Healthy beverage index could decrease odds of metabolic syndrome: A cross-sectional study

Some studies indicated that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) were related to MetS risk, and others found no relationship between MetS and SSBs. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between healthy beverage index (HBI) and MetS in Iranian adults. This cross-sectional study was performed on baseline data FASA cohort. Out of 10,127 participants in the FASA cohort study, 8838 participants were included in this study. The National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III was used for MetS definition. The HBI was calculated by a 125-item food frequency questionnaire with standard criteria. The association between HBI and MetS and its components was evaluated by univariate regression. Multivariate regression with the backward method was used for adjusting confounders. p < .05 was considered as statistically significant. Compared to the first quartile, it was observed that HBI in the last quartile was significantly related to lower odds of MetS in the multivariate analysis (odds ratio [OR] = 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60-0.87, p < .001). Also, we observed a significant association between the last quartile of HBI with lower odds of high waist circumference (WC) (OR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.45-0.67, p < .002). Our findings showed that the higher HBI score reduced MetS odds and WC. Therefore, to reduce the odds of MetS, a healthy pattern of beverage consumption, including drinking water, low-fat milk, unsweetened tea, and coffee, and reducing the consumption of SSB are recommended. More studies are needed to confirm the findings.