Is drinking mate associated with poor diet quality and food and nutrient intakes among South American adults?

GUTIERREZ L; DEFAGO MD; ELORRIAGA N; RUBINSTEIN A; IRAZOLA V

Buenos Aires

Congreso; IUNS 21st International Congress of Nutrition; 2017

Sociedad Argentina de Nutrición

Background and objectives: Mate, a beverage made from the leaves of Ilex paraguariensis, is widely consumed in South America. High intakes of mate, and the habit of adding sugar may affect diet by replacing meals and increasing total sugar intake. We assessed whether mate consumption is associated with diet quality and quantity among adults aged 35-74 years in four South American cities in Argentina (Bariloche and Marcos Paz), Chile (Temuco) and Uruguay (Canelones).Methods: Cross-sectional analysis on data from baseline of CESCAS (Centro de Excelencia en Salud Cardiovascular del Cono Sur) I, a population-based prospective cohort study. We included participants with available socio-demographic and dietary data (n=5458). Diet was assessed using a validated 126-item food-frequency questionnaire. Diet quality was evaluated with the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-2010), the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and the Alternate Mediterranean Diet (AMeD) Scores, with higher scores indicating greater adherenceto these patterns. Multivariable linear regression models were used to examine the associations of quartiles (Q) of mate consumption with energy-adjusted food and nutrient intakes and diet quality scores (converted to a 0-100 scale) adjusting for age, gender, education, and city. Subgroup analysis was conducted (participants that added sugar/ those that didn?t.) Results: 57% of participants drank mate daily; those who drank mate had an average intake of 1.3 liters per day and 34% of them added sugar to at least half of their mate beverage servings. Mate consumption was associated with more bread  ntake(p<0.001). Among participants who didn?t add sugar, diet quality and consumptionof other foods were independent of mate consumption. However, participants in Q4 with the habit of adding sugar reported higher intakes of sweet and sugars, energy and carbohydrates,and lower intakes of dairy products, fiber, vitamins C, retinol, calcium, zinc and iron compared to participants in Q1(p<0.001). In addition, in the same subgroup, differences between Q4vs.Q1 in diet quality scores were: AHEI-2010:-3.73 (95%CI -4.95;-2.50);DASH:-3.75(-5.81;-1.81) and AMeD:-8.77(-6.00;-11.56). Conclusions: Higher consumption of mate was significantly associated with higher consumption of bread. When the habit ofadding sugar was present, food and nutrient intakes as well as adherence to healthy diet patterns were negatively affected.