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  • Response to Letter to the Editor
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Response to Slow et al.

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 65, page 772 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

We appreciate the comments by Slow et al. (2011) on our article (Schwab et al., 2011).

The principal aim of our study was to examine the long-term effects of betaine supplementation on the risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome from the safety point of view (Schwab et al., 2011). This is why we chose healthy subjects for this study. The title of our article referring to the risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome can be judged to be somewhat misleading and we apologise for that. We have published data earlier on obese subjects with features of the metabolic syndrome. We found a decrease in plasma homocysteine concentration and an increase in serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations during a hypocaloric diet (Schwab et al., 2002).

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References

  • Schwab U, Alfthan G, Aro A, Uusitupa M (2011). Long-term effect of betaine on risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome in healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr 65, 70–76.

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  • Schwab U, Törrönen A, Meririnne E, Saarinen M, Alfthan G, Aro A et al. (2006). Orally administered betaine has an acute and dose-dependent effect on serum betaine and plasma homocysteine concentrations in healthy humans. J Nutr 136, 34–38.

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  • Schwab U, Törrönen A, Toppinen L, Alfthan G, Saarinen M, Aro A et al. (2002). Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine concentrations but does not affect body weight, body composition, or resting energy expenditure in human subjects. Am J Clin Nutr 76, 961–967.

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  • Slow S, Lever M, Elmslie J (2011). Betaine supplementation and the metabolic syndrome. Eur J Clin Nutr 65, 771.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    U Schwab & M Uusitupa

  2. Institute of Medicine, Internal Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    U Schwab

  3. National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    G Alfthan & A Aro

Authors
  1. U Schwab
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  2. G Alfthan
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  3. A Aro
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  4. M Uusitupa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to U Schwab.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Schwab, U., Alfthan, G., Aro, A. et al. Response to Slow et al.. Eur J Clin Nutr 65, 772 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.33

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