This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Barrett’s esophagus risk linked to heavy consumption of meat, fats
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Patients who consumed the largest amounts of meat and saturated fats were at the greatest risk for developing Barrett’s esophagus in a recent case-control study.
Researchers administered the 110-item Block food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to 151 patients with Barrett’s esophagus (BE) and 777 controls. Consumption of carboxymethyl lysine (CML) advanced glycation end-products (AGE) was determined for 216 foods included in the FFQ.
All participants were aged 40 to 80 years and had been treated at a medical facility in Houston between February 2008 and July 2011. Controls included patients who received elective esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) (endoscopy controls; n=521) and patients who received EGD during a screening colonoscopy (colonoscopy controls; n=256).
Mean CML-AGE consumption did not differ significantly between groups (6,871 KU/1,000 Kcal for cases vs. 6,803 KU/1,000 Kcal for controls; P=.73). Investigators noted significant positive correlations between CML-AGE consumption and consumption of total meat (r=0.61) and fat (r=0.54), cholesterol (r=0.56), saturated fat (r=0.53), protein (r=0.51) and eggs (r=0.27), while an inverse but not significant correlation was observed with dark green vegetables (r=–0.05, P=.13).
BE patients were more likely than controls to consume greater amounts of meat (OR=1.91; 95% CI, 1.07-3.38 for highest vs. lowest intake tertile) and saturated fat (OR=1.8; 95% CI, 1.02-3.16), while BE risk was numerically but nonsignificantly elevated with CML-AGE consumption (OR=1.63; 95% CI, 0.96-2.76). Adjustment for CML-AGE consumption attenuated the total meat (OR=1.61; 95% CI, 0.82-3.16) and saturated fat (OR=1.54; 95% CI, 0.81-2.94) associations with BE.
Li Jiao
“Higher intake of total meats and saturated fat may be associated with increased risk of [BE],” researcher Li Jiao, MD, PhD, department of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told Healio.com. “[AGE] and proinflammatory and pro-oxidant compounds found in meats may partially explain such an association.”
Jiao said a previous study suggested an inverse association between BE risk and consumption of dark green vegetables. “These two studies should prompt clinicians to advise their patients with GERD [to follow] a prudent diet that includes more consumption of leafy vegetables and less meats and fats,” he said.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts