Plant-based diets and the risk of age-related cataract: a case-control study
ISSN: 0034-6659
Article publication date: 6 June 2024
Issue publication date: 2 July 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Cataract, or lens opacification, is a major public health burden accounting for more than half of all blindness worldwide. Plant-based dietary indices provide a unique approach to investigating a modifiable risk for age-related cataracts (ARC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between plant-based diet indices and risk of ARC.
Design/methodology/approach
This case-control study was conducted on 97 patients with newly diagnosed ARC and 198 healthy people (as a control group) in Iran. Convenience sampling and a food frequency questionnaire were used. Three plant-based dietary indices were used based on the health promoting qualities of food items, the overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthful plant-based diet index (H-PDI) and unhealthful plant-based diet index (U-PDI) which comprised refined carbohydrates and highly processed foods. The plant-based dietary indices were used to investigate relationships with risk of ARC.
Findings
After adjusting for potential covariates, no significant association between a higher adherence to O-PDI and risk of ARC. As well, a higher adherence to H-PDI was inversely associated with the risk of ARC (OR = 0.35,95%CI:0.16–0.78). In contrast, there was a significant positive association between a higher adherence to U-PDI and the risk of ARC (OR = 3.67,95%CI:1.66 – 8.15).
Originality/value
The findings of this study have underscored the potential impact of the quality of plant-based food selections on the likelihood of developing ARC. Therefore, adopting a plant-based diet that is rich in nutrient-dense plant-based foods while being low in unhealthy options may have the potential to reduce the risk of ARC.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the participants in this study.
Ethical approval and consent to participate: The study was confirmed by the ethics committee at the National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science.
Consent for publication: The authors agree to publications after acceptance in Nutrition and Health.
Availability of supporting data: The data set analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical concern but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Financial support: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this paper.
Conflict of interest: None declared.
Authors’ contributions: Matin Ghanavati and Jamal Rahmani conceived and designed research. Matin Ghanavati and Zeinab Javid performed procedure. Jamal Rahmani and Ali Nikparast analyzed data. Ali Nikparast, Jessica Thomas, Elahe Etesami and Matin Ghanavati wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
Citation
Nikparast, A., Rahmani, J., Thomas, J., Etesami, E., Javid, Z. and Ghanavati, M. (2024), "Plant-based diets and the risk of age-related cataract: a case-control study", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 54 No. 5, pp. 922-933. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-11-2023-0244
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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