total antioxidant capacity of the diet is an independent predictor of plasma beta-carotene

Objective: To investigate the contribution of the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the diet to plasma concentrations of beta-carotene. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Department of Public Health and Department of Internal Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Parma. Subjects: A total of 247 apparently healthy adult men (n=140) and women (n=107). Methods: A medical history, a physical exam including height, weight, waist circumference and blood pressure measurements, a fasting blood draw, an oral glucose tolerance test and a 3-day food record. Results: We observe a negative trend across quartiles of plasma beta-carotene for most biological variables clustering in the insulin resistance syndrome, as well as for traditional and new risk factors for type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD), including C-reactive protein and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (P