Question #2 August 2014
Q2: Do you
think this is an accurate method that should be used even though not all fruits and
vegetables contain carotenoids? Could they be missing a large percent of other
fruits and vegetables being consumed?
posted by Haleyhhughes @ 1:35 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Carotenoid is only one type of nutrients, so I don't believe just using that as a form of measurement is accurate to truly understand how much F/V a child is consuming. Also, as stated carotenoids are only in certain fruits and vegetables so they could definitely be missing other nutrients if they're not getting tested for those too. I think it's good to check on their consumption of red F/V but definitely not indicative of the other F/V.
I think it is pretty accurate as measuring carotenoids but I agree there could be some information missing. I would hate to jump to conclusions not knowing all the facts. This may not be perfect now but perhaps we are onto something. What if there are measurable pigments in other f/v? Its still not a perfect science by any means.
I think that this particular assessment should only be used to measure what it's meant to measure; in this case carotenoids. While we could inference that a low measurement of carotenoids would equate to a low level of F/V consumption, this test doesn't give us the entire picture. Maybe the client eats a lot of fruits/vegetables lower in carotenoids (e.g. broccoli, cucumbers, cauliflower, bananas etc.) but eats very small amounts of red, orange, yellow and dark leafy F/V, so they may meet the recommendations for F/V intake even if their carotenoid measurement is lower than is recommended.
I do think that this test could be used as a good baseline to test for carotenoids though, in that, even if the client is eating a healthy amount of F/V but has lower levels of carotenoids, we could use this information to increase our client's knowledge regarding the importance of really varying the types of F/V they consume and to strive to have as colorful of a plate as possible. We could then present some of the literature pertaining to carotenoids and their health benefits (I know that there is a lot of buzz about cancer risk reduction with carotenoids) so that they have a more thorough understanding of why we performed this test and how we can use the value to better their nutritional adequacy and also they overall health.
I agree with Jessica that we can't just jump into conclusions when it comes to someone's nutritional status based on 1 test. Many factors can contribute to serum levels of different nutrients.
I think this method would do a pretty great job of identifying carotenoid intake. Since there is so much research coming out showing the benefits of carotenoid consumption this is an area we should be encouraging our clients to work on (both children and adults). While it is true that it is not accurate for total fruit and vegetable intake, hopefully with the use of FFQ and 24-hr recall we would be able to get a good idea of what our client's diet looks like.
I agree with Jessica that this is just the starting block for other assessment methods to arise. Hopefully in the future there will be newer and better was to assess intake.
Whether it is used depends on what you need to measure. If you truly need to know the quantity of fruits and vegetables consumed, this test alone will not be sufficient. If you are only concerned with measuring carotenoids it would be useful.
As Jess said, I think that this is just the beginning of something that will probably be fine tuned along the way. As Jeanne is saying above, using this test to measure fruit and vegetable consumption alone is not sufficient, which is why I think for right now the best use it has is in the research setting.
I like that Susan and Jess both point out that this is just a starting point for these types of tests. I really think that these types of blood tests could be the future of our profession. I remember during my undergrad we had a huge discussion regarding nutrigenomics and the future of using DNA information to create specific diet plans for individuals based on their genotype. I know that's different from this, but that could very well be the go-to method in 10-20 years or whenever.
Carotenoids are so widely distributed in fruits and vegetables that there shouldn't be much concern about not accounting for a large percentage of intake of other F/Vs.
As for it's accuracy, the article notes that The National Academy of Sciences believes that blood concentrations of carotenoids are the best markers of consumption of fruits and vegetables. This study and others have shown that the RRS test compares well to the blood tests. So if the blood tests are a good indicator of F/V consumption, and the RRS is comparable to blood concentrations, then it must also be a good indicator of intake.
I think this method is most likely accurate for measuring carotenoids since it provided similar results to serum carotenoid tests. However, generalizing this test to judge all fruit and vegetable intake is beyond its scope since some fruits and vegetables do not contain carotenoids. I think this assessment has opened many doors for further assessments to be created. Perhaps in the future there will be more tests we can use to gather information about other pigments, and then we can have a better idea of someone's entire fruit and vegetable intake.
I like Jeanne's point about how this test will not measure the quantity of fruits and vegetables consumed. I think with children, and many adult Americans for that matter, just making sure they actually eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables every day may be more effective than being so specific about carotenoid intake.
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