Association Between the Modified Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and Metabolic Syndrome in Postmenopausal Women Without Diabetes

Abstract

The aim of our study was to evaluate the association between the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) and metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal Korean women without diabetes. Our study enrolled postmenopaual women without diabetes (n = 6826). We used the DASH-Korean quartile (KQ) model using six nutrients. For protein, fiber, calcium, and potassium, we scored 1 for the first quartile (1Q), 2 for the second quartile (2Q), 3 for the third quartile (3Q), and 4 for the fourth quartile (4Q). For fat and sodium, we scored 4 for the 1Q, 3 for the 2Q, 2 for the 3Q, and 1 for the 4Q. We defined the sum of the six scores as the DASH-KQ score. Participants were divided into four quartiles (DASH-1Q, DASH-2Q, DASH-3Q, and DASH-4Q), according to the sum of the six DASH-KQ scores. The number of participants with metabolic syndrome in DASH-1Q, DASH-2Q, DASH-3Q, or DASH-4Q was 601 (37.4%), 671 (31.1%), 440 (30.5%), and 492 (30.3%), respectively. The proportion of participants with metabolic syndrome was greatest in DASH-1Q (P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that every increase in the DASH-KQ score by 1 exhibited a 0.977-fold odds for metabolic syndrome. DASH-1Q, by DASH-KQ score, had higher odds for metabolic syndrome than the other groups. The lowest quartile of the DASH-KQ score was associated with a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal Korean women without diabetes.