Dietary intake of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans, adiposity and obesity status.

INTRODUCTION: The principal source of exposure to Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans (PCDD/Fs) in humans comes from food intake. PCDD/Fs, are a family of potential endocrine disruptors and have been associated with different chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. However, studies assessing the relationship between dietary exposure to PCDD/Fs and adiposity or obesity status in a middle-aged population are limited. OBJECTIVE: To assess cross-sectionally and longitudinally the associations between estimated dietary intake (DI) of PCDD/Fs and body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and the prevalence/incidence of obesity and abdominal obesity in a middle-aged population. METHODS: In 5899 participants aged 55-75 years (48% women) living with overweight/obesity from the PREDIMED-plus cohort, PCDD/Fs DI was estimated using a 143-item validated food-frequency questionnaire, and the levels of food PCDD/F expressed as Toxic Equivalents (TEQ). Consequently, cross-sectional and prospective associations between baseline PCDD/Fs DI (in pgTEQ/week) and adiposity or obesity status were assessed at baseline and after 1-year follow-up using multivariable cox, logistic or linear regression models. RESULTS: Compared to participants in the first PCDD/F DI tertile, those in the highest tertile presented a higher BMI (ß-coefficient [confidence interval]) (0.43kg/m2 [0.22; 0.64]; P-trend <0.001), a higher waist circumference (1.11 cm [0.55; 1.66]; P-trend <0.001), and a higher prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity (1.05 [1.01; 1.09] and 1.02 [1.00; 1.03]; P-trend = 0.09 and 0.027, respectively). In the prospective analysis, participants in the top PCDD/F DI baseline tertile showed an increase in waist circumference compared with those in the first tertile after 1-year of follow-up (ß-coefficient 0.37 cm [0.06; 0.70]; P-trend = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Higher DI of PCDD/Fs was positively associated with adiposity parameters and obesity status at baseline and with changes in waist circumference after 1-year of follow-up in subjects living with overweight/obesity. Further large prospective studies using a different population with longer follow-up periods are warranted in the future to strengthen our results.

High Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Moderate Fat Intake Are Associated with Higher Carotenoid Concentration in Human Plasma.

Carotenoids are pigments contained mainly in fruit and vegetables (F&V) that have beneficial effects on cardiometabolic health. Due to their lipophilic nature, co-ingestion of fat appears to increase their bioavailability via facilitating transfer to the aqueous micellar phase during digestion. However, the extent to which high fat intake may contribute to increased carotenoid plasma concentrations is still unclear. The objective was to examine the degree to which the consumption of different amounts of both carotenoid-rich foods and fats is associated with plasma carotenoid concentrations within a Mediterranean lifestyle context (subsample from the PREDIMED-Plus study baseline) where consumption of F&V and fat is high. The study population was categorized into four groups according to their self-reported consumption of F&V and fat. Carotenoids were extracted from plasma samples and analyzed by HPLC-UV-VIS-QqQ-MS/MS. Carotenoid systemic concentrations were greater in high consumers of F&V than in low consumers of these foods (+3.04 µmol/L (95% CI: 0.90, 5.17), p-value = 0.005), but circulating concentrations seemed to decrease when total fat intake was very high (-2.69 µmol/L (-5.54; 0.16), p-value = 0.064). High consumption of F&V is associated with greater systemic levels of total carotenoids, in particular when fat intake is low-to-moderate rather than very high.

The Effect of Physical Activity and High Body Mass Index on Health-Related Quality of Life in Individuals with Metabolic Syndrome.

The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between the level of physical activity (PA) and the degree of obesity with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS) who participated in the Predimed-Plus study. A total of 6875 subjects between 55 and 75 years of age with MetS were selected and randomized in 23 Spanish centers. Subjects were classified according to categories of body mass index (BMI). PA was measured with the validated Registre Gironí del Cor (REGICOR) questionnaire and subjects were classified according to their PA level (light, moderate, vigorous) and the HRQoL was measured with the validated short-form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. By using the ANOVA model, we found a positive and statistically significant association between the level of PA and the HRQoL (aggregated physical and mental dimensions p < 0.001), but a negative association with higher BMI in aggregated physical dimensions p < 0.001. Furthermore, women obtained lower scores compared with men, more five points in all fields of SF-36. Therefore, it is essential to promote PA and body weight control from primary care consultations to improve HRQoL, paying special attention to the differences that sex incurs.