Legumes as a Substitute for Red and Processed Meat, Poultry or Fish, and the Risk of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Large Cohort

Background: Dietary recommendations have globally shifted towards promoting consumption of legumes as an environmentally friendly and healthy source of protein. This study aimed to assess replacing red and processed meat, poultry, or fish for equal amounts of legumes on the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods: UK Biobank participants who completed two or more dietary assessments and had complete information on covariates were included in the analyses (N=124,194). Information on dietary intake was collected using two to five 24-hour dietary assessments. Incident cases of NAFLD were assessed through linkage to the National Health Service registries. The rate of developing NAFLD when replacing one serving/week of red and processed meat, poultry, or fish with legumes was estimated using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: During follow-up (median 10.49, IQR: 10.4-10.9 years), 1201 individuals developed NAFLD. Replacing 80 g/week red and processed meat with legumes, was associated with 4% lower rate of NAFLD (HR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.94; 0.98). Replacing 80 g/week of poultry or fish with legumes did not indicate protection against NAFLD (Poultry HR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95; 1.00, fish HR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96; 1.01). Results did not change markedly after adjustment for BMI. Conclusions: Consuming one serving of legumes weekly instead of red and processed meat was associated with a slightly lower rate of NAFLD while consuming legumes instead of poultry or fish did not show an association with the rate of NAFLD. Further research in cohorts with higher legume consumption is needed to confirm these findings.

LANGMANN Fie;  IBSEN Daniel B.;  JOHNSTON Luke W.;  PEREZ CORNAGO Aurora;  DAHM Christina C.; 

2025-01-28

WILEY

JRC138997

1365-277X (online),   

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jhn.70004,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC138997,   

10.1111/jhn.70004 (online),