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Interventions and public health nutrition

Seasonal differences in total antioxidant capacity intake from foods consumed by a Japanese population

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 799–803 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

This cross-sectional study aimed to estimate total antioxidant capacity (TAC) intake from food and beverages in a Japanese population from 7-day seasonal dietary records.

Subjects/methods:

The 7-day weighed dietary records of 390 subjects over four seasons between 1996 and 1998 were used. The TAC values (μmol trolox equivalents (μmol TE)/g) of various foods and beverages were defined, as reported in previous studies for weighed dietary records, using several different methods. TAC values of foods were estimated in 242 food and beverage items: 86.5% of vegetables, 99.1% of fruits, 71.5% of potatoes, 96.7% of beans, and 100% of chocolates. Differences in TAC intake per day and intake (g) per day among seasons in each of the food and beverage group were compared using a general linear model for repeated measures. The TAC intake/day were calculated for each food and beverage item in the four seasons.

Results:

TAC intake/day (μmol TE/day) varied from 10 189 (summer) to 12 292 (winter). TAC intake/day from fruits (2696) and potatoes (395) was highest in autumn, from vegetables (2827) it was highest in summer and from beans (4151) and tea (2331) it was highest in winter.

Conclusions:

The dietary habits of the studied Japanese population showed the highest antioxidant capacity in winter and the lowest in summer.

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Acknowledgements

All authors were involved in the writing of the manuscript and approved the final version of this article. We appreciate the local staff in each study area, especially the local dietitians, for their efforts in conducting the dietary survey. The investigators in the validation study of the self-administered food frequency questionnaire in the JPHC study (the JPHC FFQ Validation Study Group) and their affiliations at the time of the study were as follows: S Tsugane, S Sasaki and M Kobayashi, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute East, Kashiwa, Japan; T Sobue, S Yamamoto and J Ishihara, Cancer Information and Epidemiology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan; M Akabane, Y Iitoi, Y Iwase and T Takahashi, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan; K Hasegawa and T Kawabata, Kagawa Nutrition University, Sakado, Japan; Y Tsubono, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; H Iso, Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, Japan; S Karita, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan; and the late M Yamaguchi and Y Matsumura, National Institute of Health and Nutrition, Tokyo, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematical Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

    Y Tatsumi & Y Ohno

  2. Department of Nutrition Science, Sagami Women's University, Kanagawa, Japan

    J Ishihara

  3. Department of Clinical Nursing, Shiga University of Medical Science, Shiga, Japan

    A Morimoto

  4. Life Science Promoting Association, Tokyo, Japan

    S Watanabe

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  1. Y Tatsumi
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for the JPHC FFQ Validation Study Group

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Correspondence to Y Tatsumi.

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Tatsumi, Y., Ishihara, J., Morimoto, A. et al. Seasonal differences in total antioxidant capacity intake from foods consumed by a Japanese population. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 799–803 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.65

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