Begoña Olmedilla Alonso

Markers of lutein and zeaxanthin status in two age groups of men and women: dietary intake, serum concentrations, lipid profile and macular pigment optical density

This study was supported by grant from Accion Estrategica en Salud of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion Tecnologica, Spain) (grant no. PS09/00681) and Rocio Estevez Santiago is the recipient of a JAEPredoc grant from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), awarded under the program of the Junta para la Ampliacion de Estudios, co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF). We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).

Base de datos de carotenoides para valoración de la ingesta dietética de carotenos, xantofilas y de vitamina A; utilización en un estudio comparativo del estado nutricional en vitamina A de adultos jóvenes

OBJECTIVES 1) Develop a database of carotenoids (BD-carotenoids) in foods widely consumed in Spain. 2) To assess the vitamin A nutritional status (expressed as retinol equivalents [RE] and retinol activity equivalents [RAE]) in young adults. METHODS The BD-carotenoids includes data on carotenes (β-carotene, α-carotene and lycopene) and xanthophylls (β-cryptoxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin) generated by HPLC. Vitamin A intake was assessed by a 3-day food record in 54 adults (20-35 years of age, not obese and with serum retinol > 30 µg/dl), using the BD-carotenoids and a Food Composition Table widely used in Spain. RESULTS The BD-carotenoids includes data on 89 foods (9 raw or boiled and 14 processed). The intake of provitamin-A carotenoids is 2.5 mg/p/d, that of RE 682 µg/p/d and that of RAE 499 µg/p/d. The vitamin A intake expressed as RAE is 27% lower than that expressed as RE. Seventy-six percent of the intake meets the daily intake recommendations and 63% meets the reference daily intakes of vitamin A. CONCLUSIONS Data on individual carotenoids ensure greater accuracy in studies on diet and health, and provide easier assessment of the vitamin A intake, expressed as RE, RAE, or any other future forms. The vitamin A intake expressed as RAE represents a substantial reduction in the carotenoid contribution to vitamin A intake, which enhances the detection of inadequacies of that intake.

Papel de las leguminosas en la alimentación actual

Resumen En la alimentacion humana y animal se utilizan hasta 150 especies de leguminosas, de las que las mas relevantes para el consumo humano son judias, lentejas, guisantes, garbanzos, habas y cowpeas. En su composicion interesa destacar los contenidos de proteinas, de hidratos de carbono de asimilacion lenta, de minerales (calcio, hierro, cinc), fibra (soluble) y algunos componentes bioactivos minoritarios. El consumo humano de legumbres es menor en Europa que en otras regiones del mundo y muestra una amplia variabilidad. La posibilidad de utilizar legumbres cocidas, listas para su uso, facilita el aumento de su consumo en el hogar y la adaptacion a los cambios sociales, economicos y culturales. El cocinado mejora el perfil nutricional de las judias, ya que reduce componentes toxicos termolabiles y oligosacaridos manteniendo el contenido en proteina y fibra. La OMS recomienda el consumo de legumbres para disminuir el riesgo de enfermedades asociadas a la alimentacion (p. ej., diabetes mellitus tipo 2, obesidad). En recomendaciones dieteticas recientes para la poblacion americana, se destaca la importancia del consumo de judias (incluidas en el grupo de hortalizas y en el de proteinas). Las distintas legumbres muestran un contenido de nutrientes y otros compuestos bioactivos diferentes, por lo que interesa conocer el efecto de su consumo sobre todo en relacion con afecciones cronicas. En Espana hay numerosas variedades de judias, de las cuales se han seleccionado dos para analizar su composicion y valorar su efecto en la glucemia y la insulinemia de diabeticos tipo 2. Los principales resultados se comentan en el articulo.

Assessment of individual carotenoid and vitamin A dietary intake in overweight and obese Dominican subjects

INTRODUCTION Carotenoids are plant pigment with important biological activities in humans, such as provitamin-A among others. At present, there are no individual carotenoid intake data in the Dominican population, which is at risk of vitamin A deficiency and has an important percentage of overweight and obese individuals . OBJECTIVE To assess the individual components of vitamin A intake (retinol, α-carotene, β-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin) and that of other relevant dietary carotenoids like lutein, zeaxanthin and lycopene of Dominican daily food intake. METHODS Fifty overweigth and obese subjects (22-69 y). Individual carotenoid intake, from whole diet and from the ingestion of fruits and vegetables, was determined using three 24 h diet recalls and a specific carotenoid database. Retinol, macronutrient and energy intake were calculated using DIAL® software. RESULTS The total carotenoid intake was 6363.2 µg/day, 56. 1% corresponding to provitamin A carotenoids (74.3% β-carotene). Vitamin A intake was supplied by retinol (40%) and by provitamin A carotenoids (60%); vegetables contributed more than fruits (39.2% and 19.2%, respectively). Non-provitamin A carotenoid intake represents 43.9% of the total intake and is supplied by lycopene and lutein plus zeaxanthin in similar percentages (52.3% and 47.7%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The diet of these Dominican subjets met the recommended vitamin A intake, when expressed as retinol equivalents, 59% of which was supplied by provitamin-A carotenoids from plant sources, mainly by red/orange and white/yellow foods. Individual carotenoid intake is an aspect of great interest for issuing dietary recommendations in the public health setting.

Functional meat products; development and evaluation of their health-promoting properties | Alimentos cárnicos funcionales; desarrollo y evaluación de sus propiedades saludables

For a number of reasons, meat products are an exceptionally adequate means for introducing different bioactive compounds into the diet without modifying eating habits. In recent years, there has been a notable development of meat products designed as potentially functional foods. Within the framework of the functional food, this article provides a general view of the reasons that motivate and justify their formulation, with special emphasis on: a) aspects to be considered in their design in order to be able to make nutrition claims and statements concerning their health-promoting properties; b) the strategies employed to optimize the presence of functional ingredients, favoring the presence of beneficial bioactive compounds and limiting others with negative consequences for our health, and c) the procedures for demonstrating a relationship between the consumption of potentially functional meat products with beneficial effects on health and the way in which these studies are reflected in the literature.Por multiples razones los productos carnicos son alimentos excepcionalmente adecuados para introducir en la dieta diversos compuestos bioactivos sin modificar los habitos de consumo. En los ultimos anos se ha producido un notable desarrollo de productos carnicos disenados como potencialmente funcionales. En el marco de la alimentacion funcional, este articulo proporciona una panoramica general acerca de las razones que impulsan y justifican su obtencion haciendo especial enfasis en: a) los aspectos a considerar en su diseno con el proposito de poder realizar declaraciones nutricionales y alegaciones de propiedades saludables; b) las estrategias empleadas para optimizar la presencia de ingredientes funcionales, favoreciendo la presencia de compuestos bioactivos beneficiosos y limitando la de aquellos otros con implicaciones negativas para la salud, y c) los procedimientos para demostrar una relacion entre la ingesta de productos carnicos potencialmente funcionales con un efecto beneficioso sobre la salud y de que manera se reflejan tales estudios en la bibliografia.

Software application for the calculation of dietary intake of individual carotenoids and of its contribution to vitamin A intake.

INTRODUCTION The software applications utilized to assess dietary intake usually focus on macro- and micronutrients, but not on other components of the diet with potential beneficial effects on health, which include the carotenoids. The degree to which each carotenoid exerts diverse biological activities differs and, thus, it is in our interest to know their composition in foods on an individual basis. OBJECTIVE To develop a software application with individualized data on carotenoids that enables the calculation of their dietary intake and consultation of the contents of these compounds in foods. MATERIAL AND METHODS Software application developed with Java 7, which includes a database of the carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, ?-cryptoxanthin, ?-carotene and ?-carotene) in foods (including those that are major contributors to carotenoid intake in Europe), generated by HPLC. The variables include those relative to the foods, subjects and diets that are necessary to provide accurate information on the content of carotenoids in foods and to enable the calculation of their intake. RESULTS The software application enables the calculation of the dietary intake of individual carotenoids from 128 foods (raw and cooked), and their contribution to vitamin A intake, in the two forms employed at the present time: retinol equivalents (RE) and retinol activity equivalents (RAE). CONCLUSIONS This software application is a dynamic, specific and accurate tool for the consultation of carotenoid concentrations in foods and the calculation of their intake, aspects that are essential in research studies on diet and health.