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. 2021 Sep 29;151(11):3579–3587. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxab300

TABLE 3.

Associations of food items with liver fat in the Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study1

Variable Median (range) Participants, n Percentage liver fat, geometric mean (95% CI)
Total red meat, g/d Q1: 12 (0–20) 420 3.78 (3.55, 4.02)
Q2: 27 (20–35) 421 4.22 (3.98, 4.47)
Q3: 44 (35–58) 421 4.43 (4.18, 4.69)
Q4: 84 (59–408) 420 5.13 (4.80, 5.49)
P-trend 2.38E-09*
Red meat excluding processed meat, g/d Q1: 7 (0–12) 420 3.93 (3.70, 4.19)
Q2: 16 (12–21) 421 4.24 (4.00, 4.49)
Q3: 28 (21–38) 421 4.39 (4.14, 4.65)
Q4: 53 (38–198) 420 4.97 (4.65, 5.30)
P-trend 2.71E-06*
All fruits plus juice, g/d Q1: 68 (0–117) 420 4.63 (4.36, 4.93)
Q2: 167 (117–222) 421 4.43 (4.18, 4.70)
Q3: 287 (222–376) 421 4.38 (4.13, 4.64)
Q4: 535 (377–2507) 420 4.03 (3.78, 4.29)
P-trend 0.0032
Total vegetables, g/d Q1: 147 (28–204) 420 4.52 (4.24, 4.82)
Q2: 258 (204–310) 421 4.34 (4.09, 4.60)
Q3: 373 (310–464) 421 4.46 (4.21, 4.73)
Q4: 626 (464–2936) 420 4.14 (3.88, 4.43)
P-trend 0.12
Nuts excluding coconut, g/d Q1: 0.2 (0.0–0.4) 420 4.16 (3.91, 4.41)
Q2: 0.9 (0.4–1.6) 421 4.45 (4.19, 4.71)
Q3: 2.8 (1.6–4.3) 421 4.35 (4.10, 4.61)
Q4: 7.3 (4.3–80.2) 420 4.51 (4.24, 4.80)
P-trend 0.20
Sugar-sweetened beverages, g/d Q1: 0 (0–0) 439 4.36 (4.12, 4.62)
Q2: 4 (0–7) 419 4.45 (4.19, 4.71)
Q3: 16 (7–32) 424 4.39 (4.14, 4.65)
Q4: 68 (32–467) 400 4.26 (4.01, 4.52)
P-trend 0.38
Diet soda, g/d Q1: 0 (0–0) 1145 4.24 (4.09, 4.39)
Q2: 12 (6–12) 112 4.81 (4.30, 5.38)
Q3: 128 (15–2160) 425 4.60 (4.34, 4.89)
P-trend 0.034
Total tea, g Q1: 0 (0–0) 426 4.10 (3.87, 4.34)
Q2: 84 (7.8–205) 358 4.65 (4.37, 4.96)
Q3: 237 (237–240) 478 4.57 (4.32, 4.82)
Q4: 591 (244–1547) 420 4.18 (3.94, 4.44)
P-trend 0.54
Black tea, g/d Q1: 0 (0–0) 520 4.14 (3.93, 4.36)
Q2: 84 (7.8–205) 325 4.64 (4.34, 4.95)
Q3: 237 (237–237) 524 4.59 (4.35, 4.83)
Q4: 591 (296–947) 313 4.12 (3.85, 4.41)
P-trend 0.56
Green tea, g/d Q1: 0 (0–0) 1351 4.40 (4.26, 4.55)
Q2: 85.3 (7.9–961) 331 4.22 (3.95, 4.51)
P-trend NA**
Total coffee, g/d Q1: 0 (0–0) 538 4.03 (3.82, 4.24)
Q2: 7.6 (3.5–16.4) 266 4.30 (3.99, 4.62)
Q3: 30.4 (17.7–76.3) 474 4.50 (4.26, 4.75)
Q4: 230 (76.9–2160) 404 4.74 (4.46, 5.03)
P-trend 0.00081*
Regular coffee, g/d Q1: 0 (0–0) 655 4.05 (3.87, 4.25)
Q2: 7.1 (3.5–8.8) 184 4.35 (3.99, 4.75)
Q3: 29.5 (9.5–50.9) 436 4.68 (4.42, 4.95)
Q4: 153 (58.0–2160) 407 4.56 (4.30, 4.85)
P-trend 0.024
Decaffeinated coffee, g/d Q1: 0 (0–0) 1363 4.36 (4.22, 4.50)
Q2: 18.9 (7.6–575) 319 4.37 (4.09, 4.68)
P-trend NA**
1

The P-trend to assess a dose–response relation was obtained in a general linear model of liver fat on each dietary variable with 4 values, i.e., medians for the quartiles, and other covariates (age, sex, race/ethnicity, percentage body fat, and total energy intake for nonenergy diet variables). NA, not applicable; Q, quartile.

*Dietary factor met the threshold for significance using Bonferroni correction (P-trend < 0.00135).

**P-trends were not calculated because there are only 2 categories of intake. There was no significant difference in multivariable-adjusted liver fat means across categories of green tea (P = 0.26) or decaffeinated coffee (P = 0.93) intake.