The Association of Dietary Acid-Base Load with Psychological Disorders,
Sleep, and Circadian Rhythm among Obese and Overweight Women: A
Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
Abstract Background: Epidemiologic studies have reported that dietary
acid load is associated with psychological disorders through different
pathways. We aimed to examine the association of dietary acid-base load
with Psychological Disorders, Sleep and circadian rhythm. Methods: This
study was performed on 404 female subjects ≥18 years old. We evaluated
potential renal acid load (PRAL), net endogenous acid production (NEAP)
score by a valid food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for Iran of with 147
items. To assess psychological disorders, an Iranian validated version
of depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21) was used. The
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and morning-evening questionnaire
(MEQ) were applied to evaluate sleep quality and circadian rhythm status
respectively. Results: Considering a wide range of confounding
variables, compared with the low adherence, a significant positive
association was observed between dietary acid-base load and severe
depression (OR PRAL =1.10, 95%CI=1.01-1.19, P=0.02) and (OR NEAP =2.46,
95%CI=1.41-14.61, P=0.02). Women in the high dietary acid base load
category had higher anxiety (ORPRAL=1.12,95%CI=1.02-1.23, P=0.01) and
(ORNEAP=1.80,95%CI=1.12-10.72, P=0.01). There was a strong positive
relationship between dietary acid-base load and sleep disturbance
(P<0.05). Additionally, circadian rhythm assessment showed
that those with greater commitment to PRAL had 23% higher risk of being
completely E-type, while odds of being completely M-type, was decreased
by 15% and 12% across higher adherence to PRAL and NEAP. Conclusion:
Women with higher dietary acid-base load score had greater odds for
depression, anxiety, psychological distress, sleep disturbance and
circadian rhythm compared to lower ones.