Association Between Total Dairy and Individual Dairy Foods and Markers for Folate and Vitamin B12 status in the U.S. Population

Abstract

Abstract Objectives The objective of this study was to determine the association between the consumption of dairy foods with markers for folate and vitamin B12 status in a nationally representative sample. Methods Dietary recall data and laboratory data for RBC folate (ng/mL), serum folate (ng/mL) and serum vitamin B12 (pg/mL) from subjects 2 + years old participating in NHANES 2001–2016 were used (N = 61,234 after exclusions). Data were adjusted for age, gender and ethnicity and separate analyses were conducted for ages 2–8, 9–18 and 19 + years (y). Significant associations between quartiles of dairy intake and biomarkers of nutrient status were assessed at P < 0.05. Results Mean intakes of total dairy, milk, cheese and yogurt were 2.22, 1.56, 0.58 and 0.07 cup eq respectively for those 2–8 y; 2.14, 1.25, 0.84 and 0.03 cup eq respectively for those 9–18 y and 1.63, 0.83, 0.72, 0.06 cup eq respectively for 19 + years old. Quartiles of total dairy intake were inversely associated with serum folate (β = −0.61) and positively associated with vitamin B12 (β = 41.8) in 2–8 years old. Quartiles of total dairy intake were positively associated with RBC folate, serum folate and serum vitamin B12 in both those 9–18 y (β = 5.32, 0.55 and 34.4, respectively) and 19 + y (β = 14.6, 0.74 and 19.5, respectively). Similar to total dairy, quartiles of milk intake were inversely associated with RBC folate (β = −8.79) and serum folate (β = −0.57), and positively associated with serum vitamin B12 (β = 51.6) in those 2–8 y. Also, quartiles of milk intake were positively associated with RBC folate, serum folate and serum vitamin B12 in those 9–18 y (β = 3.92, 0.83 and 38.8 respectively) and in those 19 + y (β = 8.68, 1.00 and 17.4 respectively). In contrast to milk and total dairy, quartiles of cheese intake were positively associated with RBC folate only in those 2–8 y (β = 8.40) and in those 19 + y (β = 9.24). Quartiles of yogurt intake were positively associated with RBC folate (β = 5.57) in those 2–8 y; with RBC folate (β = 11.9) and serum folate (β = 0.50) in those 9–18 y; and with RBC folate (β = 16.3), serum folate (β = 0.70) and serum vitamin B12 (β = 16.3) in those 19 + y. Conclusions The results indicate that dairy foods are beneficially associated with RBC folate, serum folate and serum vitamin B12. Funding Sources National Dairy Council.