Premium
The Influence of n‐3 PUFA Supplements and n‐3 PUFA Enriched Foods on the n‐3 LC PUFA Intake of Flemish Women
Author(s) -
Sioen Isabelle,
Devroe Jolien,
Inghels David,
Terwecoren Ruth,
De Henauw Stefaan
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/s11745-010-3403-6
Subject(s) - polyunsaturated fatty acid , flemish , food science , population , food intake , zoology , medicine , chemistry , biology , endocrinology , fatty acid , environmental health , biochemistry , archaeology , history
Food consumption data of Flemish women of reproductive age collected in 2002 showed a large deficit for ALA and n‐3 LC PUFA compared to the recommendations (mean ALA and EPA + DHA intake 1.4 g/day and 209 mg/day, respectively) and indicated a need to tackle the problem of low n‐3 PUFA intake. Another recent Belgian study demonstrated that enrichment of commonly eaten food items with n‐3 PUFA provides the opportunity to increase the n‐3 PUFA intake up to 6.5 g/day and decrease the n‐6/n‐3 ratio. Since a large supply of n‐3 PUFA supplements and n‐3 PUFA enriched foods exists on the Belgian market, this study aimed at assessing the influence of these products on the n‐3 LC PUFA intake for Flemish women of reproductive age. It was found that n‐3 supplements are consumed by 5% of the Flemish women. Of all the n‐3 PUFA enriched foods on the Flemish market, margarines and cooking fat are most frequently consumed by young women. The results indicated that a big gap remains between the EPA&DHA intake (mean = 276 mg/day) and the recommendation. Seafood remains the most important source of EPA&DHA. Only 11.6% of the population sample reached an intake level of 500 mg EPA&DHA per day. The study showed that other strategies will be needed to increase the EPA&DHA intake in the long term.