Associations between plant-based dietary indices and dietary acid load with cardiovascular risk factors among diabetic patients

Aim: To study how a plant-based diet and dietary acid load (DAL) are related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among type 2 diabetic women. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a validated food frequency questionnaire was used to assess the dietary intake of 230 diabetic women. We created a plant-based dietary index (PDI), healthy PDI (hPDI), and unhealthy PDI (uPDI). DAL was calculated based on potential renal acid load (PRAL) and net endogenous acid production (NEAP). Results: Patients in the highest tertile of PDI had lower fasting blood sugar (146.74 ± 6.16 vs. 152.87 ± 6.09, p = 0.009) and lower 2-h postprandial glucose (181.76 ± 7.03 vs. 203.01 ± 6.94, p = 0.002). Patients in the highest tertile of PDI were at lower risk of high waist circumference in a crude model (odd ratios: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.19; 0.96, p = 0.039); however, this association did not reach statistical significant after adjustment for confounders. Conclusion: Our study suggests that plant-based dietary indices and DAL are not associated with CVD risk factors among diabetic patients.