The Association between Dietary Fat Pattern and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Despite several studies examining single dietary fats on type 2 diabetes (T2D) incidence, little is known about the effects of multiple fatty acids on the risk of T2D. We aimed to address this question in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) population. Dietary intakes of participants without T2D (n=2,139) were assessed using the validated food frequency questionnaire. To assess the risk of T2D after 6 years of follow-up, we used multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models. Three major dietary fat patterns were: (1) high amounts of dietary cholesterol, saturated fats, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, and trans fats; (2) high amounts of long-chain polyunsaturated fats; and (3) high amounts of dietary cholesterol and saturated fats. Dietary total fat intake hazard ratio [HR=1.31, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.77~2.23 and HR=0.69, 95% CI=0.27~1.76, in the second and third tertile, respectively] was not related to the development of T2D. Animal- and plant-based dietary fat intakes were additionally not related to the risk of T2D. After adjustment for confounding variables, there was no significant association between dietary fat pattern score and T2D incidence. Whereas, the third pattern had a borderline negative association with diabetes development (HR=0.56, 95% CI=0.29~1.07). These novel data suggest that dietary fat composition may modify the risk of T2D incidence.