Suboptimal Serum α-Tocopherol Concentrations Observed among Younger Adults and Those Depending Exclusively upon Food Sources, NHANES 2003-20061-3.
Vitamin E is an essential nutrient for human health, with an established function as a lipid-soluble antioxidant that protects cell membranes from free radical damage. Low vitamin E status has been linked to multiple health outcomes, including total mortality. With vitamin E being identified as a 'shortfall nutrient' because >90% of American adults are not consuming recommended amounts of vitamin E, we aimed to determine the prevalence of both clinical vitamin E deficiency (serum α-tocopherol concentration < 12 μmol/L) and failure to meet a criterion of vitamin E adequacy, serum α-tocopherol concentration of 30 μmol/L, based on the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) and lowest mortality rate in the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene (ATBC) study. The most recent nationally-representative cross-sectional data (2003-2006) among non-institutionalized US citizens with available serum concentrations of α-tocopherol from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were analyzed. Serum α-tocopherol distributions were compared between those reporting consumption of food without supplement use (FOOD) and food and supplement use (FOOD+DS) by sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Only 1% of the US population is clinically deficient. FOOD consumers have lower average α-tocopherol levels (24.9± 0.2 μmol/L) than FOOD+DS users (33.7 ± 0.3 μmol/L), even when adjusted for total cholesterol. Using a criterion of adequacy of 30 μmol/L, 87% of persons 20-30 y and 43% of those 51+y had inadequate vitamin E status (p<0.01). A significant greater prevalence of FOOD compared to FOOD+DS users did not meet the criterion of adequacy which was based on the EAR and low ATBC mortality rate consistently across age, sex, and race/ethnic groups. The prevalence of inadequate vitamin E levels is significantly higher among non-users of dietary supplements. With declining usage of vitamin E supplements, the population should be monitored for changes in vitamin E status and related health outcomes.
DSM Nutritional Products, Parsippany, New Jersey, United States of America.
Michael I
MI
McBurney
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
Elaine A
EA
Yu
DSM Nutritional Products, Parsippany, New Jersey, United States of America.
Eric D
ED
Ciappio
DSM Nutritional Products, Delft, The Netherlands.
Julia K
JK
Bird
DSM Nutritional Products, Kaiseraugst, Switzerland.
Manfred
M
Eggersdorfer
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
Saurabh
S
Mehta
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood*; D000975:Antioxidants; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000097:blood*
D000975:Antioxidants; D002784:Cholesterol; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol