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Background: Diabesity is a growing problem internationally. Taking into account the importance of physical activity and diet in its prevention and treatment, the objective of this study was to delve into the impact of healthy habits on diabesity. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out in 386,924 Spanish adult workers. Obesity was determined according to eleven different formulas. Life habits were also valued; sociodemographic variables; and educational level; as well as analytical and clinical variables such as blood pressure and blood glucose levels. The association between the different variables was performed using the chi-square and the Student’s t-tests when the samples were independent. A multivariate analysis was performed using the multinomial logistic regression test by calculating the odds ratio and a 95% confidence interval. The Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test was also performed. Results: The overall prevalence of diabesity ranged between 0.3% (95% CI 0.3–0.4) when obesity was assessed according to the abdominal volume index and 8.3% (95% CI 8.2–8.4) when evaluated according to the CUN-BAE (Clínica Universitaria de Navarra Body Adiposity Estimator) formula. The prevalence of diabesity was also higher in workers with a non-heart-healthy diet and in those who did not exercise regularly. Conclusions: The most disadvantaged socioeconomic classes are those with the highest prevalence of diabesity. It is important to prioritise prevention in populations and communities with the most unfavourable social and environmental conditions to reduce the burden of diabesity.

Postmenopausal women are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases due to changes in lipid profile and body fat, among others. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of urinary tartaric acid, a biomarker of wine consumption, with anthropometric (weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-height ratio), blood pressure, and biochemical variables (blood glucose and lipid profile) that may be affected during the menopausal transition. This sub-study of the PREDIMED (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea) trial included a sample of 230 women aged 60–80 years with high cardiovascular risk at baseline. Urine samples were diluted and filtered, and tartaric acid was analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). Correlations between tartaric acid and the study variables were adjusted for age, education level, smoking status, physical activity, BMI, cholesterol-lowering, antihypertensive, and insulin treatment, total energy intake, and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and raisins. A strong association was observed between wine consumption and urinary tartaric acid (0.01 μg/mg (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01, 0.01), p-value &lt, 0.001). Total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were inversely correlated with urinary tartaric acid (−3.13 μg/mg (−5.54, −0.71), p-value = 0.016 and −3.03 μg/mg (−5.62, −0.42), p-value = 0.027, respectively), whereas other biochemical and anthropometric variables were unrelated. The results suggest that wine consumption may have a positive effect on cardiovascular health in postmenopausal women, underpinning its nutraceutical properties.

Wholegrain (WG) consumption has been associated with reduced risk factors for cardiorenal metabolic diseases (CRMD). In Latin-America. WG intake is low and scarce studies on this subject have been found. We aimed to evaluate the association between WG consumption and risk factors for CRMD in the 2016&ndash, 2017 Chilean-National Health Survey. This cross-sectional study included 3110 participants representative of a total population of 11,810,647 subjects &gt, 18 y, not taking insulin and with complete data on CRMD risk factors. Outcomes were metabolic syndrome and its components, albuminuria, and impaired glomerular filtration rate (GFR). WG consumption was categorized as regular (&ge, every two days), sporadic (&ge, once a month), and non-consumers. Associations were analyzed by multivariable logistic regressions adjusted for confounders taking into account the complex sample design of the survey. Regular WG consumers showed a lower risk of high blood pressure (OR: 0.61, 95%CI: 0.41&ndash, 0.91) compared to non-consumers in fully-adjusted models. Although inverse associations were noticed with other metabolic syndrome components and impaired GFR, none was statistically significant. The association between WG and BP remained robust in the sensitivity analysis. In conclusion regular WG consumption was associated with a 39% lower risk of high blood pressure in Chilean adults.

Diabetic subjects are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerosis, the common soil of most of the cardiovascular complications, is more prevalent and extensive in this population due not only to hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia, but also to inflammation and oxidative stress. Lycopenes are bioactive compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities mostly supplied by tomato and tomato byproducts. We investigated the association between circulating lycopenes and carotid plaque burden in diabetic patients, in a cross-sectional study in 105 newly diagnosed diabetic subjects. Atheroma plaque (wall thickness &ge, 1.5 mm), number of plaques, and plaque burden (sum of maximum heights of all plaques) were assessed by sonographic evaluation of carotid arteries. Plasma lycopenes (5-cis-, 9-cis-, 13-cis-, and trans-lycopene) were quantified by high performance liquid chromatography&ndash, mass spectrometry HPLC-MS. Atheroma plaque was observed in 75 participants, from which 38 presented one plaque and 37 two or more carotid plaques. No differences were observed in the plasmatic concentrations of lycopenes between subjects with and without atherosclerotic plaque presence. However, plaque burden was inversely associated with 5-cis-lycopene, all cis-lycopene isomers, trans-lycopene, and total lycopene isomers (all, p &lt, 0.05). High plasma levels of lycopenes inversely relate to atherosclerotic burden. We provide novel evidence that suggests that the consumption of compounds found in tomato and tomato byproducts might be beneficial for the prevention of atherosclerosis.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are considered to be the leading cause of death worldwide. Inadequate fruit and vegetable intake have been recognized as a risk factor for almost all NCDs (type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases). The main aim of this review is to examine the possible protective effect that fruit and vegetable consumption or their bioactive compounds may have on the development of NCDs such as atherosclerosis. The accumulated evidence on the protective effects of adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables in some cases, or the lack of evidence in others, are summarized in the present review. The main conclusion of this review is that well-designed, large-scale, long-term studies are needed to truly understand the role fruit and vegetable consumption or their bioactive compounds have in atherosclerosis.

Background: The effect of dietary fat intake on the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and in turn on cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear in individuals at high CVD risk. Objective: To assess the association between fat intake and MetS components in an adult Mediterranean population at high CVD risk. Design: Baseline assessment of nutritional adequacy in participants (n = 6560, men and women, 55&ndash, 75 years old, with overweight/obesity and MetS) in the PREvenci&oacute, n con DIeta MEDiterr&aacute, nea (PREDIMED)-Plus randomized trial. Methods: Assessment of fat intake (total fat, monounsatured fatty acids: MUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids: PUFA, saturated fatty acids: SFA, trans-fatty acids: trans-FA, linoleic acid, &alpha, linolenic acid, and &omega, 3 FA) using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and diet quality using 17-item Mediterranean dietary questionnaire and fat quality index (FQI). Results: Participants in the highest quintile of total dietary fat intake showed lower intake of energy, carbohydrates, protein and fiber, but higher intake of PUFA, MUFA, SFA, TFA, LA, ALA and &omega, 3 FA. Differences in MetS components were found according to fat intake. Odds (5th vs. 1st quintile): hyperglycemia: 1.3&ndash, 1.6 times higher for total fat, MUFA, SFA and &omega, 3 FA intake, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c): 1.2 higher for LA, hypertriglyceridemia: 0.7 lower for SFA and &omega, 3 FA intake. Conclusions: Dietary fats played different role on MetS components of high CVD risk patients. Dietary fat intake was associated with higher risk of hyperglycemia.

Previous studies have reported an association between a more pro-inflammatory diet profile and various chronic metabolic diseases. The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) was used to assess the inflammatory potential of nutrients and foods in the context of a dietary pattern. We prospectively examined the association between the DII and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD: myocardial infarction, stroke or cardiovascular death) in the PREDIMED (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea) study including 7216 high-risk participants. The DII was computed based on a validated 137-item food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals of CVD risk were computed across quartiles of the DII where the lowest (most anti-inflammatory) quartile is the referent. Risk increased across the quartiles (i.e., with increasing inflammatory potential): HRquartile2 = 1.42 (95%CI = 0.97–2.09), HRquartile3 = 1.85 (1.27–2.71), and HRquartile4 = 1.73 (1.15–2.60). When fit as continuous the multiple-adjusted hazard ratio for each additional standard deviation of the DII was 1.22 (1.06–1.40). Our results provide direct prospective evidence that a pro-inflammatory diet is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular clinical events.