Better nutrient data improves public health: evidence and examples from the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Trial

Nutritional risk factors for the development of hypertension in diabetic patients

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the significant limitations, sensitivity, specificity, partial correlations, and odds ratios of nutrient intake in patients with and without hypertension with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetic patients (n=220) with clinical diagnosis of hypertension and diabetic patients (n=230) without hypertension were included in this study. The questionnaire form included a list of 65 food items formed from five main food groups (grain, meat and alternatives, dairy products, vegetables-fruits and fat) and 25 dietary habits. When both groups were compared and analyzed by logistic regression, black tea consumption (OR=0.823, P<.001), vegetables-fruits scores (OR=0.853, P<.001), triglycerides (OR=0.726, P<.05), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (OR=0.777, P<.01) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (OR=0.526, P<.001) made significant differences. In ROC curves, the area under the curve of black tea (0.921), vegetables-fruits (0.906), triglycerides (0.889), WHR (0.881) and HDL-C (0.820) provided high accuracy to distinguish between patients with and without hypertension (P<.001). In diabetic patients without hypertension, significant partial correlations were observed between blood pressure and dairy products (systolic: r=)0.14; diastolic: r=)0.14, P<.05), vegetables-fruits groups (systolic: r=)0.18; diastolic: r=)0.17, P<.01) and black tea intake (systolic: r=)0.23; diastolic: r=)0.22, P<.001). It has been found that higher intake of black tea and vegetables-fruits consumption in diabetic patients protect against developing hypertension.