Nutrition Research and Practice

The Korean Nutrition Society (한국영양학회)
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Folate food source, usual intake, and folate status in Korean adults

  • Kim, Young-Nam (Department of Food and Nutrition, Songwon University) ;
  • Cho, Youn-Ok (Department of Food and Nutrition, Duksung Women's University)
  • Received : 2017.10.12
  • Accepted : 2017.12.15
  • Published : 2018.02.01
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Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTTIVES: The purposes of the study were to investigate folate intakes and plasma folate concentrations as well as estimate folate status in Korean healthy adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 254 healthy 19- to 64-year-old adults (68 men and 186 women) living in Seoul metropolitan area, Gumi, and Kwangju, Korea participated. Three consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls, information on folate supplementation, and fasting blood samples were collected from the subjects. RESULTS: The mean dietary folate intakes were 587.4 and $499.2{\mu}g$ dietary folate equivalent (DFE)/day for men and women, respectively. The median dietary intakes of men and women were 566.6 and $474.6{\mu}g\;DFE/day$, respectively. Forty subjects (16.7% of total) less total folate than the estimated average requirement (EAR). Folate intakes of 23.3% of men and 34.8% of women aged 19-29 years did not meet the EAR for folate. Major food sources consumed for dietary folate were baechukimchi (Chinese cabbage kimchi), rice, spinach, eggs, and laver, which provided 44% of dietary folate intake for the subjects. Plasma folate concentrations were 23.4 nmol/L for men and 28.3 nmol/L for women, and this level was significantly lower in men than in women. Approximately 13% of men and 3% of women were folate-deficient, and the percentages of subjects showing folate concentrations lower than 10 nmol/L were 27.9% of men and 6.4% of women. CONCLUSIONS: Folate intakes of Korean adults in this study were generally adequate. However, one-third of young adults had inadequate folate intakes.

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References

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