The relationship between diet and estrogens was studied in two groups of women with different dietary habits and breast cancer risks. Plasma estrogens and androgens and 24-h urinary and fecal excretion of estrogens were measured in premenopausal and postmenopausal Caucasians and recent Oriental immigrants from Southeast Asia to Hawaii. Premenopausal Caucasians had 30-75% higher plasma estrone and estradiol levels than their age-matched cohorts in Hawaii, and the postmenopausal Caucasians had 3-fold higher plasma levels of estradiol. The Oriental women excreted more than twice the amount of estrogen in their feces but they excreted significantly less in their urine. Thus, the ratio of urinary-to-fecal excretion was approximately 3-5 times higher in young Caucasian women. Analysis of dietary components and plasma estrogens in premenopausal women showed a positive correlation between daily intake of total fat and saturated fat and plasma estrone and estradiol concentrations.

The computerized dietary analysis system that was in use at Tufts University/Frances Stern Nutrition Center and two commercially available systems were compared in a study examining differences between systems. Content, software, data base maintenance, and cost were among the characteristics in which they differed. Calculations on three-day food records provided by five omnivore and five vegetarian women differed from one system to the next. Significant differences were noted for total kilocalories, total fat, saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, cholesterol, and phosphorus. Unfortunately, it was not possible to describe the degree to which each of the many possible causes of variability may have contributed to the differences in nutrient calculations. However, coding activity did not appear to influence nutrient calculations within one system in a significant manner when skilled coders were employed. We conclude that differences observed in dietary studies using different computerized dietary analysis systems may be due in part not to real differences in subjects but rather to the system employed. Valid reference standards against which each nutrient value can be compared to ascertain exactly what these errors are do not exist. All the information consumers need to make useful comparisons among the various computerized dietary analysis systems is not yet available in a standardized format and is eagerly awaited by this and other groups.

Twenty-four adult men and women, classified as carbohydrate-sensitive on the basis of an exaggerated insulin response to a sucrose load, consumed diets containing 5, 18, and 33% of calories as sucrose for 6 wk each in a cross-over design. The diets contained identical natural and processed foods except for a patty containing 2, 15, or 30% of the calories as sucrose at the expense of wheat starch. Carbohydrate, fat, and protein provided 44, 42, and 14% of the calories, respectively. Of total calories, 25% were consumed at breakfast and 75% at dinner. Initial body weights of the subjects were essentially maintained. Fasting serum insulin levels increased with the sucrose content of the diet and were significantly higher in men than in women. Mean fasting glucose was significantly higher on either 18 or 33% sucrose than on 5% sucrose. The sucrose content of the diet did not affect fasting serum glucagon. When compared to the insulin response to a sucrose load (2 g/kg body weight) after consuming the 5% sucrose diet, serum insulin was significantly higher at 1 h after the 18% sucrose diet and at 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 h after the 33% sucrose diet. Except after 2 h, the glucose response was significantly greater after the 18 and 33% sucrose diets than after the 5% sucrose diet. These results indicate that sucrose intake by carbohydrate-sensitive individuals, even at levels approximating the average United States intake, can produce undesirable changes in several parameters associated with glucose tolerance.