Reduced sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is associated with increased leukocyte telomere length in pregnant women. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Sugary beverage and food consumption, and leukocyte telomere length maintenance in pregnant women.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2016 Jun 15. Epub 2016 Jun 15. PMID: 27302671
C W Leung
Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has been inversely associated with sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in cross-sectional studies, but no studies have examined whether dietary intake influences LTL over time. This study examined longitudinal associations between sugary foods and beverages and LTL. Participants were 65 overweight and obese pregnant women, aged 18-45 years, from a mindfulness intervention study conducted from early pregnancy (⩽16 weeks gestation) and followed through 9 months postpartum. During pregnancy and postpartum, dietary intake was measured with 24-h diet recalls, and LTL was assessed using quantitative PCR. Adjusting for sociodemographic and health characteristics, decreased SSB consumption from baseline to 9 months postpartum was associated with greater concurrent LTL lengthening (β=-0.102, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.192, -0.013). No associations between sugary foods and LTL were found in either period. The finding that reduced SSB consumption is associated with increased LTL warrants investigationin large cohort studies.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 15 June 2016; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2016.93.