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Background: C4 plants (e.g. corn and sugar cane) have greater 13C enrichment than C3 plants (e.g. wheat and sugar beet). Objective: To assess whether 13C enrichment of CO2 in the breath and breast milk of women on diets based on C3 and C4 foods changes from one diet to the other. Materials and Methods: Six breast-feeding women were studied at 5-6 months postpartum. They ate a controlled C4 diet on days 1 and 2 followed by a C3 diet on days 3 and 4. Diet duplicates, breast milk on days 2 and 4 and hourly breath samples were collected over 4 days. 13C enrichment was measured by isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. Values of δ13C were calculated from the international PDBV standard (δ13CPDBV). Differences between means were compared by paired t test or t test for repeated measurements. Results: δ13CPDBV values were significantly higher in the C4 diet than in the C3 diet composites (p < 0.01). In breath CO2, the δ13CPDBV value was greater on days 1 and 2 (range -15.4 to -13.2, respectively) and declined on days 3 and 4 (range -20.0 to -21.8, respectively, p < 0.01). The lipid and milk serum fractions of breast milk had significantly higher δ13CPDBV on the C3 diet than on the C4 diet (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Subjects eating a C4 diet have a higher δ13CPDBV value in the breath and breast milk fractions, which diminish rapidly on a C3 diet. Further studies focusing on individual nutrients are warranted. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This investigation aims to explore the association among anemia and vitamins A, C, and folate deficiencies in a probabilistic sample of Mexican children. Methods: Data on hemoglobin, serum vitamins A and C and folate concentrations and percent transferrin saturation (PTS) in children 0.5–11 years (n = 1,770) were extracted from the database of the probabilistic Mexican National Nutrition Survey 1999 (NNS-99). Results: Overall, 16.6% of children were anemic. Iron deficiency children with or without anemia had more frequent low serum retinol (40.6 vs. 16% and 27.7 vs. 11.9%, p < 0.05, respectively) and lower hemoglobin folate (11.5 vs. 22%, p < 0.05) than their non-iron deficiency counterparts. Mean concentrations of serum iron (p < 0.01), folate (p < 0.001) and retinol (p < 0.0001), but not ascorbic acid (p < 0.6), were significantly lower in anemic than in nonanemic children. In a linear regression model, 15% of hemoglobin variation in children was explained by retinol, folate and PTS, but not vitamin C (p <0.0001). Conclusion: Anemia was mostly associated with iron deficiency and with a lesser proportion of folate and vitamin A deficiencies. Vitamin A deficiency might be overestimated since iron deficiency may lower serum retinol concentrations. Interventions aimed to reduce anemia in this population must consider interactions between those micronutrients in designing strategies. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]