Moderate dietary flavonoid intake associated with lower prevalence of Parkinson’s disease: data from the NHANES 2007–2010 and 2017–2018

To investigate the relationship between dietary flavonoids and the prevalence of PD. We used data from the 2007–2010 and 2017–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Dietary flavonoid intake was assessed through a two-day, 24-hour dietary recall method, and PD diagnosis was ascertained by the presence of ‘Anti-Parkinson agents’ among the reported prescription medications. Logistic regression, subgroup, and restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were employed to analyze the connection between dietary flavonoids and PD prevalence. Our study revealed a correlation between the consumption of dietary total flavonoids, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols, and PD risk. Subgroup analysis indicated a negative correlation of dietary flavan-3-ols and total flavonoids with PD risk only among non-obese participants. Furthermore, our analysis using RCS demonstrated a nonlinear association between dietary flavonoids, flavan-3-ols, flavonols, and PD prevalence. We found that the optimal intake of total flavonoids, flavan-3-ols and flavonols wase 403.65 mg/day,346 mg/day and 26.74 mg/day, respectively. Above these thresholds, the risk of developing PD is elevated. Our study highlights a significant association between moderate dietary intake of total flavonoids, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols, and a reduced risk of PD. Our work may provide new therapeutic ideas for the prevention and treatment of PD and provide dietary flavonoid intake recommendations for PD patients.