Skin Carotenoid Accumulation in Response to a Two-Week Sweet Potato Snack Added to the Usual Diet. (7th June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Erickson, Taylor; Li, Rui; Woods, Elizabeth; Dickinson, Stephanie; Fly, Alyce
• Is Part Of: Current developments in nutrition. Volume 5(2021)Supplement 2
• Page Start: 121
• Page End: 121
• Publication Date: 2021-06-07
• Subjects: Nutrition -- Periodicals; Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Nutrition; Periodicals; Periodicals; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; 612.3
• DOI: 10.1093/cdn/nzab035_029
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2475-2991

Abstract

Abstract: Objectives: To evaluate changes in skin carotenoid score (SCS) from baseline, during and following a two-week sweet potato snack added to a participant's usual diet. Methods: Forty participants were recruited by convenience for a 7-week longitudinal cohort study with a 1-week period to establish baseline SCS, an intervention consisting of a sweet potato snack fed 3 times/week for 2 weeks in the lab while consuming a usual diet outside of the lab, followed by a 4-week monitoring period. SCS were measured 17 times over the study with pressure-mediated reflectance spectroscopy (Veggie Meter). SCS were analyzed using a linear mixed model (LMM) with repeated measures (fixed effects) to determine whether SCS increased from baseline to the follow up points of the intervention and post-intervention periods (α = 0.05). Data were plotted with a Loess line to visualize change over time. Secondary analyses were conducted to determine if baseline SCS affected time to detect differences post-intervention. Baseline SCS tertiles were analyzed using LMM with repeated measures (fixed effects, α = 0.05). Simple differences in least square means were calculated for each tertile at each time point. Results: Participants included 28 (72%) females and 11 (28%) males from 20–62 years who identified themselves as "White" (69.2%), "Asian" (23.1%), "Black/African American" (5.1%), and "Other-Latina" (2.6%). Five participants (12.8%) reported a Hispanic ethnicity. Analyses included 39 of 40 original participants, as one withdrew the first week of the study. Change in mean SCS from baseline over time was significant ( P < 0.001). While SCS during the intervention period were not significantly higher than baseline ( P = 0.271), those at post-intervention were higher ( P < 0.001). The Loess line for mean change in SCS from baseline depicted a period of consistent increase from day 26 to day 36, approximately 3 weeks after the start of the intervention. Change in SCS across periods for all tertiles was significant ( P < 0.001). Conclusions: These data suggest that 3 weeks after the beginning of a two-week intervention may be a period of interest when measuring the efficacy of such an intervention. Additionally, the difference in mean SCS between periods may depend on baseline SCS. Funding Sources: This project was funded in part by Indiana University.