Nutritional Advice El MondoObjectives:
Modifiable factors that reduce the burden of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), particularly plant-derived biomarkers, have been a recent focus of rising interest. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.
Do dietary carotenoids reduce risk of metabolic syndrome?
Study design:
This review article included 11 cross-sectional studies.
Publication bias was absent and harvest plots indicated consistency upon replication for β-carotene and total carotenoid exposures.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found dietary total carotenoids intake significantly reduced risk of metabolic syndrome with 44% [pooled OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.56-0.78, 1 SD ∼ 0.82 µmol/L, n = 5 studies]. This reduced risk was the strongest for β-carotene, followed by α-carotene and β-crypotoxanthin.
The investigators found no association between retinol (vitamin A from animal products) and risk of metabolic syndrome [pooled OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.88-1.13, 1 SD ∼ 2.14 µmol/L, n = 6 studies].
The investigators concluded that carotenoids, particularly β-carotene, followed by α-carotene and β-crypotoxanthin may reduce risk of metabolic syndrome. May reduce because this review article only included cross-sectional studies and no cohort studies.
Original title:
Carotenoids, vitamin A, and their association with the metabolic syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis by Beydoun MA, Chen X, [...], Canas JA.
Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30202882
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on carotenoids consumption, vitamin A and overweight right here.