Substitutions of red meat, poultry and fish and risk of myocardial infarction

AbstractRed meat has been suggested to be adversely associated with risk of myocardial infarction (MI), but previous studies have rarely taken replacement foods into consideration. We aimed to investigate optimal substitutions between and within the food groups of red meat, poultry and fish for MI prevention. We followed up 55 171 women and men aged 50–64 years with no known history of MI at recruitment. Diet was assessed by a validated 192-item FFQ at baseline. Adjusted Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI for specified food substitutions of 150 g/week. During a median follow-up time of 13·6 years, we identified 656 female and 1694 male cases. Among women, the HR for replacing red meat with fatty fish was 0·76 (95 % CI 0·64, 0·89), whereas the HR for replacing red meat with lean fish was 1·00 (95 % CI 0·89, 1·14). Similarly, replacing poultry with fatty but not lean fish was inversely associated with MI: the HR was 0·81 (95 % CI 0·67, 0·98) for fatty fish and was 1·08 (95 % CI 0·92, 1·27) for lean fish. The HR for replacing lean with fatty fish was 0·75 (95 % CI 0·60, 0·94). Replacing processed with unprocessed red meat was not associated with MI. Among men, a similar pattern was found, although the associations were not statistically significant. This study suggests that replacing red meat, poultry or lean fish with fatty fish is associated with a lower risk of MI.</jats:p

Substitution of meat and fish with vegetables or potatoes and risk of myocardial infarction

AbstractRed meat has been suggested to be adversely associated with risk of myocardial infarction (MI), whereas vegetable consumption has been found to be protective. The aim of this study was to investigate substitutions of red meat, poultry and fish with vegetables or potatoes for MI prevention. We followed up 29 142 women and 26 029 men in the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health study aged 50–64 years with no known history of MI at baseline. Diet was assessed by a validated 192-item FFQ at baseline. Adjusted Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI for MI associated with specified food substitutions of 150 g/week. During a median follow-up of 13·6 years, we identified 656 female and 1694 male cases. Among women, the HR for MI when replacing red meat with vegetables was 0·94 (95 % CI 0·90, 0·98). Replacing fatty fish with vegetables was associated with a higher risk of MI (HR 1·23; 95 % CI 1·05, 1·45), whereas an inverse, statistically non-significant association was found for lean fish (HR 0·93; 95 % CI 0·83, 1·05). Substituting poultry with vegetables was not associated with risk of MI (HR 1·00; 95 % CI 0·90, 1·11). Findings for substitution with potatoes were similar to findings for vegetables. Among men, a similar pattern was observed, but the associations were weak and mostly statistically non-significant. This study suggests that replacing red meat with vegetables or potatoes is associated with a lower risk of MI, whereas replacing fatty fish with vegetables or potatoes is associated with a higher risk of MI.</jats:p

Intake of ruminant trans-fatty acids, assessed by diet history interview, and changes in measured body size, shape and composition

AbstractObjectiveStudies have suggested that total intake oftrans-fatty acids (TFA) is positively associated with changes in body weight and waist circumference, whereas intake of TFA from ruminant dairy and meat products (R-TFA) has not been associated with weight gain. However, these previous studies are limited by self-reported measures of body weight and waist circumference or by a cross-sectional design. The objective of the present study was to investigate if R-TFA intake was associated with subsequent changes in anthropometry (body weight, waist and hip circumference) measured by technicians and body composition (body fat percentage).DesignA 6-year follow-up study. Information on dietary intake was collected through diet history interviews, and anthropometric and bioelectrical impedance measurements were obtained by trained technicians at baseline (1987–1988) and at follow-up (1993–1994). Multiple regression with cubic spline modelling was used to analyse the data.SettingCopenhagen County, Denmark.SubjectsTwo hundred and sixty-seven men and women aged 35–65 years from the Danish MONICA (MONItoring of trends and determinants in CArdiovascular diseases) cohort.ResultsThe median R-TFA intake was 1·3 g/d (5th, 95th percentile: 0·4, 2·7 g/d) or 0·6 % of the total energy intake (5th, 95th percentile: 0·2, 1·1 %). No significant associations were observed between R-TFA intake and changes in body weight, waist and hip circumference or body fat percentage.ConclusionsR-TFA intake within the range present in the Danish population was not significantly associated with subsequent changes in body size, shape or composition and the 95 % confidence intervals indicate that any relevant associations are unlikely to have produced these observations.</jats:sec

Alcohol Intake and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Younger, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults

BACKGROUND: Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). This protective effect of alcohol, however, may be confined to middle-aged or older individuals. CHD Incidence is low in men younger than 40 and in women younger than 50 years and for this reason, study cohorts rarely have the power to investigate effects of alcohol on CHD risk in younger adults. This study examined whether the beneficial effect of alcohol on CHD depends on age. METHODS AND RESULTS: A pooled analysis of eight prospective studies from North America and Europe including 192,067 women and 74,919 men free of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancers at baseline. Average daily alcohol intake was assessed at baseline using a food frequency or diet history questionnaire. An inverse association between alcohol and risk of coronary heart disease was observed in all age groups: hazard ratios among moderately drinking men (5.0–29.9 g/day) aged 39–50, 50–59, and 60+ years were 0.58 (95% C.I. 0.36 to 0.93), 0.72 (95% C.I. 0.60–0.86), and 0.85 (95% C.I. 0.75 to 0.97) compared with abstainers. However, the analyses indicated a smaller incidence rate difference (IRD) between abstainers and moderate consumers in younger adults (IRD=45 per 100,000; 90% C.I. 8 to 84), than in middle-aged (IRD=64 per 100,000; 90% C.I. 24 to 102) and older adults (IRD=89 per 100,000; 90% C.I. 44 to 140). Similar results were observed in women. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol is also associated with a decreased risk of CHD in younger adults; however, the absolute risk was small compared with middle-aged and older adults

Association between FTO variant and change in body weight and its interaction with dietary factors: the DiOGenes study

Although FTO is an established obesity-susceptibility locus, it remains unknown whether it influences weight change in adult life and whether diet attenuates this association. Therefore, we investigated the association of FTO-rs9939609 with changes in weight and waist circumference (WC) during 6.8 years follow-up in a large-scale prospective study and examined whether these associations were modified by dietary energy percentage from fat, protein, carbohydrate, or glycemic index (GI). This study comprised data from five countries of European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and was designed as a case-cohort study for weight gain. Analyses included 11,091 individuals, of whom 5,584 were cases (age (SD), 47.6 (7.5) years), defined as those with the greatest unexplained annual weight gain during follow-up and 5,507 were noncases (48.0 (7.3) years), who were compared in our case-noncase (CNC) analyses. Furthermore, 6,566 individuals (47.9 (7.3) years) selected from the total sample (all noncases and 1,059 cases) formed the random subcohort (RSC), used for continuous trait analyses. Interactions were tested by including interaction terms in the models. In the RSC-analyses, FTO-rs9939609 was associated with BMI (β (SE), 0.17 (0.08) kg·m(-2)/allele; P = 0.034) and WC (0.47 (0.21) cm/allele; P = 0.026) at baseline, but not with weight change (5.55 (12.5) g·year(-1)/allele; P = 0.66) during follow up. In the CNC-analysis, FTO-rs9939609 was associated with increased risk of being a weight-gainer (OR: 1.1; P = 0.045). We observed no interaction between FTO-rs9939609 and dietary fat, protein and carbohydrate, and GI on BMI and WC at baseline or on change in weight and WC. FTO-rs9939609 is associated with BMI and WC at baseline, but association with weight gain is weak and only observed for extreme gain. Dietary factors did not influence the associations

Multigene Phylogeny of Choanozoa and the Origin of Animals

Animals are evolutionarily related to fungi and to the predominantly unicellular protozoan phylum Choanozoa, together known as opisthokonts. To establish the sequence of events when animals evolved from unicellular ancestors, and understand those key evolutionary transitions, we need to establish which choanozoans are most closely related to animals and also the evolutionary position of each choanozoan group within the opisthokont phylogenetic tree. Here we focus on Ministeria vibrans, a minute bacteria-eating cell with slender radiating tentacles. Single-gene trees suggested that it is either the closest unicellular relative of animals or else sister to choanoflagellates, traditionally considered likely animal ancestors. Sequencing thousands of Ministeria protein genes now reveals about 14 with domains of key significance for animal cell biology, including several previously unknown from deeply diverging Choanozoa, e.g. domains involved in hedgehog, Notch and tyrosine kinase signaling or cell adhesion (cadherin). Phylogenetic trees using 78 proteins show that Ministeria is not sister to animals or choanoflagellates (themselves sisters to animals), but to Capsaspora, another protozoan with thread-like (filose) tentacles. The Ministeria/Capsaspora clade (new class Filasterea) is sister to animals and choanoflagellates, these three groups forming a novel clade (filozoa) whose ancestor presumably evolved filose tentacles well before they aggregated as a periciliary collar in the choanoflagellate/sponge common ancestor. Our trees show ichthyosporean choanozoans as sisters to filozoa; a fusion between ubiquitin and ribosomal small subunit S30 protein genes unifies all holozoa (filozoa plus Ichthyosporea), being absent in earlier branching eukaryotes. Thus, several successive evolutionary innovations occurred among their unicellular closest relatives prior to the origin of the multicellular body-plan of animals

Meat consumption and mortality -results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

Abstract Background: Recently, some US cohorts have shown a moderate association between red and processed meat consumption and mortality supporting the results of previous studies among vegetarians. The aim of this study was to examine the association of red meat, processed meat, and poultry consumption with the risk of early death in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Methods: Included in the analysis were 448,568 men and women without prevalent cancer, stroke, or myocardial infarction, and with complete information on diet, smoking, physical activity and body mass index, who were between 35 and 69 years old at baseline. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the association of meat consumption with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Results: As of June 2009, 26,344 deaths were observed. After multivariate adjustment, a high consumption of red meat was related to higher all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01 to 1.28, 160+ versus 10 to 19.9 g/day), and the association was stronger for processed meat (HR = 1.44, 95% CI 1.24 to 1.66, 160+ versus 10 to 19.9 g/day). After correction for measurement error, higher all-cause mortality remained significant only for processed meat (HR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.25, per 50 g/d). We estimated that 3.3% (95% CI 1.5% to 5.0%) of deaths could be prevented if all participants had a processed meat consumption of less than 20 g/day. Significant associations with processed meat intake were observed for cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and &apos;other causes of death&apos;. The consumption of poultry was not related to all-cause mortality. Conclusions: The results of our analysis support a moderate positive association between processed meat consumption and mortality, in particular due to cardiovascular diseases, but also to cancer