Effect of Face to Face Nutrition Counseling on Metabolic Syndrome Parameters in Cigarette Quitters

Although smoking increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, its quitting leads to weight gain due to increased appetite. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of face to face dietary counseling on metabolic syndrome (MetS) indices in cigarette quitter.
This 9-week parallel randomized clinical trial was conducted by participation of 50 patients with metabolic syndrome who have recently quit smoking. Participants were assigned randomly into two groups. Intervention group (IG) received weekly nutritional education and consultation, while control group (CG) did not receive any intervention. Before and after the trial, both groups were evaluated nutritionally using 24-hour dietary recall questionnaire, and metabolic syndrome parameters were measured. Paired T-test and ANCOVA were used for statistical analysis.
After intervention, weight, body mass index (BMI), triglycerides and systolic blood pressure were significantly different between CG and IG, while indices of low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and diastolic blood pressure were not significantly different between two groups. Amount of energy, lipid, protein, and carbohydrate intake were significantly lower in IG compare to CG. After adjustment of age, duration of smoking and the initial concentration of biochemical and anthropometric factors, significant differences were found between IG and CG in the changes of LDL-C (P-value 0.001), BMI (P-value 0.001), weight (P-value 0.001), waist circumference (P-value 0.002), and triglyceride (P-value 0.001).While the difference in changes of HDL-C, FBS, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, were not significant between two groups.
Given the findings of this study, nutritional counseling could improve some indices of MetS in cigarette quitters.