Dietary Flavonoid Intakes Are Associated with Race but Not Income in an Urban Population.

Marie Fanelli Kuczmarski,Theophile Murayi,Jessica Eosso,Michele Evans,Joseph Goldman,Alanna Moshfegh,Alan Zonderman,Lois Steinfeldt,Rhonda Sebastian

doi:10.3390/nu10111749

Abstract

Flavonoids are polyphenolic phytochemicals with health-promoting properties, yet knowledge about their intake in at-risk populations is limited. This study sought to estimate intakes of total flavonoids and six flavonoid classes in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study; determine if differences in intakes exist by race (African American (AA) and White (W)) and income (< or >125% Federal poverty guidelines); and compare intakes to those of a nationally representative population with similar demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Data transformation normalized the flavonoid intake distributions prior to conducting statistical tests. With the exception of the flavanone class, flavonoid intakes of AAs were significantly lower than those of W (p < 0.01), regardless of other potential mediating factors including sex, age, and income. Total flavonoid intakes in HANDLS did not differ from intakes in the nationally representative study, but anthocyanidin and flavone intakes were lower, and race specific differences were found for several flavonoid classes. These findings imply that benefits attributable to flavonoid consumption may not be experienced equally by AAs and Whites, nor in vulnerable populations such as that represented by HANDLS relative to the U.S. population, and may play a role in observed health disparities.

Highlights

African Americans (AA) are at greater risk for developing chronic diseases compared toWhite (W) Americans [1]
These findings provide the first evidence that race, regardless of other potential mediating variables including sex, age, and income, was associated with differences in flavonoid intake in a large, at-risk population
In an investigation of flavonoid-incident ischemic stroke associations in REGARDS, Goetz and colleagues reported that AA had higher flavanone intakes as compared to W, while intake of total flavonoids and the other flavonoid classes were higher among W, though it is not clear if statistical testing was conducted [36]

Summary

Introduction

African Americans (AA) are at greater risk for developing chronic diseases compared toWhite (W) Americans [1]. African Americans (AA) are at greater risk for developing chronic diseases compared to. Diet is considered one of the strongest modulators of chronic inflammation [2,3], a condition associated with the development of obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes [4,5,6]. It has been estimated that half of all cardiovascular events could be prevented by improving the diet [7]. Diets are composed of foods and beverages which contain macro- and micronutrients and phytochemicals. Some of these compounds, such as carotenoids and polyphenols, may promote health and prevent disease [8,9].

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