Fruit, Mediterranean-style, and high-fat and -sugar diets are associated with the risk of night sweats and hot flushes in midlife: results from a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND
Diet has been suggested to be a potential risk factor for vasomotor menopausal symptoms (VMSs), ie, hot flushes and night sweats.

OBJECTIVE
We investigated the associations between dietary patterns and risk of VMSs by using data from middle-aged women born between 1946 and 1951 in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.

DESIGN
A prospective cohort study of 6040 women with a natural menopause were followed up at 3-y intervals over 9 y. Dietary intake was assessed at baseline in 2001, and the presence of VMSs was assessed at baseline and follow-up. Factor analysis and generalized estimating equation models for binary repeated measures were performed.

RESULTS
Six dietary patterns were identified from factor analysis: cooked vegetables, fruit, Mediterranean style, meat and processed meat, dairy, and high fat and sugar. A higher consumption of the fruit or Mediterranean-style diet was inversely associated with VMSs in a comparison of the top with the bottom quintile, with adjusted ORs of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.71, 0.93; P-trend = 0.0009) and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.69, 0.92; P-trend = 0.0004), respectively. The high-fat and -sugar pattern increased the risk of VMSs in a comparison of the top with the bottom quintile, with an adjusted OR of 1.23 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.44; P-trend = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS
Consumption of a fruit or Mediterranean-style diet decreased the risk of reporting VMSs, whereas consumption of a high-fat and -sugar diet increased the risk of VMSs. These results may eventually lead to a basis for the development of dietary preventive measures for VMSs.