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Excerpt
Food preference happens early in life. Eating inappropriately or in an unbalanced way can influence the development of illness later in life. The relationship between diet, nutrition, health and disease is pretty well established. 3
In the United States, dietary intake and nutritional factors have been associated with 6 of the 10 leading causes of death: hypertension, coronary heart disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic liver disease, and adult onset diabetes. 4 Diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol contribute to atherosclerotic disease. High fat consumption and low intake of fruits and vegetables have been associated with an increased incidence of breast, colon, and prostate cancers. 5
In 1747, the first report of nutritional deficiency—scurvy—was attributed to the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables (a major source of vitamin C) in the diet of sailors. 3 Subsequently, several nutritional problems were identified. For example, vitamin B deficiency was related to beriberi, pellagra was identified as a disease that resulted from a corn meal diet in the southern United States, vitamin A deficiency was associated with blindness, and malnutrition became a prominent result of famine in Africa. On the contrary, chronic disease associated with overnutrition has become a problem of the Western world.
Because of dietary diversity, and ethnic diversity in America, studies of food or dietary patterns and dietary nutrient intake should not group participants together as if they are one population. Instead, racial-ethnic comparison is essential in understanding cultural influences on food choices and habits in the United States.
In this issue of Menopause, Huang et al. 6 provide nutritional data from about 3,000 midlife women from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. The data were collected from women of African, Caucasian, Chinese, Hispanic and Japanese ethnic backgrounds using Block's Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ). The authors report that among the 28 nutrients compared, the magnitude differences between ethnic groups are relatively small in most cases, except that Chinese women consumed the least total fat intake, and African American women consumed the most; the variation between these two subpopulations is more than 10%. Dietary calcium is approximately 25% higher in Caucasian women than other ethnic women. In addition, as expected, the consumption of fibers from beans is highest in Hispanic women. Because the women under study are approaching menopause, the investigators specifically looked at phytoestrogen values of isoflavones (genistein and daidzein) among these women and concluded that median intakes of these isoflavones varied greatly by ethnicity. A study by Horn-Ross et al. 7 indicated that sources of isoflavones for non-Asian women in California are mostly traditional soy-based foods (e.g., tofu and soy milk) and foods that contain hidden sources of soy additives (doughnuts, white bread, and the like). The amount non-Asian women consume (less than 3 mg per day) is much lower than the intake by Asian women in California (8–10 mg/day). 8–9 In contrast, Asian women in Asian countries consumed in the range of 15 to 30 mg/day. 10
However, the study by Huang et al. 6 does have some limitations. It only examines ethnic variations in nutrients and does not include food preferences, food preparation methods, or other dietary supplements, such as herbal supplements.
