Потребление серосодержащих нутриентов веганами, вегетарианцами, людьми, соблюдающими православный Великий пост, и людьми со смешанным рационом

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The number of vegans and vegetarians in the world is growing. In Russia, as in other countries with a significant proportion of Orthodox population, many people observe the Great Lent and other dietary restrictions prescribed by religion, which, however, exist in other Christian, and not only Christian, confessions. Provision of people having some dietary limitations, with all the necessary nutrients, is an important task requiring thorough consideration. An important issue that deserves special attention, is evaluation of the availability of sulfur as a macroelement, taking into account a complex character of its metabolism. AIM: Evaluation of sulfur consumption as a macrolelement, with food, through the analysis of sulfur-containing nutrients intake among population groups with various restrictions in the choice of food products. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The consumption of amino acids methionine and the ‘methionine + cysteine’ pair, as well as of vitamins B1 and H was studied among 185 people, including 46 vegans, 49 vegetarians, 42 people observing Orthodox Easter Lent, and 48 people without strict dietary restrictions, by the method of frequency analysis using a computer questionnaire. RESULTS: The consumption of sulfur-containing amino acids declined with a decline in proportion of the animal products in the diet. Only 16% of omnivores had insufficient intake of the ‘methionine + cysteine’ pair, while among vegans this parameter reached 87%. Concerning vitamin consumption, an opposite situation was observed. Omnivorous diet was almost inevitably associated with an insufficient amount of thiamine. Besides, more than half of vegetarians also had a deficit of vitamin B1 intake. On the contrary, vegans and adherents of the lean diet consumed it in sufficient quantities in the vast majority of cases. A different situation was observed with biotin. Although vegans, vegetarians and individuals observing the Great Lent, consumed higher quantities of vitamin H, it was practically in total deficit even in these groups. CONCLUSION: The consumption of essential sulfur-containing compounds has certain peculiarities depending on the type of the diet. If vegan, vegetarian and lean diets are often deficient in methionine and cysteine, the situation is opposite with thiamine: adherents of plant-based diets usually consume it in considerably higher amounts. Besides, intake of biotin in these groups is also higher. However, the biotin status of the population requires additional evaluation.