Dietary factors associated with metabolic syndrome in Brazilian adults

305 adults were clinically screened to participate in a lifestyle modification program. Anthropometric assessments included waist circumference (WC), body fat and calculated BMI (kg/m2) and muscle-mass index (MMI kg/m2). Dietary intake was estimated by 24 h dietary recall. Fasting blood was used for biochemical analysis. MS was diagnosed using NCEP-ATPIII (2001) criteria with adaptation for glucose (≥ 100 mg/dL). Logistic regression (Odds ratio) was performed in order to determine the odds ratio for developing MS according to dietary intake.An adequate intake of fruits, OR = 0.52 (CI:0.28-0.98), and an intake of more than 8 different items in the diet (variety), OR = 0.31 (CI:0.12-0.79) showed to be a protective factor against a diagnosis of MS. Saturated fat intake greater than 10% of total caloric value represented a risk for MS diagnosis, OR = 2.0 (1.04-3.84).Regarding the dietary aspect, a risk factor for MS was higher intake of saturated fat, and protective factors were high diet variety and adequate fruit intake.Metabolic Syndrome (MS) is defined as the association of numerous factors that increase cardiovascular risk [1], such as dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity, systemic arterial hypertension and impaired fasting glycemia. All these altered factors are related to a prothrombotic and proinflammatory condition [2,3].MS prevalence in the United States is 21.8% [4], and it has increased strongly over the last few years [5]. In Brazil, no data have been reported for the national prevalence, but some studies have shown that MS prevalence at a regional level is approximately 15.8 to 48.3% [6,7].It is known that MS etiology includes genetic, metabolic and environmental factors [8]. Among environmental factors, diet is one of the main aspects related to the increase in MS in the population [9].The western diet, which is characterized by the intake of processed meat, refined grains, fried meat and sugar-based desserts, is directly associated with the risk of MS [10]. O