Dietary patterns, food groups, and incidence of aortic valve stenosis: A prospective cohort study

The role of diet in the development of aortic valve stenosis (AVS) is unknown. We therefore examined the associations of two dietary patterns, including a modified Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (mDASH) diet and a modified Mediterranean (mMED) diet, and the food items included in these dietary patterns with incidence of aortic valve stenosis (AVS) in a population-based cohort study.

The study cohort comprised 74,401 Swedish adults (54% men) who were free of cardiovascular disease at the time of completion of a baseline questionnaire about habitual diet and other risk factors for chronic diseases. Participants were followed-up through linkage with nationwide registers on hospitalization and causes of death.

During 1,132,617 person-years (mean 15.2 years) of follow-up, 1338 incident AVS cases (801 in men and 537 in women) were ascertained. We found no significant associations of the mDASH and mMED dietary patterns or the food groups and beverages included in these diets (i.e., fruit, vegetables, legumes and nuts, whole grains, fish, low-fat dairy foods, full-fat dairy foods, red and processed meat, and sweetened beverages) with risk of AVS. The hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) of AVS per one standard deviation increase in the mDASH and mMED diet scores were respectively 1.02 (0.96-1.07) and 1.00 (0.95-1.06).

This study found no evidence that diet plays a role in the development of AVS.