DIET, AN INDEPENDENT DETERMINANT FOR PLASMA TOTAL HOMOCYSTEINE - A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF NORWEGIAN WORKERS ON PLATFORMS IN THE NORTH-SEA

Objective: To examine whether diet is an independent determinant for t otal homocysteine (tHcy) levels. Design: Data on background variables was collected by questionnaire interviews, food intake by one 24 h rec all and tHcy levels in a blood sample in 310 healthy men (mean age, 38 y). Setting: Two oil producing platforms in the Norwegian sector in t he north sea.Results: The arithmetic mean (s.d.) and median tHcy level s were 10.4 (2.9) mu mol/L and 9.9 mu mol/L, respectively. In a covari ance analysis, mean adjusted plasma tHcy decreased by 7-21% from no in take to highest category of intake of bread, vegetables, and skimmed m ilk, and increased by 8-9% from less than 30% to above 35% energy from fat, and from no intake to one liter or more for coffee. Smokers had a lower intake of cereals, bread vegetables and fruits, but ate more f at and meat. Thus, smoking may have an indirect effect on the tHcy lev el through its effect on diet. In a multiple regression model, bread a nd vegetables were negatively associated with tHcy, while fat was posi tively associated. Conclusions: The results suggest that changes in di et may be an important means to lower the tHcy level in the overall po pulation, and that dietary advice should be considered in subjects dia gnosed with elevated tHcy levels.