Bone health and high-quality of diet: Unveiling the combined effect of plant-based diet and bone mineral density on all-cause mortality

Abstract

Adhering to high-quality plant-based diets have been associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. However, it remains unclear whether adherence to high-quality plant-based diets can compensate for the detrimental effects of lower BMD on mortality. The objective of this study was to investigate the combined effect of plant-based diets and BMD on all-cause mortality in 16,065 U.S. adults. Cox proportional hazards regression was employed to assess the combined associations of plant-based diet indexes and bone loss with all-cause mortality. Adherence to a higher hPDI (HR = 0.52; 95 % CI: 0.39–0.70 for individuals with osteopenia; HR = 0.47; 95 % CI: 0.30–0.73 for individuals with osteoporosis) can compensate for the negative impact of lower BMD on all-cause mortality. Meanwhile, there were significant interaction effects between plant-based diet indexes and bone loss on all-cause mortality. These findings highlight the potential benefits of adhering to high-quality plant-based diets, which can help compensate for the negative impact of lower BMD on all-cause mortality.

Keywords

• All-cause mortality
• Bone health
• Osteoporosis
• Plant-based diet index
• NHANES