Increased intakes of antioxidant pigments from plants may lower the risk of hip fracture in older men and women, according to a 17-year study from the US. Of the individual carotenoids studied, lycopene was found to have the greatest protective effect, while beta-carotene had a weak association with fewer hip fractures, according to data published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Researchers from Tufts University, Hebrew SeniorLife, and Boston University, studied data from 370 Caucasian men and 576 Caucasian women with an average age of 75 participating in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. The participants were followed for 17 years. “We found protective associations of total carotenoid and lycopene intake with hip fracture and non-vertebral osteoporotic fracture over 17-years of follow-up,” wrote the authors. “We found that those consuming greater than 4.4 servings/week of lycopene had significantly fewer fractures.”
The highest average intake of all carotenoids was associated with a significantly lower risk of hip fracture, said the researchers. The researchers then looked individual carotenoids and found that higher lycopene intake was associated with a lower risk of hip fracture, and non-vertebral fracture. Furthermore, a weak but statistically un-significant protective trend was recorded total beta-carotene, but only for hip fractures.
Bonnie - this should provide one simple message: eat your vegetables and fruits in a wide variety of colors. It should also put into question bogus research years back that associated beta carotene with increased risk of fractures.
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