Adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension-style diet in relation to glioma: a case-control study

Data on the association of adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-style and glioma are scarce. We aimed to examine the association between adherence to the DASH-style diet and glioma in Iranian adults. In this study, 128 pathologically confirmed cases of glioma were recruited from hospitals and 256 age-and sex-matched controls were enrolled from other wards of the hospital. Dietary intakes were assessed using a 126-item validated FFQ. Adherence to the DASH-style diet was followed considering the healthy and non-healthy foods emphasised in the DASH dietary pattern. After controlling for potential confounders, individuals with the greatest adherence to the DASH diet were 72% less likely to have glioma compared with those with the lowest adherence (OR 0.28; 95% CI 0.13, 0.57). Individuals with the highest consumption of fruits had lower odds for having glioma compared with those with the lowest intake (OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.14, 0.68). A protective association was also observed between consumption of legumes and nuts and risk of glioma (OR 0.23; 95% CI 0.10, 0.53). We found a significant positive association between red and processed meat (OR 2.60; 95% CI 1.16, 5.81) and salt intakes (OR 2.87; 95% CI 1.30, 6.34) and risk of glioma, after taking all potential confounders into account. Adherence to the DASH-style dietary pattern was inversely associated with glioma. In addition, some components of the DASH diet, including red meats and salt intakes, were positively associated with glioma. Consumption of nuts and legumes as well as fruits was inversely associated with glioma. Prospective cohort studies are required to confirm our findings.