Dietary measures complement hypolipidemic drug treatment, but little is known regarding the nutritional content of reported hypolipidemic diets in the general population. Thus, we characterized the dietary intake of subjects aged 40-80 years according to awareness of dyslipidemia and presence of a hypolipidemic diet.
Cross-sectional study conducted between 2009 and 2012 on 4289 participants (2274 women) living in Lausanne, Switzerland; 1370 (32%) reported a diagnosis of dyslipidemia, of whom 242 (18%) reported a hypolipidemic diet. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire.
Compared to participants aware of dyslipidemia not on a diet, those on a diet consumed significantly more fruits (mean ± standard deviation: 2.5 ± 1.9 vs. 1.9 ± 1.7 portions/day), vegetables (1.6 ± 1.0 vs. 1.4 ± 0.9 portions/day) and fish (1.9 ± 1.4 vs. 1.6 ± 1.1 portions/week) and less meat (4.5 ± 2.7 vs. 5.2 ± 2.9 portions/week). They also had a significantly higher intake of total carbohydrates (50.1 ± 8.6 vs. 47.1 ± 8.3% of total energy intake - TEI), monounsaturated (39.9 ± 5.4 vs. 39.4 ± 4.3% total fat) and polyunsaturated (15.6 ± 4.3 vs. 14.2 ± 4.1% of total fat) fatty acids and a lower intake of total fat (34.2 ± 7.4 vs. 36.6 ± 7.0% of TEI) and saturated fatty acids (35.1 ± 6.2 vs. 37.8 ± 5.7% of total fat). Participants aware and on a diet met more nutritional recommendations of the Swiss Society of Nutrition (2.1 ± 1.0 vs. 1.7 ± 0.9, p < 0.001) than participants not on a diet.
When implemented, hypolipidemic diets lead to a healthier dietary intake than in the general population.