scholarly journals Serum folate status among blood donors in south-central China

Author(s):  
Yan Ma ◽  
Huan Deng ◽  
Mingdi He ◽  
Ru Yang ◽  
Gang Shen

Folate deficiency has been confirmed to be related to various diseases. Unfortunately, there are few reports on the folate status of Chinese adults. This study aims to evaluate the serum folate status of blood donors in south-central China. In this study, 248 blood donors were included. The information on subjects was collected by a brief questionnaire concerning alcohol consumption habits, smoking habits, fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. The serum folate concentration was measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. The geometric mean serum folate concentration was 13.4[Formula: see text]nmol[Formula: see text]l[Formula: see text] (95% CI, 12.7–14.1). The prevalence of serum folate concentrations below 6.8[Formula: see text]nmol[Formula: see text]l[Formula: see text] was 5.2% (95% CI, 2.5–8.0). There were significant differences in serum folate concentrations with respect to sex ([Formula: see text]-values [Formula: see text] 0.05), age ([Formula: see text]-values [Formula: see text] 0.05), fruit and vegetable consumption ([Formula: see text]-values [Formula: see text] 0.05), and alcohol consumption habits ([Formula: see text]-values [Formula: see text] 0.05). The concentration of serum folate increased with age ([Formula: see text]-values [Formula: see text] 0.05) and fruit and vegetable consumption ([Formula: see text]-values [Formula: see text] 0.05). Individuals with an age of 30 years or younger were nearly 3.5 times as likely as those aged over 30 years to have an insufficient level of serum folate (OR = 3.48; 95% CI: 1.01–11.99). An age of 30 years or younger was a risk factor for folate deficiency. Most blood donors had sufficient serum folate concentrations in south-central China. National surveys of folate status should be implemented in China.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Qi ◽  
J. J. Spinelli ◽  
T. J. B. Dummer ◽  
P. Bhatti ◽  
M. C. Playdon ◽  
...  

AbstractMetabolomics can detect metabolic shifts resulting from lifestyle behaviors and may provide insight on the relevance of changes to carcinogenesis. We used non-targeted nuclear magnetic resonance to examine associations between metabolic measures and cancer preventive behaviors in 1319 participants (50% male, mean age 54 years) from the BC Generations Project. Behaviors were dichotomized: BMI < 25 kg/m2, ≥ 5 servings of fruits or vegetables/day, ≤ 2 alcoholic drinks/day for men or 1 drink/day for women and ≥ 30 min of moderate or vigorous physical activity/day. Linear regression was used to estimate coefficients and 95% confidence intervals with a false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.10. Of the 218 metabolic measures, 173, 103, 71 and 6 were associated with BMI, fruits and vegetables, alcohol consumption and physical activity. Notable findings included negative associations between glycoprotein acetyls, an inflammation-related metabolite with lower BMI and greater fruit and vegetable consumption, a positive association between polyunsaturated fatty acids and fruit and vegetable consumption and positive associations between high-density lipoprotein subclasses with lower BMI. These findings provide insight into metabolic alterations in the context of cancer prevention and the diverse biological pathways they are involved in. In particular, behaviors related to BMI, fruit and vegetable and alcohol consumption had a large metabolic impact.


2004 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henríquez ◽  
Doreste ◽  
Díaz-Cremades ◽  
López-Blanco ◽  
Álvarez-León ◽  
...  

Background and aim: Human studies support the hypothesized contribution of folate deficiency to carcinogenesis and vascular risk. We assess the nutritional folate status and its relationship to folate intake, smoking, alcohol consumption, oral contraceptive use, and multivitamin supplements. Methodology: A representative sample of 601 individuals from 18 to 75 years of age was selected from the participants in the Canary Islands Nutrition Survey. A food frequency questionnaire was administered. Serum and erythrocyte levels of folate were determined using a method of automated ionic capturing. Results: Mean serum and red cell folate were 8.2 ng/mL and 214.3 ng/mL, respectively. Only one individual had serum folate below 3 ng/mL, and 21.7% showed moderate deficits (3–6 ng/mL); 10.7% of the sample had erythrocyte folate levels falling below 140 ng/mL, 61.3% between 140 and 240 ng/mL and the remaining 27.9% above 240 ng/mL. A positive significant association was observed between these two folate measurements, as well as between folate intake and each of these biomarkers (p < 0.001). Tobacco consumption was negatively correlated with folate status (p < 0.001). Alcohol consumption, oral contraceptive, and vitamin supplement use were not associated with serum and red cell folate levels. Conclusions: Even though nutritional folate status can be considered minimally acceptable, it may reflect the low level of fruit and vegetable consumption within the Canary Islands population.


2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (7) ◽  
pp. S18-S19
Author(s):  
Michele Polacsek ◽  
Alyssa Moran ◽  
Anne Thorndike ◽  
Rebecca Franckle ◽  
Rebecca Boulos ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Joreintje Dingena Mackenbach

Abstract I reflect upon the potential reasons why American low-income households do not spend an optimal proportion of their food budgets on fruits and vegetables, even though this would allow them to meet the recommended levels of fruit and vegetable consumption. Other priorities than health, automatic decision-making processes and access to healthy foods play a role, but solutions for the persistent socio-economic inequalities in diet should be sought in the wider food system which promotes cheap, mass-produced foods. I argue that, ultimately, healthy eating is not a matter of prioritisation by individual households but by policymakers.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Rachelle A. Pretorius ◽  
Debra J. Palmer

Higher dietary fiber intakes during pregnancy may have the potential health benefits of increasing gut microbiome diversity, lowering the risk of glucose intolerance and pre-eclampsia, achieving appropriate gestational weight gain, and preventing constipation. In this observational cohort study, we have assessed the dietary fiber intakes of 804 women in late pregnancy, using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQ-FFQ). Overall, the median (interquartile range) dietary fiber intake was 24.1 (19.0–29.7) grams per day (g/day). Only 237/804 (29.5%) women met the recommended Adequate Intake (AI) of dietary fiber during pregnancy of 28 g/day. Women consuming the highest quartile of fiber intakes (34.8 (IQR 32.1–39.5) g/day) consumed more fruit, especially apples and bananas, than women consuming the lowest quartile of fiber intakes (15.9 (IQR 14.4–17.5) g/day). These women in the highest fiber-intake quartile were older (p < 0.01), more had completed further education after secondary school (p = 0.04), and they also consumed more vegetables (67 g/day) compared to the women in the lowest fiber consumption quartile (17 g vegetables/day). Bread intakes of 39–42 g/day were consistent in quantities consumed across all four fiber-intake quartiles. Our findings suggest that antenatal education advice targeting increased fruit and vegetable consumption before and during pregnancy may be a simple strategy to achieve increased total dietary fiber intakes to reach recommended quantities.


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