College Station, Texas
January 14, 2008
A specially developed carrot has
been produced to help people absorb more calcium.
Researchers at
Texas A&M AgriLife's Vegetable
and Fruit Improvement Center studied the calcium intake of
humans who ate the carrot and found a net increase in calcium
absorption. The research, which was done in collaboration with
Baylor College of Medicine, means adding this carrot to the diet
can help prevent such diseases as osteoporosis.
"If you eat a serving of the modified carrot, you'd absorb 41
percent more calcium than from a regular carrot," said Dr. Jay
Morris, lead author on the paper, a post doctorate researcher at
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
The finding will be reported in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences online edition Jan. 14.
"The primary goal was to increase the calcium in fruit and
vegetables to benefit human health and nutrition," Morris said.
"Fruit and vegetables are good for you for many reasons, but
they have not been a good source of calcium in the past."
Morris, who worked on the study while earning a doctorate at
Texas A&M University, said fruits and vegetables play a role in
good bone health for other reasons.
"We believe that if this technology is applied to a large number
of different fruits and vegetables, that would have an even
greater impact on preventing osteoporosis," he said.
For this study, the researchers provided the carrots to a group
of 15 men and 15 women. The people were fed either the modified
carrots, called sCAX1, or regular carrots in the week one. On a
second visit two weeks later, they were fed the other type of
carrot.
Urine samples were collected 24 hours after each feeding study
to determine the amount of specially marked calcium absorbed,
Morris explained.
The study group also was evaluated for their normal absorption
rate to compare with the rate of absorption from the
calcium-enhanced carrots, he said.
He said both men and women absorbed higher amounts of calcium
from the modified carrots. But the technology needs to be
available in a wide range of fruits and vegetables so that
people can get the calcium benefit.
"The daily requirement for calcium is 1,000 milligrams, and a
100 gram serving of these carrots provides only 60 milligrams,
about 42 percent of which is absorbable," he noted. "A person
could not eat enough of them to get the daily requirement."
But if vegetables and fruits could be bred to contain more
calcium, then a diet that includes a variety of these produce
might come closer to providing necessary calcium, Morris said.
"Increased fruits and vegetables (in the diet) are better for a
myriad of reasons," he said.
Las zanahorias podrían ser mejores fuentes de calcio |
Source:
Agrenbio
Según un trabajo publicado por investigadores de la
Escuela de Medicina Baylor en Houston y el Centro de
Mejoramiento de Frutas y Hortalizas de la
Universidad de Texas A&M, las zanahorias podrían
resultar una buena fuente de calcio. Este grupo
obtuvo zanahorias modificadas genéticamente para
tener más transportadores de calcio, proteínas que
transportan calcio a través de las membranas de las
células vegetales.
“Alterando apenas el gen correspondiente (gen sCAX1)
logramos que sea más activo, aumentando el calcio
biodisponible en las zanahorias”, explicó el Dr.
Kendal Hirschi, profesor de pediatría y nutrición y
principal investigador en el estudio. En un primer
estudio en ratones, demostraron que los animales
alimentados con las zanahorias modificadas podían
obtener la misma cantidad de calcio que los
alimentados con el doble de zanahorias sin
modificar.
En un estudio con 30 personas adultas, los que
comieron zanahorias modificadas absorbieron 41% más
calcio que los que comieron zanahorias no
modificadas. Hirschi enfatizó que no existe un
alimento mágico que solucione todos los problemas
nutricionales, y que son necesarias una alimentación
balanceada y un ejercicio adecuado. Sin embargo, los
desarrollos en estas áreas podrían permitir acceder
mejor a ciertos nutrientes en frutas y hortalizas,
beneficiando la salud.
La osteoporosis, uno de los desordenes nutricionales
más importantes, es una enfermedad que reduce la
densidad mineral ósea. Los médicos recomiendan más
calcio y una mejor absorción del calcio. En este
sentido aumentar la absorción del calcio de los
alimentos podría disminuir el impacto global de la
enfermedad. |
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On
Jan. 1, Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station changed its
name to Texas AgriLife Research
and Texas Cooperative Extension
changed its name to Texas
AgriLife Extension Service. The
two agencies together are
referred to as Texas A&M
AgriLife. |
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