Background: Insulin resistance, diabetes, visceral fat mass, obesity, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome are the major risk factors in relation to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This aim of this study was to determine any relationship between risk of NAFLD and the dietary polyphenols.
Methods: In this case-control study, totally, 225 newly diagnosed NAFLD patients and 450 controls aged 20-60 years were enrolled. The matching food consumption data and the Food frequency questionnaire with the phenol-explorer database were used for dietary polyphenol intake. Logistic regression models were utilized to express confidence intervals (CIs) and odds ratios (ORs).
Results: NAFLD patients revealed a higher body mass index (BMI), were more smokers and with less physical activity compared to the control group. No significant difference was visible between the two groups in dietary intake of various polyphenol types. After adjustment for potentials confounders, participants who were in the highest tertile of total flavonoids (OR=0.65, 95%CI=0.44-0.98) and total phenolic acids (OR=0.63, 95% CI=0.42-0.94), no association was observed between lower risk of NAFLD and the lowest tertile. The risk of NAFLD was 66% lower (OR=0.44, CI=0.24-0.78, P=0.006) among participants who were in the highest tertile of lignans intake in comparison to the lowest tertile. Conclusion: Our study showed that high intake of lignans lowered the odds of NAFLD. We strongly recommend that the concepts reported in this study are needed to be evaluated in future longitudinal researches.