Objective: Few epidemiological studies concentrated on dietary carotenoids and hypertension since new hypertension guideline released in 2017. Thus, this study was aimed to evaluate their association.
Methods: Data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2014 were used in this cross-sectional study. Dietary carotenoids data were obtained from 24-h dietary recall interviews. Hypertension was defined as SBP at least 130 mmHg or DBP at least 80 mmHg, taking antihypertensive medicine or self-report. Logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline models were applied to explore the associations between α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein with zeaxanthin, and total carotenoids from diet and supplements and hypertension. Total carotenoids showed significant reductive risk of hypertension at 100 μg/kg per day and over.
Results: A total of 17 398 adults aged 20 years and over were identified. High dose of β-carotene, lycopene, lutein with zeaxanthin, and total carotenoids were significantly associated with decreased risk of hypertension in crude results. After multivariate-adjustment in model 2, the odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein with zeaxanthin and total carotenoids for hypertension were 0.79 (0.67-0.93), 0.85 (0.73-0.98), 0.69 (0.58-0.83), 0.73 (0.62-0.86) for the highest versus lowest quartile intakes, respectively. Dose-response analyses showed that all of the carotenoids were inversely associated with hypertension in a linear manner. Total carotenoids showed significant effect of lower risk of hypertension at 100 μg/kg per day.
Conclusion: Intakes of α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein with zeaxanthin, and total carotenoids were inversely associated with hypertension in US adults. The intake of total carotenoids was suggested at least 100 μg/kg per day for general adult population.