How well do kids' bodies use vitamin A from pumpkin vs. spinach?
Extraction of carotenoids from feces, enabling the bioavailability of beta-carotene to be studied in Indonesian children.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists wanted to know how well kids can use vitamin A from pumpkin and spinach. Instead of taking blood, they used poop to measure it — which is easier and doesn’t hurt. They gave kids special pumpkin or spinach with a label that shows how much vitamin A their body absorbs.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
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Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists wanted to know how well kids can use vitamin A from pumpkin and spinach. Instead of taking blood, they used poop to measure it — which is easier and doesn’t hurt. They gave kids special pumpkin or spinach with a label that shows how much vitamin A their body absorbs.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 533 / 44
Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Publication
Authors
Van Lieshout M, West CE, Van De Bovenkamp P, Wang Y, Sun Y, Van Breemen RB, Muhilal DP, Verhoeven MA, Creemers AF, Lugtenburg J
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Claims (3)
Scientists made a new way to measure how well kids absorb vitamin A from pumpkin or spinach by testing their poop — no needles needed!
In Indonesian kids, pumpkin gives the body about 1.8 times more vitamin A (from beta-carotene) than spinach does, but some kids get way more and others way less — it really varies from person to person.
Kids absorb beta-carotene from pumpkin and spinach differently, and poop tests show almost the same difference as blood tests—so maybe we can use poop instead of blood to check nutrition without needing a needle.