A Study of Serum Folate Concentrations

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Folate has emerged as a key nutrient for optimising health. Impaired folate status has been identified as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, various types of cancers, and neurocognitive disorders. The study was aimed at examining the distribution and determinants of serum folate concentrations in a healthy adult population in Crete, Greece.

A cross-sectional sample of 486 healthy adults were involved in the study. Inadequate folate levels were present in 6.8% of men and 2.1% of women. Approximately 76% of men and 87% of women did not meet the reference dietary intake for folate.

Crete, once known for the low cardiovascular mortality among adult men in early 1950's, has now increasing rates of cardiovascular disease, a trend that appears to be related to dietary and lifestyle changes that have been taking place during the last decades. The traditional Cretan diet – a variant of the Mediterranean diet – has been gradually abandoned, and current Cretans consume higher amounts of saturated fat, meat, and cheese, and lower amounts of bread, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and fibre. Among other consequences, such dietary changes are expected to result in decreased intake of dietary folate and thus, impaired folate status. To date, however, no data are available with regard to the folate status of the adult population in Crete.

In the study it was found that individuals with higher intakes of potatoes, legumes, fruits and/or vegetables – all these foods considered major sources of folate – had significantly decreased risk for low serum folate (below the 1st quartile), compared to those with no consumption. Conversely, higher intakes of cereals and meat products were related to decreased serum folate concentrations. These findings are in accordance with those reported by both cross-sectional and diet-intervention studies, which suggest a positive association between folate status and a dietary pattern characterized by high consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes and low consumption of refined cereals and meat.

Foods Low on Glycemic Index May Protect Eyes

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People may slash their risks of getting the incurable eye disease macular degeneration (AMD) by more than 60 percent by eating foods low on the glycemic index, nutrition experts report.

Researchers from Tufts and Harvard universities said in April's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that eating plans low on the glycemic index are frequently richer in micronutrients, which are essential for eye health.

In the study, Tufts and Harvard researchers followed the eating plans of more than 525 women 62 and over in a federal health study for 10 years. Chung-Jung Chiu, the chief researcher from Tufts, said women who held their total carbohydrate intake constant were twice as likely to develop an early form of age-related macular degeneration than women whose numbers of carbs were on the low end of the glycemic index. What's more, women who consumed carbs on the high end of the index were 50-percent more likely to develop actual macular degeneration, he added.

The study backs up Dutch research that showed eating plans full of vitamins C and E, zinc and beta-carotene also reduced the risks of age-related macular degeneration by a third.

In the editorial, Mares and Moeller noted that studies link diets low on the glycemic scale to slower development of high blood pressure and heart disease, two risk factors for age-related macular degeneration.

"Diets with a low GI often include plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and milk and few refined grains and sugars," they said.