Association of dietary patterns with blood lipid level among the older adults over 65 years old in 9 longevity areas of China

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Objective: To explore the impact of adherence to plant-based and animal-based dietary patterns on blood lipid level in Chinese older adults aged≥65. Methods: The study subjects were from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Biomarker Survey on Aging conducted between 2008 and 2018. The project carried out a baseline survey on elderly people in nine longevity areas of China from 2008 to 2009, and conducted 3 follow-up visits respectively in 2011-2012, 2014, and 2017-2018. The information about their demographic characteristics, lifestyles, physical examinations and fasting venous blood samples were collected. Food Frequency Questionnaire was used to collect data on food intake frequency. Priori plant-based and priori animal-based dietary patterns were constructed, and plant-based diet index (PDI) and animal-based diet index (ADI) were calculated in 2 011 older adults. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze the associations of different dietary pattern indices with blood lipid level in older adults. Results: The average age of 2 011 subjects was (83.1±11.5) years, 52.8% (1 061) of them were women. The PDI and ADI [M (Q1, Q3)] were 41.0 (38.0, 45.0) and 43.0 (39.0, 46.0), respectively. After adjusting for covariates, the results of the linear mixed effects model analysis showed that for each increment of 10-unit in PDI, total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels decreased by 0.097 (95%CI:-0.151--0.042) mmol/L and 0.078 (95%CI:-0.118--0.038) mmol/L, respectively. For each increment of 10-unit in ADI, TC and LDL-C levels increased by 0.096 (95%CI: 0.042-0.151) mmol/L and 0.078 (95%CI: 0.038-0.118) mmol/L, respectively. Conclusions: In Chinese older adults≥65 years, higher adherence to the plant-based dietary pattern may lead to reductions in TC and LDL-C levels, while higher adherence to the animal-based dietary pattern may lead to increases in TC and LDL-C levels.