An estimate of phytate intake and molar ratio of phytate to zinc in the diet of the people in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the phytate intake and molar ratio of phytate to zinc in the diet of the people in the United Kingdom. Design: Tables of the phytate content of foods were developed from twenty-eight published and unpublished studies. They were then applied to the nutrient databank of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS). The study is a retrospective analysis of data on daily consumption of foods and drinks from the NDNS of children, adolescents, adults and the elderly based on 4-7 d weighed intakes. Subjects: A total of 6786 British participants aged 1?5 years and above, who participated in the NDNS, 1992-2001. Setting: England, Scotland and Wales. Results: The median daily intakes of phytate for children, adolescents, adults and the elderly population were 496, 615, 809 and 629 mg/d, respectively. Although there were differences in phytate intakes between men and women, and for children, adolescents and elderly populations, after adjusting for differences in energy intake, there was no significant variation. The median phytate-to-zinc molar ratios for children, adolescents, adults and the elderly population were 11?8, 10?4, 9?7 and 8?7, respectively. Overall, the main sources of phytate were cereal and cereal products (e.g. breakfast cereals and breads), vegetables, potatoes and savoury snacks (e.g. chips and crisps), hot drinks and miscellaneous foods (e.g. commercial toddler foods and drinks, chocolate and soups), fruits and nuts. Conclusions: The present study estimated the dietary intake of phytate and the phytate-to-zinc molar ratio of the diet of the UK population, which can be used for estimating the average requirement of zinc. Further research should focus on the completion and validation of the tables of phytate content of UK foods, to assess (and if necessary improve) the accuracy and precision of these findings.

Regular Consumption of a High-Phytate Diet Reduces the Inhibitory Effect of Phytate on Nonheme-Iron Absorption in Women with Suboptimal Iron Stores,

“…However, the mean daily phytate intake among the vegetarian group was 323 mg/d, which is well below what has been reported for many countries. For example, median phytate intake in the United Kingdom was estimated to be 809 mg/d (24). In most developing countries, daily phytate intake values are even higher (25).…”

Dietary phytate intake inhibits the bioavailability of iron and calcium in the diets of pregnant women in rural Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

“…In this study, phytate to minerals molar ratios was used to estimate the inhibitory effects of phytate on the bioavailability of minerals from the consumed diets of the pregnant women [18,19,23,25]. The inhibitory effect of dietary phytate on the bioavailability of calcium, iron, and zinc from the diet of the pregnant women were measured through phytate to calcium, iron, and zinc molar ratios respectively.…”

“…The influence of phytate on the bioavailability of essential micronutrients depends not only on the phytate contents of the diet, but also the Linear regression models with phytate to calcium, iron, and zinc molar ratios as the dependent variables and the independent variables that remained significant on the models, P < 0.05 phytate and micronutrients' interaction. We have used phytate to minerals molar ratios to forecast the inhibitory effect of phytate on the bioavailability of minerals from the consumed diet of the pregnant women [18,19,23,25]. Moreover, we have used cut-off values for each of the molar ratios to identify the proportion of pregnant women affected by the inhibitory effects of phytate intake on calcium, iron and zinc bioavailability.…”

“…Plant-based diets in developing countries are usually high in phytate, which inhibits mineral absorption [18]. The inhibitory effect of phytate on calcium, iron, and zinc absorption has been established by in vivo as well as community-based studies [19][20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

Zinc Intake, Zinc Bioavailability and Plasma Zinc in Obese Adolescents with Clinical Insulin Resistance Following Low Energy Diets

“…Survey (median 10.35, IQR 8.35-13.07) [28] . However, an important finding of the current study is that adolescents in the high-carbohydrate diet group did have significantly higher phytate intakes than adolescents in the increased-protein group, suggesting that the high-carbohydrate diet may have lower zinc bioavailability.…”