Supplement Use and Diet Quality Among U.S. Adults by Eligibility for Lipid-Lowering Therapy
Authors' conclusion
Millions of US adults recommended for LLT were untreated while using heart health or cholesterol supplements, and supplement use did not differ significantly across selected dietary misalignment burden categories. Proactive assessment of supplement use may help redirect prevention counseling toward guideline-directed LLT and heart-healthy dietary patterns.
Study context
- Population
- Adults aged 30–75 years in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015–2020), classified by lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) treatment and eligibility under the 2026 AHA/ACC guidelinerepresenting 147.3 million US adults, 49.0% were female, and 25.0% were receiving LLT
- Participants
- 3,743 adults
- Exposure
- Supplement use and selected dietary characteristics across LLT treatment and eligibility groups
- Outcome
- Self-reported heart health or cholesterol supplement use
Methodological detailscomplex survey design, fasting subsample weights, national estimates
- Complex survey design
- Fasting subsample weights
- National estimates
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Overall supplement use
- 11.3% [9.4-13.6]
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Dietary misalignment burden (number of unmet benchmarks across nine selected recall-day indicators)
- Weighted median misalignment burden
- 7 (IQR 6-8)
- Dietary inadequacies were common across measured domains and LLT eligibility strata
Supplement use across dietary misalignment burden categories
- Supplement use did not differ significantly across dietary misalignment burden categories
Original publication
Supplement Use and Diet Quality Among U.S. Adults by Eligibility for Lipid-Lowering Therapy. Circ Popul Health Outcomes. Published 2 November 2026. doi:10.
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