|
A nutrient found in the dark meat of poultry may provide protectionagainst coronary heart disease (CHD) in women with high cholesterol , according to a study by researchers at NYU Langone MedicalCenter. The study, published online in the European Journal of Nutrition , evaluated the effects of taurine, a naturally-occurring nutrientfound in the dark meat of turkey and chicken, as well as in somefish and shellfish, on CHD. It revealed that higher taurine intakewas associated with significantly lower CHD risk among women withhigh total cholesterol levels. The same association was not seen inwomen with low cholesterol levels, however. There is very little information available about taurine, saidprincipal investigator Yu Chen, PhD, MPH, associate professor ofepidemiology at NYU School of Medicine, part of NYU Langone MedicalCenter. While there have been some animal studies that indicatetaurine may be beneficial to cardiovascular disease, this is thefirst published prospective study to look at serum taurine and CHDin humans, she explained. "Our findings were very interesting.Taurine, at least in its natural form, does seem to have asignificant protective effect in women with high cholesterol." Coronary heart disease is the leading killer of American men andwomen, causing one in five deaths. Also known as coronary arterydisease, it is caused by the buildup of plaque in the arteries tothe heart. Large prospective epidemiologic studies have providedevidence that nutritional factors are important modifiable riskfactors for CHD. Dr. Chen and colleagues conducted their study using data andsamples from the NYU Women's Health Study. The original studyenrolled more than 14,000 women, 34 to 65 years of age, between1985 and 1991 at a breast cancer screening center in New York City. Upon enrollment, a wide rangeof medical, personal and lifestyle information was recorded and thedata and samples continue to be utilized for a variety of medicalstudies. For the serum taurine study, funded by the American HeartAssociation, the researchers measured taurine levels in serumsamples collected in 1985 - before disease occurrence - for 223NYUWHS participants who developed or died from CHD during the studyfollow up period between 1986 and 2006. The researchers thencompared those samples to the taurine levels in serum samplescollected at the same time for 223 participants who had no historyof cardiovascular disease. The comparison revealed serum taurine was not protective of CHDoverall. However, among women with high cholesterol, those withhigh levels of serum taurine were 60 percent less likely to developor die from CHD in the study, compared to women with lower serumtaurine levels. If future studies are able to replicate thefindings, taurine supplementation or dietary recommendations mayone day be considered for women with high cholesterol at risk forCHD. "It is an interesting possibility," she said. "If these findingsare confirmed, one day we might be able to suggest that someonewith high cholesterol eat more poultry, specifically dark meat." Dr. Chen explained that Caucasian women comprised more than 80percent of the study population and, therefore, the results may notat this time be generalized to men or other races, but suggestedthat future studies should be conducted in these populations. Inaddition, she explained, it is unclear whether synthetic taurine asan additive in food and drink products will have the same benefitobserved in this study, and health effects of these products shouldbe investigated separately. "We studied taurine found in the bloodthat originated from natural sources," Dr. Chen said. "The nutrientbeing added to energy drinks or supplements is man-made and isadded in unstudied amounts. These products also often contain notonly very high amounts of taurine, but a multitude of otheringredients as well - such as caffeine and ginseng - that mayinfluence CHD risk." The researchers are currently using NYUWHS data to evaluate theeffect of taurine on the occurrence of stroke in another study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and BloodInstitute (NHLBI). Additional References Citations. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Food Grade High Temp Silicone Manufacturer , China High Temperature Resistant Silicone, and more. For more , please visit Custom Silicone Parts today!
Related Articles -
Food Grade High Temp Silicone Manufacturer, China High Temperature Resistant Silicone,
|
