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Vegetables, high nitrate foods, increased breath nitrous oxide
1Research Center of Health, Physical Fitness and Sports, Nagoya University, Japan.
Digestive Diseases and Sciences
|July 2, 1999
Summary
Eating vegetables and drinking vegetable juice increases levels of nitrous oxide (N2O) in exhaled breath. This gas is a metabolite of nitrate (NO3-) reduction by gut microflora, indicating a dietary link to breath N2O.
Area of Science:
- Human physiology
- Microbiology
- Nutritional science
Background:
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a metabolite produced by microflora from nitrate (NO3-) reduction.
- Dietary nitrate is commonly found in vegetables.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of consuming nitrate-rich vegetables on breath N2O levels.
- To determine if vegetable ingestion influences endogenous N2O production.
Main Methods:
- Six healthy subjects participated in a controlled ingestion study.
- Breath N2O levels were measured using an infrared-photoacoustic (IR-PAS) analyzer at 15-min intervals.
- Measurements were taken after no ingestion, vegetable juice ingestion, and lettuce ingestion.
Main Results:
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) was detectable in exhaled air across all conditions.
- Ingestion of lettuce and vegetable juice significantly elevated breath N2O levels compared to controls.
- Total N2O excretion in breath was significantly higher following vegetable and vegetable juice consumption.
Conclusions:
- Dietary nitrate from vegetables is likely converted to nitrous oxide (N2O) in the human gut.
- The intestinal microflora plays a key role in the denitrification of dietary nitrate, leading to increased breath N2O.
- Vegetable consumption represents a significant dietary source influencing breath N2O levels.