Adherence to a healthy dietary pattern is associated with greater anti-oxidant capacity and improved glycemic control in Iraqi patients with Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND: Healthy dietary patterns are typically associated with improved metabolic and cardiovascular health in population-based cohorts. This study aims to investigate whether a healthy dietary score, derived from UK Diabetes and Diet Questionnaire (UKDDQ), is significantly associated with measures of metabolic health and nutritional status in patients with T2DM. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 85 patients with T2DM (age: 51.7±9.4, BMI: 30.6±5.3) and 20 healthy volunteers (age: 48.4±8.6, BMI: 29.5±5) recruited from the Al-Hassan Diabetes and Endocrinology Specialized Center, Karbala, Iraq. Body weight, height and body mass index (BMI) and resting clinic blood pressure were measured. All participants completed the UKDDQ to assess the quality of the diet. Metabolic and nutritional biomarkers were measured in fasting blood samples. A composite nutritional heathy index score (CNHI-score) based on the sum of z-scores for plasma vitamin A, C and E concentrations was derived. RESULTS: In patients with T2DM the UKDDQ score was associated with lower fasting blood glucose (FBG) (r = –0.33; P <  0.01), hemoglobin A1C (r = –0.49; P <  0.001), total cholesterol (TC) (r = –0.26; P = 0.02) concentrations. In patients with T2DM, the CNHI-score significantly associated with UKDDQ (r = 0.43; P <  0.001). In addition, a higher CNHI-score was associated with FBG (r = –0.61; P <  0.001), HbA1C (r = –0.83; P <  0.001), TC (r = –0.30; P <  0.01) and triglyceride (r = –0.30; P <  0.01) concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: A healthy diet is associated with a higher concentration of anti-oxidant vitamins and better glycemic and lipid profile in healthy subjects and in patients with T2DM.