Association between Serum Concentration of Carotenoid and Visceral Fat

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 912
• Main Authors: Matsumoto, Mai, Suganuma, Hiroyuki, Ozato, Naoki, Shimizu, Sunao, Katashima, Mitsuhiro, Katsuragi, Yoshihisa, Mikami, Tatsuya, Itoh, Ken, Nakaji, Shigeyuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 11.03.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Age groups; Alcohol use; beta Carotene - blood; beta-carotene; blood serum; Body Mass Index; Cardiovascular disease; cardiovascular diseases; Carotenoids; Carotenoids - blood; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes; Diet; Dietary fiber; Dietary Fiber - administration & dosage; Female; Fruit; Habits; Health promotion; Humans; Hypertension; Intra-Abdominal Fat; lutein; Lutein - blood; Lycopene - blood; Male; Males; Middle age; Middle Aged; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Soy Foods; Vegetables; visceral fat; waist circumference; Young Adult; Japan; metabolic syndrome; carotenoid; healthy subjects; visceral fat; vegetable intake; resident-based cross-sectional study
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13030912

Consumption of fruits and vegetables rich in carotenoids has been widely reported to prevent cardiovascular diseases. However, the relationship between serum carotenoid concentrations and visceral fat area (VFA), which is considered a better predictor of cardiovascular diseases than the body-mass index (BMI) and waist circumference, remains unclear. Therefore, we examined the relationship in healthy individuals in their 20s or older, stratified by sex and age, to compare the relationship between serum carotenoid concentrations and VFA and BMI. The study was conducted on 805 people, the residents in Hirosaki city, Aomori prefecture, who underwent a health checkup. An inverse relationship between serum carotenoid concentrations and VFA and BMI was observed only in women. In addition, the results were independent of the intake of dietary fiber, which is mainly supplied from vegetables as well as carotenoids. This suggests that consumption of a diet rich in carotenoids (especially lutein and beta-carotene) is associated with lower VFA, which is a good predictor of cardiovascular disease, especially in women. This study is the first to comprehensively evaluate the association between serum carotenoid levels and VFA in healthy individuals.