Positive Health Online

Abstract

KHALIL and COLLEAGUES, Research Centre on Aging, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada. abdelouahed.khalil@usherbrooke.ca conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the association between consumption of 26 common antioxidant-rich foods with total antioxidant status, vitamins C and E levels in older people.

Background

A cross-sectional study was designed to investigate the association between current consumption of a series of 26 common antioxidant-rich foods (ARF) with serum total antioxidant status (TAS) and plasma vitamin C and E levels in community-dwelling older adults.

Methodology

A convenience sample of the first 94 non-smoking Caucasian men (54%) and women (46%) enrolled in the Quebec Longitudinal Study NuAge were selected. The "Functional Foods Consumption Frequency Questionnaire" (FFCFQ) was administered at recruitment (T1) to ascertain patterns of consumption of ARF over the lifetime. The total Oxygen Radical Antioxidant Capacity (ORAC) of 25 ARF reported by subjects was estimated using published values. Serum TAS was determined based on the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay while plasma vitamins C and E (alpha- and gamma-tocopherol) levels were analyzed by HPLC.

Results

The numbers of ARF eaten daily at T1, estimated from the FFCFQ and calculated from the diet recalls, were significantly correlated (r=0.51, P<0.0001) and each measure was associated with total ORAC content (r=0.34, P<0.001 and r=0.59, P<0.0001 for FFCFQ and recalls, respectively). No significant association was found between TAS and the total ORAC value of ARF determined from the quantitative 24-h diet recalls. However, daily ARF consumption at T1 obtained from the FFCFQ was significantly and positively correlated with TAS (r=0.26, P<0.05) and circulating levels of vitamin C (r=0.25, P<0.02) and alpha-tocopherol (r=0.22, p<0.05) and negatively correlated with plasma gamma-tocopherol (r=-0.25, P<0.025).

Conclusion

These results highlight associations between ARF consumption and circulating levels of antioxidants in the elderly and suggest benefits from antioxidant-rich foods during ageing.

References

Khalil A, Gaudreau P, Cherki M, Wagner R, Tessier DM, Fulop T and Shatenstein B. Antioxidant-rich food intakes and their association with blood total antioxidant status and vitamin C and E levels in community-dwelling seniors from the Quebec longitudinal study NuAge. Experimental Gerontology. 46(6): 475-81. Jun 2011.