Dietary total antioxidant capacity is negatively associated with some metabolic syndrome features in healthy young adults.

OBJECTIVE

Oxidative stress has been related to the development of obesity and other features accompanying chronic diseases. Furthermore, dietary antioxidant intake has been suggested to protect against oxidative damage and related clinical complications. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the potential associations among dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and several early metabolic syndrome manifestations in healthy young adults.

METHODS

Anthropometric variables and blood pressure from 153 healthy subjects (20.8+/-2.7 y old) were measured. Dietary intake was assessed by a validated food-frequency questionnaire and a 3-d record, which were also used to calculate TAC and to adjust by daily energy intake. Fasting blood samples were collected for measuring biochemical markers.

RESULTS

Dietary TAC showed positive and significant associations with fiber, folic acid, vitamin A and C, magnesium, selenium, and zinc intakes, after adjusting by sex and daily energy intake. Interestingly, systolic blood pressure, serum glucose, and free fatty acids were also found to be negatively associated with dietary TAC independently of sex and daily energy intake. Also, a relevant relation was found between body mass index and TAC values. Interestingly, after adjusting by sex and daily energy intake, complement factor-3 circulating levels appeared to be negatively and significantly associated with dietary TAC, whereas blood plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and homocysteine concentrations showed an inverse marginally statistical trend.

CONCLUSIONS

These data suggest that dietary TAC may be also a potential early estimate of the risk to develop metabolic syndrome features and that dietary TAC could be a useful research tool in assessing antioxidant intake.