Fruits and Vegetables Increase Plasma Carotenoids and Vitamins and Decrease Homocysteine in Humans

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition Vol. 130; no. 6; pp. 1578 - 1583
• Main Authors: Broekmans, Wendy M.R., Klöpping-Ketelaars, Ineke A.A., Schuurman, Caroelien R.W.C., Verhagen, Hans, van den Berg, Henk, Kok, Frans J., van Poppel, Geert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD Elsevier Inc 01.06.2000; American Society for Nutritional Sciences; American Institute of Nutrition
• Subjects: Adult; Afdeling Humane voeding; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Pressure; Body Mass Index; Body Weight; carotenoids; Carotenoids - blood; Cholesterol - blood; Diet; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fruit; Fruits; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; homocysteine; Homocysteine - blood; Human Nutrition; Human Nutrition & Health; Human Nutrition (HNE); Humane Voeding; Humane Voeding & Gezondheid; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nutrition; Random Allocation; Vegetables; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vitamins; Vitamins - blood; VLAG; homocysteine; fruits; carotenoids; vitamins; vegetables; humans; Human; Fruit; Plant origin; Vitamin; Supplemented diet; E-Vitamins; Carotenoid; Folate; Vegetable; Feeding
• ISSN: 0022-3166; 1541-6100
• DOI: 10.1093/jn/130.6.1578

Observational epidemiologic studies have shown that a high consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a decreased risk of chronic diseases. Little is known about the bioavailability of constituents from vegetables and fruits and the effect of these constituents on markers for disease risk. Currently, the recommendation is to increase intake of a mix of fruits and vegetables (“five a day”). We investigated the effect of this recommendation on plasma carotenoids, vitamins and homocysteine concentrations in a 4-wk dietary controlled, parallel intervention study. Male and female volunteers (n = 47) were allocated randomly to either a daily 500-g fruit and vegetable (“high”) diet or a 100-g fruit and vegetable (“low”) diet. Analyzed total carotenoid, vitamin C and folate concentrations of the daily high diet were 13.3 mg, 173 mg and 228.1 μg, respectively. The daily low diet contained 2.9 mg carotenoids, 65 mg vitamin C and 131.1 μg folate. Differences in final plasma levels between the high and low group were as follows: lutein, 46% [95% confidence interval (CI) 28–64]; β-cryptoxanthin, 128% (98–159); lycopene, 22% (8–37); α-carotene, 121% (94–149); β-carotene, 45% (28–62); and vitamin C, 64% (51–77) (P < 0.05). The high group had an 11% (−18 to −4) lower final plasma homocysteine and a 15% (0.8–30) higher plasma folate concentration compared with the low group (P < 0.05). This is the first trial to show that a mix of fruits and vegetables, with a moderate folate content, decreases plasma homocysteine concentrations in humans.