Association of Dietary Antioxidant Potential with Sarcopenia in Hypertension.

Background: The high prevalence of sarcopenia among hypertensive adults is a global health issue. Growing literature demonstrates that a high antioxidant diet can protect against sarcopenia. However, little attention has been paid to the association between the dietary composite antioxidant intake and sarcopenia in hypertension. To investigate the potential efficacy of the composite dietary antioxidant index (CDAI) on sarcopenia among hypertensive adults.

Methods: This study included 6995 hypertensive adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2006 and 2013-2018, with 3212 (45.92%) females and 3783 (54.08%) males. Appendicular lean mass (ALM) and sarcopenia were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). All hypertensive adults participating in NHANES were eligible to participate in dietary interviews, and the average intake of six antioxidants over two days was used to calculate the CDAI. Logistic regression was conducted to determine odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup analyses and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regressions were additionally utilized.

Results: The mean age was 48.47 ± 0.27 years old, and 1059 (15.14%) were considered to have sarcopenia. The highest quartile had a 61% decreased risk of sarcopenia (OR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.25, 0.60) compared with the lowest quartile of CDAI. RCS revealed a linear association between CDAI with sarcopenia and ALM. Subgroup analyses demonstrated a more pronounced inverse correlation between CDAI and sarcopenia in females.

Conclusions: In summary, our results indicated a reverse correlation between CDAI and sarcopenia in hypertension. These findings highlighted the beneficial role of an antioxidant-rich diet in prevention and provided a valid method for managing sarcopenia in hypertensive adults.