The prevention of diabetes may be influenced by folate, according to research. In the general population, CVD is also avoided by consuming foods or supplements containing folate.
Research is required to determine the specific effect of folate on mortality related to dysglycemia, even though some prior studies have shown a potentially positive influence of folate for individuals who are relatively healthy.
Concerning the study
The daily consumption of folate may have a protective effect on mortality in patients with dysglycemia, according to the researchers’ hypothesis in the current study.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a multistage, complex probability survey that tracks the nutritional and physical health of US citizens. By combining the daily folate intake from food and daily folate supplements, the team calculated daily folate consumption.
Trained interviewers collected data on folate intake from foods through a 24-hour diet recall. Each participant had access to a set of measuring instruments in the NHANES Mobile Examination Center (MEC) dietary interview room for recording the quantities of all foods consumed in the previous 24 hours.
Administrative information, such as data dependability and completeness, was recorded to ensure data quality. The US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies estimated the daily folate intake from food. The average daily folate intake was also estimated to reduce potential measurement errors related to a 24-hour recall.
Results
Participants with prediabetes, diabetes, and insulin resistance (IR) were followed for 158,129, 117,746, and 2,10,896.80 person-years, respectively. Among these, 3,356 (1,053 CVD and 672 cancer), 3,796 (1,117 CVD and 854 cancer), and 4,340 (1,286 CVD and 928 cancer) deaths occurred among these participants with diabetes, prediabetes, and IR, respectively.
