Table 1.
Selected examples of dietary indices
| Rationale | Score | Hypothesis based on | Dietary components, recommended intake, and scoring system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food-based dietary guidelines | Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015) [25] | 2015–2002 Dietary Guidelines for Americans |
5/10* points each if complying to the recommended servings below Total fruits: ≥ 0.8 c equivalents/1000 kcal Whole fruits: ≥ 0.4 c equivalents/1000 kcal Total vegetables: ≥ 1.1 c equivalents/1000 kcal Greens and beans: ≥ 0.2 c equivalents/1000 kcal Whole grains*: ≥ 1.5 oz equivalents/1000 kcal Dairy*: ≥ 1.3 c equivalents/1000 kcal Total protein foods: ≥ 2.5 oz equivalents/1000 kcal Seafood and Plant Protein: ≥ 0.8 oz equivalents Fatty acids*: (PUFAs + MUFAs)/SFAs ≥ 2.5 Refined grains*: ≤ 1.8 oz equivalents/1000 kcal Sodium*: ≤ 1.1 g/1000 kcal Added sugar*: ≤ 6.5% of energy Saturated Fats*: ≤ 8% of energy TOTAL HEI-2015 score = 0–100 |
| Region origin | Mediterranean (MED) [8] | Adherence to the Mediterranean diet |
5 points each if complying with the recommended servings below Non-refined Grains > 4/d Vegetables > 4/d Potatoes > 2/d Fruits > 3/d Full-fat dairy ≤ 10/wk Red meat ≤ 1/wk Fish > 6/wk Poultry ≤ 3/wk Legumes, nuts and beans > 6/wk Olive oil ≥ 1/d Alcohol < 300 mL/d but > 0 TOTAL MedDiet score = 0 to 55 |
| Disease related | Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) [7] | Recommended diet to prevent and treat high blood pressure [Joint National Committee on Prevention 2003] based on DASH-trails [41, 42] |
1 point each if complying with the recommended servings below Total grains ≥ 7/d Vegetables ≥ 4/d Fruits ≥ 4/d Dairy ≥ 2/d Meat, poultry and fish ≤ 2/d Nuts, seeds and legumes ≥ 4/wk Total fat ≤ 27% of kcal Saturated Fat ≤ 6% of kcal Sweets ≤ 5/wk Sodium ≤ 2400 mg/d TOTAL DASH score = 0 to 10 |
| Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) [43] | Cross-method of the MED and DASH dietary pattern with an emphasis on linking the dietary components and servings to neuroprotection and dementia prevention |
1 point each if complying with the recommended servings below Whole grains ≥ 3/d Green leafy vegetables ≥ 6/wk Other vegetables ≥ 1/d Berries ≥ 2/wk Red meat and products < 4/wk Fish ≥ 1/wk Poultry ≥ 2/wk Beans > 3/wk Nuts ≥ 5 /wk Fast/fried food < 1/wk Olive oil primary oil Butter, margarine < 1 T/d Cheese < 1/wk Pastries, sweets < 5/wk Alcohol/wine 1/d Total MIND score = 0–15 |
|
| Lifestyle focused | Low-Risk Lifestyle Behaviors score [129] | Relationship between lifestyle behaviors on various health outcomes including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, all-cause mortality, and mortality from cancer [129] |
1 point each if complying with the recommendation below Never smoked or less than 100 cigarettes smoked during life time Healthy diet = top 40% of the Healthy Eating Index of the population [129] Adequate physical activity = being moderately or vigorously active, 5 and/or 3 times per week Moderate alcohol consumption = men ≤ 2 drinks/day and women ≤ 1drinks/day, respectively, but for both more than 0 drinks per month Total low-risk lifestyle behaviors score = 0–4 |
* indicates the following components where 10 points apply (i.e. Whole grain*; Dairy*; Fatty acids*; Refined Grain*; Sodium*; Added sugar*; and Saturated Fats*)
d day, g grams, mg milligrams, wk week, PUFAs polyunsaturated fatty acids, MUFAs monounsaturated fatty acids, SFAs saturated fatty acids