Geographical patterns of human diet derived from stable-isotope analysis of fingernails

✍ Scribed by Gabriela B. Nardoto; Steven Silva; Carol Kendall; James R. Ehleringer; Lesley A. Chesson; Epaminondas S.B. Ferraz; Marcelo Z. Moreira; Jean P.H.B. Ometto; Luiz A. Martinelli

• Book ID: 101461789
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 176 KB
• Volume: 131
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0002-9483
• DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20409

✦ Synopsis

Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of human fingernails were measured in 490 individuals in the western US and 273 individuals in southeastern Brazil living in urban areas, and 53 individuals living in a moderately isolated area in the central Amazon region of Brazil and consuming mostly locally grown foods. In addition, we measured the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of common food items to assess the extent to which these isotopic signatures remain distinct for people eating both omnivorous and vegetarian diets and living in different parts of the world, and the extent to which dietary information can be interpreted from these analyses. Fingernail d 13 C values (mean 6 standard deviation) were À15.4 6 1.0 and À18.8 6 0.8% and d 15 N values were 10.4 6 0.7 and 9.4 6 0.6% for southeastern Brazil and western US populations, respectively. Despite opportunities for a ''global supermarket'' effect to swamp out carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in these two