Dietary intake and its relationship with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is becoming the most common cause of liver disease worldwide. However, there are few reports about the intake of various nutrients in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of dietary intake and their associations with NAFLD. METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 280 subjects (140 patients with NAFLD and140 healthy subjects) who attended nutrition clinic, Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. Dietary intake was assessed using an Iranian semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Dietary intake was compared with data reported by clinically healthy individuals. Regression models were fitted to assess the relation between dietary patterns and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. RESULTS: The means (and SD) age of the samples were 39.3 +/- 11.4 years for NAFLD group and 38.6 +/- 11.3 years for the controls. After adjustment for total energy intake, NAFLD group had higher carbohydrate intake (235.60 +/- 31.12 g vs. 222.47 +/- 21.18 g, P < 0.001). However, the consumption of vitamin E, folate and potassium was significantly less in patients than controls (P < 0.001.(After adjusting for confounders, higher intake of carbohydrate was significantly associated with an increased risk for NAFLD (OR = 4.15, 1.66-10.38; P < 0.05), While higher intake of fat, vitamin A and folate was significantly associated with lower odds of the disease (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It seems that within an Iranian population, there may be an association between diet and NAFLD. Alarge-scale trial and more prospective studies are yet warranted.