Carotenoid pattern intake and relation to metabolic status, risk and syndrome, and its components – divergent findings from the ORISCAV-LUX-2 survey

Abstract

Carotenoids are generally associated with health-beneficial effects; however, their intake patterns related to metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components remains controversial. This cross-sectional study investigated associations between dietary intakes of individual carotenoids, fruits and vegetables, and the MetS and its components. Dietary intakes of 1346 participants of the ORISCAV-LUX-2 study were investigated by a 174 item-food frequency questionnaire, and carotenoid intake was determined by linking findings using mainly the USDA food databases. Components of MetS and complementary variables, including anthropometric (BMI, waist-circumferences, waist-hip ratio) and biological parameters (triglycerides, HDL-c, fasting blood glucose, blood pressure), were measured. Logistic (for MetS) and linear multivariable regression models (including assessing MetS as scores) adjusted for various confounders were created. α-and β-Carotene, as well as lutein+zeaxanthin, were inversely associated with MetS (also when it was measured on a continuous scale), reducing the odds for MetS by up to 48%. However, lycopene, phytoene and phytofluene were rather positively associated with MetS scores and its components, though these adverse effects disappeared, at least for lycopene, when controlling for intakes of tomato-based convenience foods, in line with indicating a rather unhealthy/Westernized diet. All these associations remained significant when including fruits and vegetables as confounders, suggesting that carotenoids were related to MetS independently from effects within fruits and vegetables. Thus, a high intake of carotenoids was bidirectionally associated with MetS, its severity, risk, and its components, depending on the type of carotenoid. Future investigations are warranted to explore the inverse role that tomato-based carotenoids appear to suggest in relation to the MetS.