This study aimed to explore the association between dietary fiber intake and hypertension risk using 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Blood Pressure Guidelines. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007⁻2014 were used in this study. Dietary fiber data were obtained through two 24-h dietary recall interviews. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥ 80 mmHg or treatment with hypertensive medications. Logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline models were applied to evaluate the associations between dietary intakes of total, cereal, vegetable, and fruit fiber and hypertension. A total of 18,433 participants aged 18 years or older were included in the analyses. After adjustment for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), race, educational level, smoking status, family income, and total daily energy intake, compared with the lowest tertile, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of hypertension for the highest tertile intakes of total, cereal, vegetable, and fruit fiber were 0.62 (0.52⁻0.75), 0.80 (0.67⁻0.96), 0.82 (0.69⁻0.98), and 0.86 (0.71⁻1.04), respectively. Dose-response analyses revealed that the risk of hypertension was associated with total fiber intake in a nonlinear trend, while the relationships were linear for cereal and vegetable fiber intakes. Our results suggested that the intakes of total, cereal, and vegetable fiber, but not fruit fiber, were associated with a decreased risk of hypertension in U.S. adults.
Keywords: diet; dietary fiber; dose-response; high blood pressure; hypertension.