title: Vitamin E incorporated into a very-low-fat meal is absorbed from the intestine of young rats.
abstract: Vegetable fats and oils are major sources of dietary vitamin E. Consequently the current trend to reduce fat consumption is accompanied by a reduction of the intake of vitamin E. In addition, the absorption of vitamin E is thought to be dependent on the hydrolysis of dietary lipids in the small intestine. It is therefore conceivable that a lower dietary fat intake also diminishes the intestinal absorption of vitamin E. The present 3-week feeding study in young male rats was designed to investigate whether different concentrations of vitamin E added to a very-low-fat product (0, 330 or 1350 mg DL-alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg product) were absorbed. We therefore incorporated these products into a very-low-fat meal (final fat concentration: 7 g/kg) or a low-fat meal containing 52 g fat/kg. The magnitude of vitamin E absorption from these meals was compared with that from meals containing similar amounts of vitamin E, but a high fat concentration of 190 g/kg. Apparent vitamin E absorption was defined as intake of alpha-tocopherol equivalents (alpha TE) minus faecal alpha TE excretion over 4 d during week 3 of the experimental period. The results of this study showed that apparent absorption of vitamin E from a very-low-fat meal varied, depending on the vitamin E concentration, from 73 to 83%. The magnitude of this vitamin E absorption was not significantly different from that from meals containing a high amount of fat. Liver vitamin E status was equal in rats fed on the very-low-fat meals compared with those fed on the high-fat meals. We conclude that, when very-low-fat or low-fat products are used as a replacement for full-fat products, addition of vitamin E to these products, as DL-alpha-tocopheryl acetate, might be useful in meeting the vitamin E requirements.
authors.affiliation: Unilever Research Laboratory, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Brink
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haddeman
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Tijburg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D018752:Diet, Fat-Restricted; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000502:physiology*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D024505:Tocopherols; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D014810:Vitamin E; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol; D024505:Tocopherols