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Stable isotopes in hair reveal dietary protein sources with links to socioeconomic status and health.

ABSTRACT: Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in hair sampled from 65 communities across the central and intermountain regions of the United States and more intensively throughout 29 ZIP codes in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, revealed a dietary divergence related to socioeconomic status as measured by cost of living, household income, and adjusted gross income. Corn-fed, animal-derived proteins were more common in the diets of lower socioeconomic status populations than were plant-derived proteins, with individual estimates of animal-derived protein diets as high as 75%; United States towns and cities averaged 57%. Similar patterns were seen across the socioeconomic status spectrum in the Salt Lake Valley. It is likely that corn-fed animal proteins were associated with concentrated animal-feeding operations, a common practice for industrial animal production in the United States today. Given recent studies highlighting the negative impacts of animal-derived proteins in our diets, hair carbon isotope ratios could provide an approach for scaling assessments of animal-sourced foods and health risks in communities across the United States.

SUBMITTER: Ehleringer JR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7443935 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Stable isotopes in hair reveal dietary protein sources with links to socioeconomic status and health.

Ehleringer James R JR Covarrubias Avalos Stephannie S Tipple Brett J BJ Valenzuela Luciano O LO Cerling Thure E TE

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20200803 33

Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in hair sampled from 65 communities across the central and intermountain regions of the United States and more intensively throughout 29 ZIP codes in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, revealed a dietary divergence related to socioeconomic status as measured by cost of living, household income, and adjusted gross income. Corn-fed, animal-derived proteins were more common in the diets of lower socioeconomic status populations than were plant-derived proteins, with indi ...[more]

PMID: 32747534

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Project description:BackgroundDietary patterns represent a broad picture of food and nutrient consumption and may be more predictive of health outcomes than individual foods and nutrients.ObjectiveWe investigated the relations among race, gender, family structure, parental socioeconomic status (SES), dietary patterns, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) profiles among adolescents in the southeastern region of the United States.MethodsA total of 743 adolescents from a cross-sectional study were divided into 4 dietary pattern groups by K-means cluster analysis. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to determine the relations among the parental SES, family structures, and dietary patterns of the adolescents. Associations between dietary patterns and CVD profiles were analyzed by multiple linear regression.ResultsFour dietary patterns were derived: "healthy" (17%), "snacks and sweets" (26%), "processed meat" (20%), and "sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and fried food" (37%). Whites and females were more likely to have a "healthy" dietary pattern (Ps < 0.001). There were significant race/ethnicity differences in family structures, SES, and dietary patterns (Ps < 0.05). In whites, higher mother's education and father's education and occupation were associated with greater likelihood of a "healthy" dietary pattern (Ps < 0.05). Stay-at-home mother was associated with less likelihood of an "SSB and fried food" pattern (P = 0.023). In blacks, higher mother's occupation, father's education, and living with both parents were associated with more likelihood of a "healthy" dietary pattern (Ps < 0.05). Stay-at-home father was associated with less likelihood of the "snacks and sweets" (P = 0.025) and "SSB and fried food" dietary patterns (P = 0.044). Overall, adolescents with poor dietary patterns exhibited higher percentage body fat, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, C-reactive protein, and total triglyceride (Ps < 0.05).ConclusionsOur data suggest that family structure, parental working status, and SES are associated with the diet quality in adolescents. Moreover, "snacks and sweets," "processed meat," and "SSB and fried food" dietary patterns are all associated with worse CVD risk profiles.

Project description:The idea that interspecific variation in trophic morphology among closely related species effectively permits resource partitioning has driven research on ecological radiation since Darwin first described variation in beak morphology among Geospiza. Marine turtles comprise an ecological radiation in which interspecific differences in trophic morphology have similarly been implicated as a pathway to ecopartition the marine realm, in both extant and extinct species. Because marine turtles are charismatic flagship species of conservation concern, their trophic ecology has been studied intensively using stable isotope analyses to gain insights into habitat use and diet, principally to inform conservation management. This legion of studies provides an unparalleled opportunity to examine ecological partitioning across numerous hierarchical levels that heretofore has not been applied to any other ecological radiation. Our contribution aims to provide a quantitative analysis of interspecific variation and a comprehensive review of intraspecific variation in trophic ecology across different hierarchical levels marshalling insights about realised trophic ecology derived from stable isotopes. We reviewed 113 stable isotope studies, mostly involving single species, and conducted a meta-analysis of data from adults to elucidate differences in trophic ecology among species. Our study reveals a more intricate hierarchy of ecopartitioning by marine turtles than previously recognised based on trophic morphology and dietary analyses. We found strong statistical support for interspecific partitioning, as well as a continuum of intraspecific trophic sub-specialisation in most species across several hierarchical levels. This ubiquity of trophic specialisation across many hierarchical levels exposes a far more complex view of trophic ecology and resource-axis exploitation than suggested by species diversity alone. Not only do species segregate along many widely understood axes such as body size, macrohabitat, and trophic morphology but the general pattern revealed by isotopic studies is one of microhabitat segregation and variation in foraging behaviour within species, within populations, and among individuals. These findings are highly relevant to conservation management because they imply ecological non-exchangeability, which introduces a new dimension beyond that of genetic stocks which drives current conservation planning. Perhaps the most remarkable finding from our data synthesis is that four of six marine turtle species forage across several trophic levels. This pattern is unlike that seen in other large marine predators, which forage at a single trophic level according to stable isotopes. This finding affirms suggestions that marine turtles are robust sentinels of ocean health and likely stabilise marine food webs. This insight has broader significance for studies of marine food webs and trophic ecology of large marine predators. Beyond insights concerning marine turtle ecology and conservation, our findings also have broader implications for the study of ecological radiations. Particularly, the unrecognised complexity of ecopartitioning beyond that predicted by trophic morphology suggests that this dominant approach in adaptive radiation research likely underestimates the degree of resource overlap and that interspecific disparities in trophic morphology may often over-predict the degree of realised ecopartitioning. Hence, our findings suggest that stable isotopes can profitably be applied to study other ecological radiations and may reveal trophic variation beyond that reflected by trophic morphology.

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Stable isotopes in hair reveal dietary protein sources with links to socioeconomic status and health.

Publications

Stable isotopes in hair reveal dietary protein sources with links to socioeconomic status and health.

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