3 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of this research study is to determine how dietary fats and oils influence the absorption of beneficial plant pigments (carotenoids) from vegetables. The study will examine changes in blood carotenoids in response to eating a salad with different fats/oils.
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasizes consumption of 4.5 cups of fruits and vegetables daily but average intake of US adults is only 2.6 cups. This low consumption of fruits and vegetables results in limited availability of certain nutrients found in these foods such as carotenoids. Dietary carotenoids have health beneficial properties and are known to fight against disease. Eggs are known to be a good source of carotenoids and eggs may improve the absorption of carotenoids found in co-consumed fruits and vegetables. Therefore, we are interested to see if consuming eggs with a mixed-vegetable salad will increase carotenoid absorption.
The objective of this project is to determine the extent to which eating black pepper together with vegetables increase the absorption of carotenoids (a class of important nutrients) in the vegetables such as beta-carotene.