Objectives: Study was conducted in order to investigate the association of vitamin E intake and other factors with plasma a-tocopherol concentration in a non-smoking Mediterranean population. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a subsample of a representative sample of the Catalan population. Subjects: Sample size was 143 men and women, aged between 18 and 75 y, and ®nal response rate reached 61.9% of the initial sample. Interventions: Serum alpha-tocopherol concentration standardized by serum total lipids was used as a proxy of the nutritional status of vitamin E. Vitamin E intake and alcohol consumption were estimated by a replicated 24 h recall method. Dietary data were collected in two different periods, winter and summer, in order to account for seasonal variation in nutrient intake, and were corrected for random within-person variability in order to account for day-to-day variation in nutrient intake. Multivariate linear regression models were ®tted in order to estimate the determinants of serum a-tocopherol concentration. Results: In this population study, for each one mg increase in vitamin E intake, serum a-tocopherol concentration increased, on average, 0.66 micromol/L, after adjusting for age, gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), alcohol consumption and energy intake. BMI also in¯uenced signi®cantly serum a-tocopherol concentration, whereas alcohol intake, age and gender did not show signi®cant associations with serum a-tocopherol.

Nutritional intake of vitamin A, C and E are over the RDA parameters suggesting an healthy nutritional status that must be confirmed and ratify by biochemical assessment. Nutritional densities were higher in female gender than in males in vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene possibly due to a higher intake of total lipids in male gender than in females. Nutritional density was positively associated to age in the same group of vitamins, suggesting a higher intake of empty calories in younger group. Fruits and Vegetables accounted for more than 70% of vitamin C and beta-carotene and major contributors were citrics, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, and cauliflower, highlighting their importance in elaboration of dietary guide lines.