Effects of Egg Consumption on Carotenoid Absorption From Co-consumed, Non-Egg Food
Condition: Will Consuming Eggs With a Mixed Vegetable Salad Increase Carotenoid Absorption
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasizes consumption of 4.5 cups of fruits and
      vegetables daily but average intake of US adults is only 2.6 cups. This low consumption of
      fruits and vegetables results in limited availability of certain nutrients found in these
      foods such as carotenoids. Dietary carotenoids have health beneficial properties and are
      known to fight against disease. Eggs are known to be a good source of carotenoids and eggs
      may improve the absorption of carotenoids found in co-consumed fruits and vegetables.
      Therefore, we are interested to see if consuming eggs with a mixed-vegetable salad will
      increase carotenoid absorption.
    

Detailed description: 
      The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasizes consumption of 4.5 cups of fruits and
      vegetables daily. However, average fruit and vegetable intake of US adults is only 2.6 cups.
      This low consumption of fruits and vegetables may further result in the limited availability
      of fat soluble, health-promoting, phytochemicals such as carotenoids from these foods.
      Dietary carotenoids have beneficial biological properties including antioxidant and
      anti-inflammatory effects and scientific research supports the protective effects of
      carotenoids against many degenerative diseases, including cardiovascular diseases,
      age-related macular degeneration, and some types of cancer. Therefore, either low intake or
      inefficient bioavailability of carotenoids from fruits and vegetables may reduce their
      potential effectiveness as disease preventative compounds. The bioavailability of carotenoids
      from a meal can be affected by several factors, including food matrix, type of food
      processing or cooking, interactions with other dietary compounds during digestion and
      absorption, gut status which may affect digestion and absorption processes, and nutritional
      status. Co-consumption of carotenoid rich foods with dietary lipids may be one of the most
      effective stimulators of carotenoid absorption among factors that influence their
      bioaccessibility and bioavailability. Eggs are known to be a highly bioavailable source of
      carotenoids, presumably due to the presence of lipid and phospholipid in egg yolk. The highly
      bioavailable nature of carotenoids from eggs suggest that egg derived factors may be
      leveraged to improve bioavailability of other carotenoids found in co-consumed fruits and
      vegetables. While promising, very limited data exist on the impact of a co-consumed food
      source of lipid, such as eggs, to enhance carotenoid absorption. This study is designed to
      assess the beneficial effects of egg consumption on carotenoids absorption from a complex
      meal, beyond those found in egg.
    

Intervention name(s): Egg consumption
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Subjects will participate in 3 testing days (randomized, crossover design). Each day, the subject will consume a carefully portioned mix-vegetable salad without eggs (C, control); 75g (about 1½ eggs) scrambled whole egg (LE, low egg), and 150g (about 3 eggs) scrambled whole egg (HE, high egg). Prior to each testing day, subjects will consume a low-carotenoid diet for 7 days to reduce blood carotenoid concentration. In the testing day, blood collected every 60 minutes for 10 hours will be processed to analyze carotenoid and vitamin E concentrations. At the 5-h time point, subjects will be fed a low fat (< 2g) and low carotenoid (< 2000µg) meal as the 2nd meal.
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: Single (Care Provider)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Meal tolerance test focusing on carotenoids absorption