Affiliations: Department of Applied Bioscience, Tokyo University of
Agriculture, 1-1-1 Sakuragaoka, Setagaya, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan. E-mail:
swatanab@nodai.ac.jp
Note: [] Corresponding author
Abstract: More than 600 functional non-nutrient food factors (FFFs) in
vegetables and fruits are considered to be effective for health promotion and
disease prevention. However, phytochemicals studied thus far have failed to
yield predicted results in randomized intervention studies. To assess the
health effects of phytochemicals, a breakthrough in epidemiological methods was
necessary. We constructed a database of non-nutrient FFFs to estimate the
chemical classes and total amount of FFF-intake in order to facilitate
estimation and calculation for nutritional research. So far, flavonoids,
terpenoids, carotenoids, and sulfur compounds are included in our FFF database.
We calculated the intake of various phytochemicals per capita from 79 subjects'
dietary records by FFF database, and estimated that subjects ingested more than
10 μ mole per day of phytochemicals such as catechin,
isoflavones, isothiocyanate, ferulic acid, quercetin, cinnamic acid and
chlorogenic acid. Chief component analysis yielded 12 factors (80%), of which
only a few factors showed negative associations with serum cholesterol and LDL
concentration. Many factors showed adverse relationships with liver function
and serum triacylglycerol concentration. Weekly self-reported daily dietary records including name of dish,
constituent foods and their amounts were separately collected for 6 months and
analyzed in Kyoto women. Seasonal changes of phytochemical intake showed
significant variation according to the seasonal consumption of fruits and
vegetables. Lycopene increased in the summer due to watermelon and tomato
intake in this season. Seasonal variation of FFF was quite large compared to
the variation of macro- and micronutrients. Careful evaluation of the effects
of FFF intake on health is necessary, especially when supplements are also
consumed. The most effective combinations of FFF intake for human health could
be elucidated by using our FFF-DB in conjunction with population-based cohort
studies.
Keywords: functional food factor, foods for special health use, dietary supplement, epidemiology, human nutrition
Journal: BioFactors, vol. 22, no. 1-4, pp. 213-219, 2004
