Dietary intake and blood concentrations of antioxidants and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer, and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.
The research report was compiled by ten authors: Dagfinn Aune, NaNa Keum, Edward Giovannucci, Lars T Fadnes, Paolo Boffetta, Darren C Greenwood, Serena Tonstad, Lars J Vatten, Elio Riboli, and Teresa Norat.
The research was published on 23 November 2018.
The researchers looked into the PubMed and Embase databases record of relative risks (RR) based on nested case studies and prospective cohort studies. Studies that exclusively looked at supplementary antioxidant consumption were eliminated (Aune et al., 2018). A quantifiable measure of ingestion or blood concentrations for three categories was required to be supplied for the dose-response study.
The type of study can be best described as a meta-analysis and systematic review of prospective and case studies on dietary intake and the blood concentration of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and carotenoids in relation to cardiovascular RR (Aune et al., 2018). The researchers focused on secondary data found in the Embase and PubMed databases to evaluate the relationship between antioxidant intake and coronary heart diseases.
The research involved sixty-nine prospective studies that were contained in ninety-nine publications. All the prospective cohort and case studies dated from May 2014 to February 2018 were included in the study (Aune et al., 2018). Out of the sixty-nine studies, thirty-six were from Europe, nine from Asia, and twenty-four from America.
The research was done once with no repetitions since the results were satisfactory.
The research was focused on the human species.
In their study, the researchers found that multiple studies had attempted to unveil the relationship between dietary intakes of antioxidants to stroke in a meta-analysis. Other studies had focused on blood concentrations of carotenoids in relation to dietary intake. However, it is unclear whether blood concentrations of various types of antioxidants are linked to the risk of coronary heart disease, overall cancer, and death. Additionally, no meta-analysis has been examined within the context of several exposures and outcomes. Therefore, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of nutritional intake and blood concentrations of vitamin C and E and carotenoids, including carotene, lycopene, and cryptoxanthin (Aune et al., 2018). They hoped to find the impact of these antioxidants on the incidence of cardiovascular disease, stroke, total cancer, and all-cause death rates. The research was expected to provide details of the strength and the shape of the evidence.
The authors wanted to account for study heterogeneity to generate a comprehensive report. They utilized a random-effects model to construct summary RRs and 95 percent confidence intervals for the greatest versus the lowest amount of antioxidant exposure, as well as for the dose-response analyses (Aune et al., 2018, p. 1070). The mean of the natural logarithms of the RRs was calculated, and each test’s RR was weighted using random-effects weighting. A Probability< 0.05 with two-tailed significance was judged statistically relevant for the research as it would give enough details for a conclusive analysis (Aune et al., 2018, p. 1070). The above statistics were meant to include all relevant data points.
The results were analyzed based on the antioxidant under test. The results for the assessment of vitamin C intake showed that for coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, cumulative cancer, stroke, and death, statistically significant reductions in the RR of 12, 11, 7, 8, and 11 percent were detected (Aune et al., 2018, p.1071). There was evidence of nonlinearity for coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, cumulative cancer, stroke, and death of P (nonlinearity < 0.0001) (Aune et al., 2018, p.1071). The results further indicated that carotenoid intake was associated with a 12, 15, and 20% reduction of RR for mortality, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease (Aune et al., 2018, p. 1071). The results showed a significant correlation between cardiovascular disease and most of the antioxidants under test.
Vitamin E showed no association with the conditions under test, and no association was found between carotenoids and stroke With reference to carotenoids concentration in blood, an association of 17 and 31 percent was observed for mortality and coronary heart disease RRs (Aune et al., 2018, p.1071). The researchers concluded that their research findings back up the idea that eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, particularly those with a high vitamin C content and carotenoids, lowers the risk of heart disease, cancer, and early death.
Diet significantly impacts blood concentration, which in turn determines a person’s risk of infection. Many heart diseases are associated with dietary habits that limit the concentration of antioxidants in the bloodstream. The research analyzed herein assessed the effect of vitamins C and E and carotenoids on the RR for coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and premature death. The results prove that the incidences of cardiovascular diseases are highly associated with vitamins and carotenoids intake. Therefore, I feel that the research was conclusive and involved all the parameters required to make an informed judgment.
Although the research data was composed of individuals from Europe, America, and Asia, the results can be replicated to every other area of the world. I agree with the results as they align with my studies and personal experiences. A higher intake of fruits rich in vitamins C and E and vitamins is crucial for lowering the risk of heart diseases, stroke, and all cardiovascular ailments. Consequently, death and complications resulting from these illnesses can be significantly reduced and possibly eliminated if people adopt a healthy diet.
Reference
Aune, D., Keum, N. N., Giovannucci, E., Fadnes, L. T., Boffetta, P., Greenwood, D. C., Tonstad, S., Vatten, L. J., Riboli, E., & Norat, T. (2018). Dietary intake and blood concentrations of antioxidants and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer, and all-cause mortality: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 108(5), 1069–1091. Web.