutrients, northern, hypertension, coronary heart disease, cold

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Background The cold winter weather in northern China influences the dietary habits of its residents, contributing to a heightened risk of cardiovascular disorders, such as hypertension and coronary heart disease. Key factors include low vegetable consumption and high salt and fat intakes. This study aims to investigate the relationships between northern dietary nutrient intake in northern China and cardiovascular disorders during the winter season. Methods A food frequency questionnaire tailored to the actual eating habits in northern China was designed. Retrospective data from 955 Chinese adults were collected from November to March between 2014 to 2023. Logistic regression was employed to analyze the relationship between dietary nutrients and cardiovascular diseases, with model performance assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results Adjusted for gender, age, and body mass index (BMI), an inverse association was observed between vitamin A (OR = 0.706, 95% CI: 0.550, 0.907), nicotinic acid (OR = 0.584, 95% CI: 0.447, 0.762), phosphorus (OR = 0.777, 95% CI: 0.608, 0.994), selenium (OR = 0.719, 95% CI: 0.560, 0.923), zinc (OR = 0.683, 95% CI: 0.531, 0.880), methionine (OR = 0.730, 95% CI: 0.569, 0.936), arginine (OR = 0.753, 95% CI: 0.588, 0.964), lysine (OR = 0.706, 95% CI: 0.550, 0.907), aspartic acid (OR = 0.730, 95% CI: 0.569, 0.936) and hypertension. Additionally, a negative association was found between niacin (OR = 0.752, 95% CI: 0.597, 0.946) and coronary heart disease. Conversely, a positive association was identified between iodine and hypertension (OR = 1.305, 95% CI: 1.020, 1.669) and coronary heart disease (OR = 1.301, 95% CI: 1.037, 1.634). Conclusion Our study suggests that maintaining a balanced dietary intake of vitamin A, niacin, phosphorus, selenium, zinc, methionine, arginine, lysine, and aspartic acid can be beneficial in preventing hypertension. Adequate niacin intake is associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease. However, excessive iodine intake may contribute to hypertension and coronary heart disease.

Seasonal variation in dietary intake and its association with obesity-related chronic diseases in northeast China

Cheng Wang, Zican Li, Dongwei Guan, Hongxin Fu, Rennan Feng

2024, 4(3): 129-136. doi: 10.1515/fzm-2024-0014

Keywords: obesity-related chronic diseases, polyunsaturated fatty acid, phytosterols

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Objective The objective of this study was to assess seasonal changes in dietary and nutrient intake of residents (18-75 years old) in Northeast China during summer and winter, and to explore the associations between fatty acids, phytosterols, and the prevalence of obesity-related chronic diseases, particularly obesity, hyperlipidemia, and NAFLD. Methods A total of 4773 participants from the Internet-based Dietary Questionnaire for Chinese (IDQC) were included in this study. Dietary intake information was collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U-test was used to analyze continuous variables, while Chi-squared tests were used to compare categorical variables. Multivariable logistic regression was employed to assess the relationship between fatty acids, phytosterols, and obesity-related chronic diseases. Results The mean consumption of legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, dairy products, fish, condiments, energy, protein, fat, and carbohydrate differed significantly between summer and winter (P < 0.05). Significant inverse associations were found between both fatty acids and phytosterols and obesity-related chronic diseases in multivariate adjusted models. Summer polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake was negatively associated with the prevalence of hyperlipidemia (Q4, OR, 0.515; 95%CI, 0.283-0.921; P < 0.05) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (Q4, OR, 0.331; 95%CI, 0.176-0.599; P < 0.001). Phytosterols intake was negatively associated with the prevalence of obesity (Q4, OR, 0.603; 95%CI, 0.414-0.873; P < 0.05), hyperlipidemia (Q4, OR, 0.420; 95%CI, 0.233-0.731; P < 0.001), and NAFLD (Q4, OR, 0.206; 95%CI, 0.111-0.360; P < 0.001) during the summer. Conclusions Higher PUFA intake was associated with a lower prevalence of obesity, hyperlipidemia, and NAFLD. Phytosterol intake was inversely associated with the prevalence of hyperlipidemia and NAFLD. These findings suggest that the associations between PUFA and phytosterols and the prevalence of obesity-related chronic diseases may be influenced by seasonal differences in food intake.

Association of dietary phytosterols with prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease in adult population of Northeastern China: An internet-based cross-sectional study

Jiayu Zhu, Jiaqi Zhang, Qi Yu, Liyan Liu, Rennan Feng

2025, 5(1): 50-57. doi: 10.1515/fzm-2025-0005

Keywords: phytosterols, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease, Northeastern China

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Objective The benefits of phytosterols have attracted growing interest, but their association with Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD) has rarely been reported in population-based studies. This research aimed to investigate the correlation between dietary phytosterols and MAFLD. Methods Phytosterols intake was evaluated using an internet-based dietary questionnaire targeted at the Chinese population. Conditional logistic regression models were employed to investigate dose-response relationships between phytosterol intake and MAFLD, as well as the potential preventive role of phytosterols. Restricted Cubic Spline (RCS) analyses were conducted to examine associations between phytosterols intake and MAFLD. Additionally, a quantile-based g-computation (qgcomp) method was applied to explore the combined effect of campesterol, stigmasterol, β-sitostelane, campestane, and β-sitosterol on MAFLD. Results Significant inverse relationships were found between total phytosterols and MAFLD (OR, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.11-0.32; P < 0.001), campesterol (OR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.13-0.37; P < 0.001), stigmasterol (OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.10-0.30; P < 0.001), β-sitostelane (OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.16-0.45; P < 0.001), campestane (OR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.14-0.39; P < 0.001), and β-sitosterol (OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.10-0.29; P < 0.001). The qgcomp analysis showed a significant negative association between the five phytosterols and MAFLD (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.50-0.67; P < 0.001). Additionally, the qgcomp analysis revealed that the combination of these five phytosterols was inversely associated with MAFLD, with stigmasterol contributing the most (weight = 0.70). Conclusion Higher intake of phytosterols was associated with a reduced prevalence of MAFLD, with stigmasterol showing the most significant inverse relationship. Further research is needed to clarify the relationship between phytosterols and MAFLD.

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