Written by Marcia J. Egles, MD.
Antioxidants in the diet may help prevent numerous diseases such as cancers and cardiovascular disease. A recent observational study from the Netherlands reports a decreased rate of cardiovascular death among elderly men whose diets were comparatively rich in carrots. According to this study, an increased consumption of alpha and beta carotenes was associated with a 20 percent reduction in the risk of death from heart disease.
Antioxidants found in the diet include such nutrients as carotenoids, vitamin E (tocopherols) and vitamin C. Carotenoids, named after carrots, are a group of natural pigments occurring in vegetables and fruits. Common carotenoids in food include the carotenes, lycopene, lutein, and several dozen others(1)
The study analyzed dietary and mortality data gathered every five years over 15 years starting in 1985, from the Zutphen Elderly Study. Five hundred and fifty-nine healthy elderly men with an average age of 72 years participated. In-home interviews, which included input from the person who usually prepared the meals, were conducted by dieticians.
After adjustments for such potentially interfering factors as age, smoking, exercise habits, and socioeconomic status, the study examined mortality rates in comparison with amounts of antioxidants consumed. Those subjects with intakes of alpha or beta carotene significantly above average were determined to have a 20 per cent lower relative risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Carrots in the diet accounted for ninety–four per cent of the alpha carotenes and 40 per cent of the beta carotenes. (Abstractor’s note: The study did not report the daily average servings of vegetables or fruits consumed, but rather the average micrograms of each antioxidant in the diet. Calculating and converting from U.S. dietary tables (2) the average amount of carrots eaten would be roughly about 10 grams per day or about 1 baby carrot. Those with lessened mortality rates ate about 20 grams of carrots per day, or twice as many carrots as the average.)
The study also looked for evidence of similar mortality reduction with other antioxidants, but could find no associations. Other carotenoids, vitamin C, and alpha and gamma tocopherol (vitamin E) showed no association with lower cardiovascular death in this study. (The average daily intake of vitamin C was 88 milligrams. For vitamin E, the average intake was 9.1 milligrams of alpha tocopherol and 9.3 milligrams of gamma tocopherol per day.) Prior studies have suggested some cardiovascular benefit of these antioxidants, although findings have not been consistent(3, 4).
Source: Buijsse, Brian, Edith JM Feskens, Lemogang Kwape, Frans J. Kok, and Daan Kromhout. “Both α-and β-carotene, but not tocopherols and vitamin C, are inversely related to 15-year cardiovascular mortality in Dutch elderly men.” The Journal of nutrition 138, no. 2 (2008): 344-350.
© 2008 American Society for Nutrition.
Posted August 5, 2008.
References:
- Sergio Paiva, MD,PhD and Robert Russell, MD in “Beta-Carotene and Other Carotenoids as Antioxidants” Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 18, 426-433 (1999).
- Joanne Holden et al. “Carotenoid Content of U.S. Foods: An Update of the Database” Journal of Food Composition & Analysis. 12, 169-196 (1999).
- Vivekananthan DPet al. Use of antioxidant vitamins for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis of randomized trials. Lancet. 2003: 361: 2017-23
- Bjelakovic G et al. Mortality in randomized trials of antioxidant supplements for primary and secondary prevention: systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 2007: 297: 842-57
