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Source‐specific nitrate intake and incident dementia in the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Study
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Source‐specific nitrate intake and incident dementia in the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Study

Catherine P Bondonno, Pratik Pokharel, Dorit Wielandt Erichsen, Liezhou Zhong, Jörg Schullehner, Cecilie Kyrø, Kirsten Frederiksen, Peter Fjeldstad Hendriksen, Frederik Dalgaard, Lauren C Blekkenhorst, …
Alzheimer's & dementia, Vol.21(12), e70995
2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70995
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Published819.53 kBDownloadView
CC BY V4.0,  Open Access

Abstract

Age of onset Animals Cancer Central nervous system Cohort analysis Danish language Databases Dementia Diet Drinking water Healthy food Hypotheses Meat Mortality Nervous system Nitrate content Nitric oxide Plant-based foods Politics Polyphenols Public health Risk Vegetables Water Water quality Water supply
INTRODUCTION Dietary nitrate, through conversion to nitric oxide, which supports vascular and nervous system function, may lower dementia risk but may also form neurodegenerative N‐nitrosamines, depending on the nitrate source. METHODS We investigated associations between source‐specific nitrate and nitrite intake and incident and early‐onset dementia (<65 years) in 54,804 dementia‐free participants from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort Study over ∼27 years. Nitrate and nitrite intakes were derived from food frequency questionnaires and nitrate and nitrite databases. RESULTS Higher plant‐sourced nitrate intake was non‐linearly associated with lower rates of incident dementia (fifth vs first quintile hazard ratio 95% confidence interval: 0.90 [0.83, 0.98]), while increased risk was seen for higher intakes of animal‐sourced, additive‐permitted meat‐sourced, and tap water‐sourced nitrate. Similar associations were seen for source‐specific nitrite intake and were more pronounced for early‐onset dementia. No clear effect modification was observed. DISCUSSION These findings highlight the importance of nitrate source in dementia risk and warrant further investigation. Highlights Plant nitrate is associated with a lower risk of incident and early‐onset dementia. Animal and tap water nitrate are associated with an increased risk of dementia. Encouraging consumption of plant‐based nitrate sources may lower risk of dementia.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
1 Clinical & Life Sciences
1.127 Molecular & Cell Biology - Pharmacology
1.127.87 Nitric Oxide Roles
Web Of Science research areas
Clinical Neurology
ESI research areas
Neuroscience & Behavior
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