Intake of Dietary Phytoestrogens by Dutch Women

Abstract

Higher consumption of phytoestrogens might be protective against certain chronic diseases. Accurate quantification of habitual phytoestrogen intake is important for assessing associations between phytoestrogens and risk for certain diseases. The aim of this study was to estimate dietary intake of phytoestrogens in Dutch middle-aged and elderly women and to describe their main sources. Women were recruited between 1993 and 1997 and aged 50-69 y at enrollment (Prospect-EPIC; n = 17,357). A detailed food frequency questionnaire referring to the preceding year was filled in at recruitment. A literature search was conducted to obtain data regarding content of the isoflavones daidzein, genistein, formononetin, biochanin A, the coumestan coumesterol and the lignans matairesinol and secoisolariciresinol in relevant food items. Concentrations of each phytoestrogen in each food item were subsequently grouped by seven categories; group scores were multiplied by daily intakes of food items and then summed across food items to produce for each participant a total daily intake score for each phytoestrogen. Approximately 75% of participants were postmenopausal at recruitment. The mean age was 57 y. Geometric means of daily intake of daidzein, genistein, formononetin, biochanin A, coumesterol, matairesinol and secoisolariciresinol were 0.15, 0.16, 0.08, 0.001, <0.001, 0.07 and 0.93 mg, respectively. The main sources for isoflavones were peas and beans, nuts, grain products, coffee, tea and soy products. The main sources for coumestans were peas, beans and other vegetables. The main sources of lignans were grain products, fruit and alcoholic beverages (red and white wines). We conclude that intake levels of phytoestrogen in our study population are low; however, they are comparable with intake levels previously reported for other Western cohorts. In this population, phytoestrogen intake consisted largely of lignans.

Dietary intakes and food sources of phytoestrogens in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) 24-hour dietary recall cohort

“…Non-MED countries had slightly higher, though still relatively low levels of estimated isoflavone intake (0.76 mg/day), which is comparable to other reported data (from 0.23 to 0.96 mg/day). 4,34,35,43 These low intakes are consistent with estimates for other Western countries such as Canada (0.31 mg/day) 20 and US (around 1.1 mg/day). 37,44 In the UK general population, the isoflavone intake was also higher (2.34 mg/day) compared with other European countries because of the addition of soy flour to regular flour used in baking.…”

“…The highest intake of phytoestrogen was in the UK healthconscious group (22.41 mg/day). MED countries had the lowest phytoestrogen intake (1.52 mg/day), followed by non-MED countries (2.11 mg/day) and UK general population (4.04 mg/day), showing similar results as those published in individual European countries, such as The Netherlands, 34 Sweden 35,36 and UK 4 (0.58-3.17 mg/day), and in the US (1.11-2.02 mg/day) 37 or Canada (1.17 mg/day). 20 The UK health-conscious cohort is made up predominantly of lacto-ovo vegetarians and vegans; therefore they consume more plant foods, especially soy products that are the most abundant food sources of phytoestrogens.…”

“…20,37,52 To our knowledge, there are not descriptive data on dietary lignan intake in Asian populations, but probably their contribution to the total phytoestrogen intake would be low like in our UK health-conscious group (o16%). Several papers have reported on intakes of secoisolariciresinol and matairesinol, 34,60 but most of them did not consider lariciresinol and pinoresinol, which contributed 470% to the total lignans in our cohort. Other lignans, such as syringaresinol and medioresinol have also been described, but to date, there is little food composition data for them.…”

Phytoestrogen Content of Foods of Animal Origin: Dairy Products, Eggs, Meat, Fish, and Seafood

“…However, not all epidemiological and surveillance studies have biological samples available, and many studies have relied on reports of food intake and associated phytoestrogen databases to assess phytoestrogen exposure in relation to disease risk (28)(29)(30)(31)(32). Previous food analyses have mainly been limited to isoflavones in fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, and there is little data available for lignans and animal foods (33-36) (37).…”

Effects of genistein and genistin on in vitro maturation of pig oocytes

“…They act as a weak estrogen, and their antiestrogenic properties have been observed as well -dependent on the hormonal environment of the organism (Wang et al, 1996;Fritsche and Effects of genistein and genistin on in vitro maturation of pig oocytes Steinhart, 1999;Rosselli et al, 2000). In human beings the intake of higher amounts of phytoestrogens in foods is usually connected with positive effects on health concerning some chronic diseases like cancer, osteoporosis or cardiovascular diseases (Boker et al, 2002;Kayisli et al, 2002;Moravcová and Kleinová, 2002). Nevertheless, not all studies have confirmed such a positive concept until now (e.g.…”