High, increasing cholesterol intake tied to cardiometabolic risk

Persistently high or gradually increasing levels of cholesterol intake throughout adulthood seems to raise serum lipid levels and aggravate the risk of hypertension, a recent study has found.

Longitudinal data from 8,952 participants in the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CNHS) were used for the present study. The CNHS assessed dietary consumption through three consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls, along with weight measurements of seasonings in the household over the same period. Outcomes were cardiometabolic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, and all-cause mortality.

Three main trajectories of cholesterol emerged: persistently low (T1), characterized as a cholesterol intake of <150 mg/day; gradually increasing (T2), pertaining to consumption levels increasing sharply with age; and persistently high (T3), defined as intake >300 mg/day. The proportion of participants in each trajectory was 39.1 percent, 28.9 percent, and 32.0 percent, respectively.

After adjusting for potential confounders, T2 participants were significantly more likely to develop diabetes than T1 comparators (hazard ratio [HR], 1.26, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.59). The same was true for T3 (HR, 1.34, 95 percent CI, 1.05–1.71). However, complete adjustments, including for nutrients, food, and social environment, attenuated both interactions above.

The risk of hypertension was also significantly elevated in T2 (HR, 1.14, 95 percent CI, 1.03–1.28) and T3 (HR, 1.18, 95 percent CI, 1.04–1.33) participants, as was the likelihood of death due to all causes (T2: HR, 2.19, 95 percent CI, 1.57–3.05; T3: HR, 2.26, 95 percent CI, 1.47–3.47).