Inez Harrill

Vitamin and food supplement practices and nutrition beliefs of the elderly in seven Western states

Abstract A mail survey of 2,451 non-institutionalized subjects, including 595 sixty years or older living in seven Western state (Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada and Washington) reported frequencies and factors associated with vitamin and mineral supplementation. Sixty percent of subjects over 60 years reported using one or more supplements with multiple vitamin, vitamin D and vitamin E being most frequently used (>50%). Reasons for use ranged from lack of vitamin in food to energy and/or tiredness. Sources of nutrition information cited most frequently were newspapers and books. The level of usage in the elderly is a major concern for health providers as well as the lack of information from professional resources.

Mineral supplementation practices of adults in seven western states

Seven western states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wyoming) were surveyed in 1986 to determine the extent of vitamin/mineral supplementation and dosage levels of single supplements. Questionnaires were mailed to 3,500 individuals. A 57.8% response rate was obtained from the deliverable surveys, with a sample size of 1,730. The sample consisted of 54% women and 46% men and was predominantly white (88.9%). Fifty-four percent of the sample consumed some type of supplement; multiple vitamin/minerals were consumed with the greatest frequency. For single supplements, vitamin C was reported with the greatest frequency (23.1%), followed by some type of calcium supplement (22.5%) and vitamin E (11.1%). More than 80% of the vitamin C users indicated a dosage of 250 mg/day. Most respondents consumed calcium dosages of less than 1,000 mg/day. For vitamin E, 75% of the users consumed more than 200 IU/day. The data suggest that the potential for toxicity due to excess supplementation levels exists in the western states studied.

Influence of zinc and vitamin D on bone constituents of the rat

Abstract The effect of vitamin D on deposition of bone constituents in femur of rats fed diets providing 9 per cent of protein with and without added zinc or 18 per cent of protein with added zinc was investigated. Addition of calciferol to the diet significantly increased the concentration of zinc in femurs of rats fed 9 or 18 per cent of protein. The results indicate that the effect of vitamin D on deposition of zinc in bone is not a secondary effect related to calcification and bone growth.

Blood constituents and hepatic lipids in rats fed sucrose or starch with or without cyclamate

Abstract To study the effect of type of dietary carbohydrate and cyclamate on selected tissue components, rats were fed basal diets that contained sucrose or cornstarch: dextrin (2:1) with 0, 2, or 10% calcium cyclamate. Substitution of starch:dextrin for sucrose in the basal diet did not significantly affect the concentrations of blood hemoglobin, serum protein, cholesterol or total lipids in liver, or weight gain of the animals. Substitution of 2% cyclamate for sucrose did not appear to affect significantly the parameters studied, except that liver weight and total amino acid concentration decreased. Animals fed starch:dextrin with 2% cyclamate had lower weight gains than those of their respective controls, whereas liver cholesterol and total lipid concentrations were increased. Dietary cyclamate decreased the liver weight of all experimental groups. Weight gains of animals fed sucrose or starch:dextrin with 10% cyclamate in replacement of carbohydrate were, respectively, 41 and 58% lower than those of their respective controls. Substitution of 10% cyclamate for sucrose or starch:dextrin decreased blood hemoglobin. The total concentration of essential amino acids in sera of rats fed 10% cyclamate with sucrose or starch:dextrin approached or exceeded that of the respective controls. The data indicate that the effect of cyclamates on the level of certain tissue components may be related to the type of carbohydrate fed with cyclamate.

Effect of Dietary Vitamin D and Protein on Free Amino Acids and Lipids in Selected Rat Tissues

Weanling male rats were fed for 6 weeks vitamin D-deficient rations which contained 2 levels of protein with varying levels of supplemental calciferol. Vitamin D decreased the concentration of free lysine but had no apparent effect on free methionine or valine in plasma. Increasing the level of the vitamin significantly increased the concentration of cholesterol and total lipids in liver of rats fed 9% of casein but had no significant effect on that of animals fed 18% of casein. Increasing the protein intake decreased the level of lipids in liver of animals fed no vitamin D supplement or either level of the supplementary vitamin. The results suggested that amino acid-calciferol ratio may be important in lipid metabolism. The work of Colovos et al. (1) showed that insufficient vitamin D in the ration of calves significantly decreased protein utili zation and inhibited the growth rate. Since then, Jonxis and Huisman (2) observed that vitamin D3 therapy reduced the amount of amino acids excreted by rachitic children. Steenbock and Herting (3) reported that vitamin D may be concerned with metabolism of soft tissue. Other workers have observed that addition of cal ciferol to the diet of experimental animals increases the concentration of cholesterol in body tissues (4, 5). On the basis of these observations, the present study was made to determine the effect of dietary vitamin D on the concentration of certain free amino acids in plasma and cholesterol and total lipids in liver tissue of rats fed at 2 levels of protein.

Contribution of diet versus supplements to selected nutrient intake in the western region

Abstract The objective of this project was to assess the contributions made by diet and/or food supplements to the intake of vitamins and minerals. Results indicated that 30% of the respondents were meeting less than 67% of the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for calcium with diet alone or diet plus supplements. Of those who supplemented, 46 percent consumed (diet and supplements) vitamin C at levels greater than 150% of the 1989 RDA. Even when vitamin C intake was greater than the RDA of 60 mg, 40% took supplements averaging 689.2 mg/day. Although 37% of the people were meeting the highest RDA for both riboflavin and niacin, through food, all were consuming supplements. Research supported by the SAES Western Regional Project W-153.