Consumption of red meat and whole-grain bread in relation to biomarkers of obesity, inflammation, glucose metabolism and oxidative stress

• DOI: 10.1007/s00394-012-0340-6
• Publication Date: 2012-03-17T06:41:23Z
• Authors: Jukka Montonen; Heiner Boeing; Andreas Fritsche; Erwin Schleicher; Hans-Georg Joost; Matthias B. Schulze; Annika Steffen; Tobias Pischon
• Keywords: Blood Glucose; Male; 610; Medicine (miscellaneous); Body Mass Index; 03 medical and health sciences; Animals; Humans; Life Style; Glycated Hemoglobin; Inflammation; 2. Zero hunger; 0303 health sciences; Nutrition and Dietetics; Cholesterol, HDL; Alanine Transaminase; Original Contribution; Bread; Diet; 3. Good health; C-Reactive Protein; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cardiovascular Diseases; Cattle; Female; Adiponectin; Edible Grain; Biomarkers

To examine the association of red meat and whole-grain bread consumption with plasma levels of biomarkers related to glucose metabolism, oxidative stress, inflammation and obesity.Our cross-sectional study was based on 2,198 men and women who were selected as a sub-cohort for an investigation of biological predictors of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam study. Circulating levels of glycated hemoglobin, adiponectin, hs-CRP, gamma-glutamyltransferase, alanine-aminotransferase, fetuin-A, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides were measured from random blood samples. Diet and lifestyle data were assessed by questionnaires, and anthropometric data were measured.After multivariable adjustment, higher consumption of whole-grain bread was significantly (P trend <0.05) associated with lower levels of GGT, ALT and hs-CRP, whereas higher consumption of red meat was significantly associated with higher levels of GGT and hs-CRP when adjusted for potential confounding factors related to lifestyle and diet. Further adjustment for body mass index and waist circumference attenuated the association between red meat and hs-CRP (P = 0.19).The results of this study suggest that high consumption of whole-grain bread is related to lower levels of GGT, ALT and hs-CRP, whereas high consumption of red meat is associated with higher circulating levels of GGT and hs-CRP.