Effects of multiple dietary supplements on cardiometabolic health

Introduction - Dietary supplements are widely used for health purposes. However, little is known about the metabolic and cardiovascular effects of combinations of popular over-the-counter supplements, each of which has been shown to have anti-oxidant and/or anti-inflammatory properties in cell culture or animal studies. Hypothesis - The main hypothesis of this PhD was that I think it might be possible, by combining a large number of supplements/phytochemicals that have complimentary, additive and/or synergistic effects, to duplicate to a large extent the anti-oxidant and/or anti-inflammatory properties in humans. Specific aims - To evaluate the effect of the supplements on markers of aging process as endothelial function and arterial stiffness, on processes involved in mediating aging and risk factors for diseases that mediate secondary aging, on markers of inflammation and oxidative-stress. Methods - This study was a 6-month randomized, single-blind controlled trial, in which 56 non-obese (BMI 21.0-29.9 kg/m2) men and women, aged 38 to 55 yr, were assigned to a dietary supplement (SUP) group or control (CON) group, with a 6-month follow-up. The SUP group took 10 dietary supplements each day (100 mg of resveratrol, 650 mg of quercetin, 500 mg of acetyl-l-carnitine, 600 mg of lipoic acid, 900 mg of curcumin, 1 g of sesamin, a complex of 800 mg each of green, black, and white tea extract, 250 mg of pomegranate extract, and 1.7 g of cinnamon bark extract, and 1.0 g fish oil). Both the SUP and CON groups took a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement. The main outcome measures were arterial stiffness, endothelial function, biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress, and cardiometabolic risk factors. Results - Twenty-four weeks of daily supplementation with 10 dietary supplements did not affect arterial stiffness or endothelial function in nonobese individuals. These compounds also did not alter body fat measured by DEXA, blood pressure, plasma lipids, glucose, insulin, IGF-1, and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. Conclusions - Supplementation with a combination of popular dietary supplements has no cardiovascular or metabolic effects in non-obese relatively healthy individuals.