Abstract
Antioxidants may reduce risks of cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases based on basic, animal and epidemiological research. Therefore, dietary fat-soluble antioxidant vitamin intake and plasma concentration in healthy adolescent girls was investigated. This age was selected since dietary antioxidant protection against major illnesses is a lifelong requirement and because healthy dietary habits are adopted at an early age and are often modified during adolescence. Seventy-one high school girls, age range 15-18 years, were studied by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Plasma antioxidants were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in 16 girls. The diet provided 30% fat with a caloric intake of 34 kcal kg-1 body weight. Vitamin A intake was 2.2 +/- 1.0 mg/day-1, beta-carotene intake was 6.2 +/- 4.2 mg/day and vitamin E intake was 4.8 +/- 2.1 mg/day-1. Thus, only vitamin E intake was below the recommended allowance for this age range and compared to the USA intake survey at the same age and sex. Plasma antioxidants were all within normal range as compared with other studies. Thus, according to this study, Israeli adolescent girls consume a suboptimal amount of vitamin E in their diet, but sufficient in other fat soluble antioxidants. Though this apparently unbalanced antioxidant intake is not reflected in abnormal plasma concentrations, high intake of vitamin E should be encouraged in order to obtain the maximal benefit from exposure to dietary antioxidants throughout life.
