Abstract

Purpose: Dietary nitrate intake is inversely related to numerous contributors towards frailty, including cardiovascular disease and poor physical function. Whether these findings extend to frailty remain unknown. We investigated if habitual nitrate intake, derived from plants or animal-based foods, was cross-sectionally associated with frailty in women. Methods: Community-dwelling older Australian women (n = 1390, mean age 75.1 ± 2.7 years) completed a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Nitrate concentrations in food were obtained from international nitrate databases. We adopted the Rockwood frailty index (FI) of cumulative deficits comprising 33 variables across multiple health domains (scored 0 to 1), which predicts increased hospitalisation and mortality risk. A FI ≥ 0.25 indicated frailty. Cross-sectional associations between nitrate intake (total plant and animal nitrate, separately) and frailty were analysed using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models (including lifestyle factors), as part of restricted cubic splines. Results: A non-linear inverse relationship was observed between total plant nitrate intake and frailty. Compared to women with the lowest plant nitrate intake (Quartile [Q]1), women with greater intakes in Q2 (OR 0.69 95%CI 0.56–0.84), Q3 (OR 0.67 95%CI 0.50–0.90) and Q4 (OR 0.66 95%CI 0.45–0.98) had lower odds for frailty. A nadir in the inverse association was observed once intakes reached ~ 64 mg/d (median Q2). No relationship was observed between total animal nitrate and frailty. Conclusion: Community-dwelling older women consuming low amounts of plant-derived nitrate were more likely to present with frailty. Consuming at least one daily serving (~ 75 g) of nitrate-rich green leafy vegetables may be beneficial in preventing frailty.

Keywords

Cumulative deficits, Frailty index, Nitric oxide, Plant-foods, Womens health

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2024

Volume

63

PubMed ID

38761280

Publication Title

European Journal of Nutrition

Publisher

Springer

School

Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute / School of Medical and Health Sciences

RAS ID

65853

Funding Information

The Perth Longitudinal Study of Ageing in Women (PLSAW) was funded by Heathway, the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation and by project grants 254627, 303169 and 572604 from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia. This work was supported by a Department of Health, Western Australia, Merit Award. MS is supported by a Royal Perth Hospital Career Advancement Fellowship (CAF 130/2020), an Emerging Leader Fellowship from the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund, Department of Health (Western Australia). JRL is supported by a National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellowship (ID: 102817). LCB is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant (ID: 1172987) and a National Heart Foundation of Australia Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (ID: 102498). LZ is supported by an Emerging Leader Fellowship, 2022 Innovation Fellwoship and project grants from the Western Australian Future Health Research and Innovation Fund, Department of Health (Western Australia).

Funding received from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

254627, 303169, 572604, 1172987

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Comments

Hayes, E., Dent, E., Shannon, O. M., Zhong, L. Z., Bozanich, T., Blekkenhorst, L. C., Zhu, K., Bondonno, C. P., Siervo, M., Hoogendijk, E. O., Hodgson, J. M., Prince, R. L., Lewis, J. R., & Sim, M. (2024). Higher plant-derived nitrate intake is associated with lower odds of frailty in a cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older women. European Journal of Nutrition, 63, 2281-2290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-024-03412-z

Content Type

Full object

First Page

2281

Last Page

2290

Recommended Citation

Hayes, E., Dent, E., Shannon, O. M., Zhong, L. Z., Bozanich, T., Blekkenhorst, L. C., Zhu, K., Bondonno, C. P., Siervo, M., Hoogendijk, E. O., Hodgson, J. M., Prince, R. L., Lewis, J. R., & Sim, M. (2024). Higher plant-derived nitrate intake is associated with lower odds of frailty in a cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older women. European Journal of Nutrition, 63, 2281-2290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-024-03412-z

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1007/s00394-024-03412-z