Evaluation of Changes in Skin Carotenoid Scores in Medical Students Following Dietary Interventions

Evaluation of Changes in Skin Carotenoid Scores in Medical Students Following Dietary Interventions

Skin Carotenoid Scores (SCS) are a biomarker of overall antioxidant status. This study will use Raman Spectroscopy to examine the ability of increased dietary intake of fruits and vegetables to increase SCS in medical students. This will be an observational, non-invasive study examining skin carotenoid levels over time in individuals who have increased their intake by dietary adjustments. Thirty medical students meeting study inclusion criteria will be asked to increase their intake of high antioxidant fruits and vegetables to 4-6 cups per day over an eight week period of time. Students will self-select their fruits and vegetables from a given list and will receive supermarket gift cards to offset the cost of the increased food. Students will be asked to follow their usual diet for one week. Then increase their intake of high antioxidant fruit and vegetable to 4-6 cups per day for eight weeks. Then return to their usual diet for 2 weeks. SCS scores will be taken at baseline and week 1. At the beginning of week 2, students will be asked to increase fruit and vegetable intake to 4-6 cups per day. SCS will be measured every two weeks during the 8-week intervention phase. Students will return to their usual diet for 2 weeks and SCS will be measured at the end of that 2-week period.

Inclusion criteria:

• Medical students (any year) from Texas Tech School of Medicine
• BMI between 20-29
• Non-smoker, non-pregnant

Exclusion criteria:

• Individuals suffering from a chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease, or other metabolic disorder
• Pregnant women
• Smokers
• Individuals with BMI > or = 30 or < or = 19

Inclusion Criteria:

• Medical student from any year at Texas Tech University School of Medicine willing to maintain the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables for the entire eight-week experimental period, to maintain logs and to report at each of the times that measurements will be taken.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnancy
• Smoker
• BMI =/> 30
• Chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease, or metabolic disorder