DIETARY ANTIOXIDANTS AND PLASMA-LIPIDS - THE CARDIA STUDY

Objective: To determine if dietary antioxidants play a role in prevent ing coronary heart disease (CHD) by having an impact on lipid levels. Methods: Data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adult s (CARDIA) Study were used to assess the associations of reported inta ke of vitamins A, C, E and beta carotene, and their use in supplements , with lipid levels in a black and white, healthy adult (18 to 30 year s of age at the baseline examination) population. Results: After adjus ting for age, education level, physical activity, body size, alcohol c onsumption and caloric intake, vitamin A, beta carotene, and vitamin C (white women) intake were directly associated with HDL-cholesterol le vels among women who smoked cigarettes, with the strongest association s being observed for white women. Black men who took supplements of vi tamins A and C and did not smoke cigarettes had significantly higher H DL-cholesterol levels compared to those in the lowest level of dietary intake. Although vitamin E was associated with higher levels of HDL-c holesterol, the association was only of borderline significance among white men who smoked cigarettes (p = 0.06). We did not observe any con sistent associations between antioxidants and other plasma lipids, inc luding total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, or triglycerides. Conclusio ns: We conclude that dietary antioxidants are associated with HDL-chol esterol levels in some subsets of the population, although these assoc iations may be operating in conjunction with other lifestyle behaviors .