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Major Nutrient Patterns and Bone Mineral Density among Postmenopausal Iranian Women

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Abstract

Our understanding of the influence of overall nutrient intake on bone mineral density (BMD) is limited because most studies to date have focused on the intakes of calcium, vitamin D, or a few isolated nutrients. Therefore, we examined the association of major nutrient patterns with BMD in a sample of postmenopausal Iranian women. In this cross-sectional study, 160 women aged 50–85 years were studied and their lumbar spine and femoral neck BMDs were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Dietary intakes were assessed using a validated 168-item food frequency questionnaire, and daily intakes of 30 nutrients were calculated. All nutrient intakes were energy adjusted by the residual method and were submitted to principal component factor analysis to identify major nutrient patterns. Overall, three major nutrient patterns were identified, among which only the first pattern, which was high in folate, total fiber, vitamin B6, potassium, vitamin A (as retinol activity equivalent), vitamin C, β-carotene, vitamin K, magnesium, copper, and manganese, had a significant association with BMD. After controlling for potential confounders, multivariate adjusted mean of the lumbar spine BMD of women in the highest tertile of the first pattern scores was significantly higher than those in the lowest tertile (mean difference 0.08; 95 % confidence interval 0.02–0.15; P = 0.01). A nutrient pattern similar to pattern 1, which is associated with high intakes of fruits and vegetables, may be beneficial for bone health in postmenopausal Iranian women.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants for their kind cooperation. We are grateful to the members of National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute for their enthusiastic support and collaboration. The present study was supported by a grant from the National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute (World Health Organization Collaborating Center) of Shahid Behehshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

Ethical Considerations

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 [15]. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute (WHO Collaborating Center), Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohsen Karamati & Bahram Rashidkhani

  2. Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Mahboobeh Yousefian-Sanni

  3. Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Seyedeh-Elaheh Shariati-Bafghi

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  1. Mohsen Karamati
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  2. Mahboobeh Yousefian-Sanni
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  4. Bahram Rashidkhani
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Correspondence to Bahram Rashidkhani.

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Karamati, M., Yousefian-Sanni, M., Shariati-Bafghi, SE. et al. Major Nutrient Patterns and Bone Mineral Density among Postmenopausal Iranian Women. Calcif Tissue Int 94, 648–658 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-014-9848-5

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