American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 64, 25-31, Copyright © 1996 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Relation of energy, fat, and fiber intakes to plasma concentrations of estrogens and androgens in premenopausal women

JF Dorgan, ME Reichman, JT Judd, C Brown, C Longcope, A Schatzkin, M Forman, WS Campbell, C Franz, L Kahle and PR Taylor
Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.

To evaluate whether diet may influence the incidence of hormone- dependent cancers through an effect on blood estrogen and androgen concentrations, we analyzed diet-blood hormone relations in a cross- sectional study. Dietary energy, fat, and fiber intakes were estimated from 7-d food records completed by 90 premenopausal women on days 14-20 of their menstrual cycles. Fasting blood specimens were collected on days 5-7, 12-15, and 21-23 of each participant's cycle and pooled to create follicular-, midcycle-, and luteal-phase samples, respectively, for analysis. Energy intake was associated inversely with plasma androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), averaged across the three menstrual cycle phases, and directly with the probability of a luteal-phase rise in progesterone. For each additional 1 MJ (239 kcal) consumed, androstenedione decreased by 6.0% (95% CI: - 8.4%, -3.6%), DHEAS decreased by 5.1% (95% CI: -9.6%, -0.4%), and the probability of a progesterone rise increased by 60% (95% CI: 5%, 145%). After energy intake was adjusted for, the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fat (P:S) in the diet was significantly inversely associated with plasma estradiol and estrone during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. For each 0.1 increment in the P:S, there was a 7.6% (95% CI: -14.3%, -0.5%) decrease in estradiol and a 6.8% (95% CI: - 12.7%, -0.6%) decrease in estrone. Results of this cross-sectional study support a relation between both energy and fat ingestion and plasma sex hormone concentrations in premenopausal women.

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