Vitamin E status of the U.S. adult population by use of dietary supplements (1041.7)

Abstract

Vitamin E is essential for human health and achieving an optimal status is associated with beneficial health outcomes. Given that >90% of Americans are not meeting vitamin E intake recommendations, we assessed serum α‐tocopherol (AT) and related these to an optimal serum concentration (30 µmol/L) found to have the lowest mortality in the Alpha‐Tocopherol Beta‐Carotene study. Cross‐sectional AT status data from the 2003‐2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in adults 蠅20y (excluding pregnant and lactating women) was analyzed. Population (n=7969) mean AT concentrations differed by sex, race/ethnicity, age, and dietary supplement use (p < 0.01). Mean AT concentrations were 29.9, 25.0 and 34.2 µmol/L for the total population, non‐supplement (NS), and supplement (S) users, respectively. S users (49% of subjects) had a lower prevalence (45%) of suboptimal AT concentrations (<30 µmol/L) than NS (81%, p<0.01). In addition to differences (p<0.01) in AT concentrations between S and NS subpopulations by gender and race/ethnicity, a higher proportion of younger than older adults had suboptimal AT concentrations (p<0.01) especially if they were not supplement users: 20‐30y NS (93%) vs S (79%); 31‐50y NS (81%) vs S (54%); 51+y NS (71%) vs S (28%). Despite a low prevalence of overt vitamin E deficiency, many American adults have suboptimal AT status even when supplementing their diet.Grant Funding Source: DSM Nutritional Products LLC