Association of B vitamin intake and total homocysteine levels with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in central obesity

Objectives: Future primary prevention strategies may benefit from understanding the connection between mortality in individuals with central obesity and modifiable lifestyle factors like dietary intake. This study sought to determine whether there was a separate relationship between folate, vitamin B₆, and vitamin B₁₂ intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the US population with central obesity.

Methods: The study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2016. Using the Cox proportional hazards model, the association between dietary intake of B vitamins and all-cause and cause-specific mortality was examined. A total of 7718 adults with central obesity were enrolled, with a mean age of 49.87 (SD = 0.25) y at baseline.

Results: Folate intake was independently associated with a decreased incidence of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.58-0.87). Furthermore, higher intake of vitamin B₆ and vitamin B₁₂ was inversely correlated with cardiovascular disease mortality (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.63; 95% CI, 0.40-0.98; and adjusted hazard ratio = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.29-0.65, respectively) and the finding reveal an interaction between homocysteine and vitamin B₁₂ and folate on All-cause mortality CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that vitamin B₁₂ and folate intake may be protective factors in individuals with central obesity. It is important to consider both their total homocysteine level and body mass index in conjunction with these nutrients. Further research is needed to validate these findings.