Table A1.

The definition and calculation method of four dietary patterns in the present study.

	Mediterranean Adherence Diet Score (MDS)				Low-Carbohydrate-Diet Score (LCD)			Low-Fat Diet	Low-Carbohydrate Diet
Definition	A score ranging from 0–18 by adding up nine components.				A score ranging from 0–30 by adding up individual scores of three macronutrients, carbohydrate, protein, and fat.			<30% of total daily calorie intake from fat	<20% of total daily calorie intake from carbohydrate
	Each component is assigned a score of “0”, “1”, or “2” according to the amount of intake.				Each macronutrient was calculated as a percentage (%) of total daily energy intake, and further divided into 11 strata.
Calculation method	Scores	0	1	2	Scores	Carbohydrate	Protein/Fat
	Fruit	<1 CE/d	≥1 CE/d	≥2 CE/d	0	11th stratum	1st stratum
	Vegetables	<0.5 CE/d	≥0.5 CE/d	≥1 CE/d	1	10th stratum	2nd stratum
	1 portion = 70 g = 2.5 oz				2	9th stratum	3rd stratum
	Cereals	<4.6 oz/d	4.6–6.9 oz/d	>6.9 oz/d	3	8th stratum	4th stratum
	1 portion = 130 g = 4.6 oz				4	7th stratum	5th stratum
	Fish	<3.5 oz/wk	3.5–8.75 oz/wk	>8.75 oz/wk	5	6th stratum	6th stratum
	1 portion = 100 g = 3.5 oz				6	5th stratum	7th stratum
	Meat product	>4.2 oz/d	2.8–4.2 oz/d	<2.8 oz/d	7	4th stratum	8th stratum
	1 portion = 80 g = 2.8 oz				8	3rd stratum	9th stratum
	Dairy products	>1.5 CE/d	1–1.5 CE/d	<1 CE/d	9	2nd stratum	10th stratum
	Alcohol (mL/day)	>2 AU/d	<1 AU/d	1–2 AU/d	10	1st stratum	11th stratum
	1 AU = 12 g
	Olive oil (gm)	<14 g/d	≥14 g/d	≥28 g/d
	CE = cup equivalent intakes; d = day; wk = week; gm = gram; mL = milliliter; oz = ounce
References	Previous literature by Sofi et al. [23]				Previous literature by Halton et al. [25]			American Heart Association Dietary Guidelines [5]	American Academy of Family Physicians [26]