Food consumption by degree of processing is associated with nocturnal dipping and blood pressure variability: The ELSA-Brasil study

Background and aimsAmbulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) allows the assessment of cardiovascular risk markers that cannot be obtained by casual measurements; however, the evidence on the association between food consumption and blood pressure (BP) assessed by ABPM is scarce. We aimed to evaluate the association between food consumption by degree of processing and ambulatory BP.Methods and resultsCross-sectional analysis (2012–2014) of data from a subsample (n = 815) of ELSA-Brasil cohort participants who performed 24-h ABPM was conducted. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP means and variability during the 24 h and subperiods (sleep and wake), nocturnal dipping, and morning surge were evaluated. Food consumption was classified according to NOVA. Associations were tested by generalized linear models. The consumption of unprocessed, minimally processed foods, and culinary ingredients (U/MPF&CI) was 63.1% of daily caloric intake, 10.8% of processed (PF), and 24.8% of ultraprocessed (UPF). A negative association was found between U/MPF&CI consumption and extreme dipping (T2: odds ratio [OR] = 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.55–0.58; T3: OR = 0.55; 95% CI = 0.54–0.57); and between UPF consumption and nondipping (T2: OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.55–0.85) and extreme dipping (T2: OR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.61–0.65; T3: OR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.91–0.99). There was a positive association between PF consumption and extreme dipping (T2: OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.18–1.27; T3: OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.29–1.39) and sleep SBP variability (T3: Coef = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.03–1.10).ConclusionsThe high consumption of PF was associated with greater BP variability and extreme dipping, while the U/MPF&CI and UPF consumption were negatively associated with alterations in nocturnal dipping.