Antioxidant potential of diet: Association between dietary antioxidant index and odds of coronary heart disease: A case-control study

BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation are among the leading causes of coronary heart disease (CHD). Studies investigated the relationship between dietary antioxidants and the risk/odds of CHD, and contradictory results have been reported. Dietary antioxidant index (DAI) is a novel and reliable nutritional tool that examines the diet’s overall antioxidant capacity. Its validity was examined using serum total antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between DAI score and odds of CHD. METHODS: In this incidence case-control study, 320 individuals with a definitive diagnosis of CHD and 320 participants without CHD or related risk factors attending the same hospitals/polyclinics were selected as the case and control groups. We estimated the DAI by summing up six standardized intakes of major dietary antioxidants, including manganese, vitamin E, A, C, selenium, and zinc. RESULTS: Modeling DAI categorized according to the median (–0.38), in multi-adjusted model showed a significant protective association with the odd of CHD (OR = 0.72; 95%CI:0.51–0.99, p-value = 0.05). Also, modeling DAI as a continuous variable in multi-adjusted models (OR = 0.94;95%CI:0.90–0.95; p-value = 0.01) showed significant results. CONCLUSION: Using the DAI to investigate the relationship between dietary antioxidants and CHD can show more realistic results than a single study of antioxidants.