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Dietary nitrate intake and association with markers of cardiometabolic risk in Iranian female adolescents

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 78, pages 264–269 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Dietary nitrates are thought to confer several cardiometabolic health benefits, including improvements in blood pressure and the plasma lipid profile. However, existing data from Iran is conflicting and there is a dearth of literature focusing on non-adult populations. A total of 988 adolescent girls were recruited from schools in different areas of Mashhad and Sabzevar, Iran. Dietary nitrate intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire and participants were categorized into quartiles based on this. Differences in participant characteristics between quartiles were assessed using one-way ANOVA and associations between total nitrate intake, nitrate intake from vegetables and cardiometabolic risk markers (blood lipid profile, fasting blood glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) were assessed using linear regression. Nitrate intake from vegetables was positively correlated with triglycerides, even after adjusting for several variables (β = 0.086, 95% CI = 0.002–0.097; P = 0.043). Total nitrate intake was also significantly positively associated with serum triglycerides (β = 0.097, 95% CI = 0.010–0.084; P = 0.012); however, this relationship disappeared after adjusting for several variables. Significant interaction effects were observed between total nitrate intake, nitrate intake from vegetables, and vitamin C upon triglycerides (P < 0.01). No significant relationships were found between total nitrate intake, nitrate intake from vegetables, and other cardiometabolic risk markers. Our findings suggest there may be neutral or possibly detrimental cardiovascular effects of dietary nitrate and/or vitamin C intake which are not in agreement with contemporary literature and warrant further investigation.

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Fig. 1: Flow chart of study enrollment.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Zahra Darabi & Sayyed Saeid Khayyatzadeh

  2. Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Zahra Darabi & Sayyed Saeid Khayyatzadeh

  3. School of Life Sciences, Division of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Nottingham, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK

    Mario Siervo

  4. Curtin Dementia Centre of Excellence, EnAble Institute, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia

    Mario Siervo

  5. School of Health and Sport Sciences, Hope Park Campus, Liverpool Hope University, Taggart Avenue, Liverpool, L16 9JD, UK

    Richard J. Webb

  6. School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia

    Nicholas McMahon

  7. International UNESCO Center for Health Related Basic Sciences and Human Nutrition, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Majid Ghayour-Mobarhan

  8. Department of Twin Research, King’s College London, London, UK

    Mohsen Mazidi

  9. Medical Research Council Population Health Research Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Mohsen Mazidi

  10. Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU), Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Mohsen Mazidi

Authors
  1. Zahra Darabi
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  2. Mario Siervo
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  5. Majid Ghayour-Mobarhan
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Contributions

ZD contributed to the conceptualization and design of the study, data analysis, the interpretation of the results, and edited the manuscript. MS contributed to the conceptualization and design of the study, the interpretation of the results, edited the manuscript and supervised the study. RW contributed to the interpretation of the data, the presentation of the results and drafted, edited, and revised the manuscript. NM contributed to the interpretation of the data, the presentation of the results and edited the manuscript. MGM contributed to the data analysis, interpretation of the data, edited the manuscript and supervised the study. SSK contributed to the conceptualization and design of the study, data analysis, the interpretation of the results, and edited the manuscript. MM contributed to the conceptualization and design of the study, data analysis, the interpretation of the results, edited the manuscript and supervised the study.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sayyed Saeid Khayyatzadeh.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The Ethics Committee of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, approved the study (approval number, 931188).

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Darabi, Z., Siervo, M., Webb, R.J. et al. Dietary nitrate intake and association with markers of cardiometabolic risk in Iranian female adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr 78, 264–269 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-023-01378-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-023-01378-5

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