Journal
BRITISH JOURNAL OF NUTRITION
Volume 121, Issue 2, Pages 172-181Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0007114518003045
Keywords
Carotenoids; Fruits; Vegetables; Sex differences; Biomarkers
Categories
Funding
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research [MOP-68866, MOP-84568, FHG-129921]
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Dairy Farmers of Canada
- Canadian Dairy Commission
- Novalait Inc.
- Dairy Australia
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Canola Council of Canada
- National Center for Research Resources [UL1 RR033184]
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences [UL1 TR000127]
- Canadian Cranberry Growers Coalition
- McCormick Science Institute
- Atrium Innovations
- Danone Institute
- Provigo/Loblaws
- Flax Council of Canada
- Western Grains Research Foundation of Canada
- Dow Agrosciences
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Health professionals consider the evaluation of eating habits to be challenging, given the potential biases of dietary questionnaires based on self-reported data. Circulating carotenoid concentrations are reliable biomarkers of dietary carotenoid intake and could be useful in the validation of dietary assessment tools. However, there is a sex difference in circulating carotenoids, with women displaying higher concentrations compared with men independent of intake. The aim of the present study was to identify the correlates of plasma carotenoid concentrations among men (n 155) and women (n 110) enrolled in six fully controlled dietary interventions with varying dietary carotenoid intakes. We looked at the associations of post-intervention fasting plasma carotenoid concentrations (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, lycopene and zeaxanthin) with physical and metabolic characteristics. We found that increased body weight (r -0.47, P< 0.0001) and waist circumference (r -0.46, P< 0.0001) were associated with lower plasma total carotenoid concentrations, while elevated plasma LDL-cholesterol (r 0.49, P< 0.0001) and HDL-cholesterol (r 0.50, P< 0.0001) concentrations were correlated with higher total carotenoids in plasma. Women had significantly higher plasma total carotenoid concentrations compared with men, despite significantly lower dietary carotenoid intake. Adjustment of circulating carotenoid concentrations for plasma HDL-cholesterol eliminated sex difference in plasma carotenoid concentrations. Our results suggest that physical characteristics as well as plasma lipids are associated with circulating carotenoid concentrations and that these variables should be taken into account when using plasma carotenoids as biomarkers for food intake in men and women.
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