MINNEAPOLIS, Mar 2, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Many middle-aged and older
Americans are not getting adequate nutrition, even with the assistance of
dietary supplements, U.S. researchers said.
Pamela J. Schreiner of the University of Minnesota and colleagues found that
potassium intake was very much below the recommended daily allowances whether
supplements were taken or not. This could point to a need to reformulate
supplements to deliver higher potassium doses.
The researchers used data drawn from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
-- a prospective cohort study designed to investigate the prevalence, correlates
and progression of subclinical cardiovascular disease -- to examine more than
6,200 participants from four ethnic groups, Caucasian, African-American,
Hispanic and Asian.
Dietary intakes were determined from food frequency questionnaires that included
data using label information from their supplements.
More than half of the population took supplements. The study, published in the
Journal of the American Dietetic Association, found supplement users were more
likely to be older, women, Caucasian and college-educated. Calcium and vitamin C
supplements were most common.
However, for calcium, 15 percent of high-dose supplement users exceeded the
upper intake levels compared to 1.9 percent of multivitamin users and 2.1
percent of non-users.
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2009 by United Press International