Vitamin E diary dietary intake in premenopausal healthy women and its relationship with the recommended diary dietary intake

Abstract

Background: The health benefits arising from the antioxidant vitamin E is well recognized and its recommended dietary intake for the general population have been established. However, there is still a need for assessing antioxidant vitamin intake in different population groups. Objective: To assess intake of antioxidant vitamin E and to identify its major sources in the diets of healthy premenopausal women from Extremadura. Material and methods: The study group consisted of 123 premenopausal women from Spanish population. Antioxidant vitamin dietary intake was assessed by individual 7-day records. Data was analyzed using updated “Spanish Food Composition Tables”. Results: The average daily intake of antioxidant vitamin E was: 2.58±0.85 mg/day. Dietary vitamin E was around 76.54% lower than that recommended. Diets that were deficient in vitamin E were recorded in the 100% of the interviewed premenopausal women from Extremadura. Conclusions: The average intake of antioxidant vitamin E was not found to be in recommended range, no significant differences were observed between the lowest and the highest intake. They were no differences in the consumption of food products recognized as major sources of vitamin E in the study population. It is therefore necessary to increase the consumption of foods that provide a valuable dietary source for this vitamin.