Adherence to national food-based dietary guidelines and incidence of stroke: A cohort study of Danish men and women

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: National dietary guidelines are intended to promote primary prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, but little is known about their effectiveness in prevention of stroke.

METHODS: We used the Danish cohort Diet, Cancer and Health (n = 57 053) to investigate whether adherence to the Danish food-based dietary guidelines was associated with risk of stroke. Adherence was assessed by the Danish Dietary Guidelines Index, score 0 [no adherence] to 6 [complete adherence]. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for stroke and subtypes of stroke in men and women separately.

RESULTS: Incident stroke was determined in 1357 men and 900 women during follow-up (median 12.5 years and 13.0 years, respectively). A higher Danish Dietary Guidelines Index score was inversely associated with total stroke in men but not in women. In men, a high Index score (≥4) was also inversely associated with total ischemic stroke (hazard ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.65-0.86), large-artery atherosclerosis (hazard ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.44-0.92) and small artery occlusion (hazard ratio 0.68, 95% confidence interval 0.54-0.84) compared to a low Index score (<4). In women, inverse associations were found for total ischemic stroke (hazard ratio 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.72-0.98) and intracerebral hemorrhage (hazard ratio 0.64, 95% confidence interval 0.43-0.96).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that adherence to the Danish Dietary Guidelines is associated with a lower rate of stroke, and thus may be useful in primary prevention of disease.