Olga Januszko

Intake of Vitamins and Minerals from Voluntarily Fortified Foods in School Children in Central-Eastern Poland

Objective: To estimate vitamin and mineral intakes from voluntarily fortified foods (VFFs) in relation to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) in children aged 6 - 12. Methods: The study was conducted among 677 school children from Central-Eastern Poland. Data on VFFs consumption were collected using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire containing 58 food items available on the Polish market; the content of nutrients in VFFs was estimated using the producers labelling declaration. The amounts of nutrients consumed from VFFs were compared to DRI and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (ULs). The distribution of nutrient intakes according to the percentage of DRI categories (<20%, 20 - 39.9%, 40 - 59.9%, 60 - 79.9%, 80 - 99.9%, 100 - 119%, and >120%) was investigated. Results: In our study, 78.3% (n = 530) of children were classified as VFF-consumers. The most often consumed groups of VFFs were cereal products and juices/non-alcoholic beverages (92.5% and 76.6% of children, respectively). The amounts of vitamin D intake were negligible (92.5% of children did not exceed 20% of DRI from VFFs); vitamins A, E, B12 and calcium were small (>60% did not exceed 40% of DRI); vitamins B1, B2, niacin, folic acid, pantothenic acid and iron were moderate (>25% consumed 80% of DRI or above); while vitamins C, B6 and biotin were high (>40% consumed 100% of DRI or above). Intake above ULs was observed for niacin and folic acid (2.6% and 1.1% of children, respectively). Conclusions: Substantial differences between the VFFs contribution of various micronutrients to the DRIs were observed. Consumption of VFFs may prevent inadequate intakes for the majority of nutrients. Keywords: children, DRI, inadequate intake, minerals, fortified foods, vitamins.

Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Correlation Between Daily Nutrient Intake Assessed by 7-Day Food Records and Biomarkers of Dietary Intake Among Participants of the NU-AGE Study

Methods for measuring diet composition and quantifying nutrient intake with sufficient validity are essential to study the association between nutrition and health outcomes and risk of diseases. 7-day food records provides a quantification of food actually and currently consumed and is interesting for its use in intervention studies to monitor diet in a short-term period and to guide participants toward changing their intakes. The objective of this study is to analyze the correlation/association between the daily intake of selected nutrients (collected by a 7-day food records plus a mineral/vitamin supplementation questionnaire) and estimates of energy expenditure as well as blood and urine biomarkers of dietary intakes in 1,140 healthy elderly subjects (65–79 years) at baseline of the NU-AGE intervention study (NCT01754012, clinicaltrials.gov). The results show that: the daily intake of energy correlated significantly with predicted total energy expenditure (pTEE) (ρ = 0.459, p < 0.001, and q < 0.001); protein intake correlated significantly with the ratio of 24 h urinary urea to creatinine excretion (ρ = 0.143 for total protein intake, ρ = 0.296 for animal protein intake, and ρ = 0.359 for protein intake/body weight, p < 0.001 and q < 0.001 for each correlation); vitamin B12 and folate intakes correlated significantly with their serum concentrations (ρ = 0.151 and ρ = 0.363, respectively; p < 0.001 and q < 0.001 for each correlation); sodium and potassium intakes correlated significantly with their 24 h urinary excretion (ρ = 0.298 and ρ = 0.123, respectively; p < 0.001 and q < 0.001 for each correlation); vitamin B12 and folate intakes were negatively associated with plasma homocysteine measure (p = 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively); stratifying subjects by gender, the correlations between energy intake and pTEE and between potassium intake and its 24 h urinary excretion lost their significance in women. Even if the plasma and urinary levels of these nutrients depend on several factors, the significant correlations between daily reported intake of nutrients (protein, vitamin B12, folate, and sodium) and their blood/urinary markers confirmed that the 7-day food records (plus a supplementation questionnaire) provides reliable data to evaluate short-term current dietary intake in European elderly subjects and it can be exploited to guide and monitor NU-AGE participants through the shift of their diet according NU-AGE recommendations.

Iron absorption after introducing and discontinuation of iron and zinc supplementation in rats.

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in iron apparent absorption (IAA%) during and after iron and zinc supplementation in rats. The study was conducted on 6-week old male Wistar rats in 3 stages: 4-week period of adaptation to the control (C) and iron deficient (D) diets (stage I); 4-week period of supplementation with 10-time more iron (CSFe, DSFe), zinc (CSZn, DSZn) or both iron and zinc (CSFeZn, DSFeZn) compared to C diet (stage II); 2-week of post-supplementation period (rats were fed the same diets as in the adaptation period, stage III). IAA% was measured in five consecutive days directly after introducing and discontinuation of iron and zinc supplementation as well as in the end of stage II (days: 22-24th) and stage III (days: 8-10th). Overall in the second day after introducing and in the fifth day after discontinuation of iron or iron and zinc supplementation, the IAA% had undergone to the level compatible with the values in the end of each stage. At the end of stage II, IAA% in CSFeZn (54.1 ± 2.7%) rats was not different from the IAA% in CSFe rats (53.9 ± 1.9%), but in DSFeZn group IAA% (49.4 ± 2.1%) was significantly lower than in DSFe (57.4 ± 2.3%) group. Moreover, IAA% after stage II and stage III in DSZn group was significantly lower (39.2 ± 2.8% and 38.6 ± 2.6%, respectively) than in group D (60.7 ± 1.9% and 54.3 ± 3.0%, respectively). In conclusion, zinc administered simultaneously with iron (Zn:Fe weight ratio=1:1) decreased IAA% in adult rats fed on iron deficient diet, but not in rats fed on control diet. IAA% reduction by zinc supplementation has been extended to 10 days after discontinuation of the treatment. Adaptation of the rats to high doses of iron or iron and zinc and also to the cessation of these treatments was relatively fast. However, IAA% was stabilized faster after introducing the supplementation than its discontinuation.