title: Dietary and biochemical indices of nutritional status in male athletes and controls.
abstract: To determine whether physical exercise affects biochemical indices of nutritional status, we compared four groups of male athletes (total n = 427) with two control groups (n = 150). Data about their nutrient intake for 1 month were obtained from a 122-item food frequency questionnaire. An estimate for leisure energy expenditure (EE) was calculated from a 15-item physical activity questionnaire. Athletes were grouped according to their EE (ModEE and HighEE athletes) and weight (light = less than 75 kg; heavy = greater than or equal to 75 kg), and controls according to their weight. Mean energy intake in ModEE and HighEE athletes was 2805-3260 kcal/day. Leisure EE significantly (p less than 0.0001) affected energy and nutrient intakes. Energy, riboflavin and calcium intakes were also higher in heavy subjects (P = 0.0006-0.03). The estimated percentage of subjects with deficient dietary intakes, calculated from probability analyses, was 0-6, depending on group and nutrient. Erythrocyte transketolase activation coefficient (E-TKAC) was highest in controls (1.17 +/- 0.0008; p = 0.001). Serum magnesium was highest (p = 0.01) in ModEE athletes (0.85 +/- 0.006 mmol/L). No intergroup differences were found for plasma ascorbic acid, serum zinc or serum ferritin concentration, whereas blood hemoglobin was lowest (p less than 0.001) in HighEE athletes (149 +/- 0.5 g/L). Ten percent of the control subjects had E-TKAC greater than 1.24. Percentage of other values outside reference range was 0-4, depending on group and indicator. Since lowered blood hemoglobin concentration can be explained by hemodilution, we conclude that sports training did not have a negative effect on biochemical indices of thiamin, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, or zinc status in Finnish male athletes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Fogelholm
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Himberg
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alopaeus
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Gref
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Laakso
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lehto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mussalo-Rauhamaa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition; D001824:Body Constitution; D001835:Body Weight; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004032:Diet; D015930:Diet Records; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008903:Minerals / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011336:Probability; D012256:Riboflavin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013177:Sports; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D002136:Calcium, Dietary; D008903:Minerals; D014815:Vitamins; D012256:Riboflavin