Search

Objective: A diet rich in phyto-oestrogens has been suggested to protect against a variety of common diseases but UK intake data on phyto-oestrogens or their food sources are sparse. The present study estimates the average intakes of isoflavones, lignans, enterolignans and coumestrol from 7 d food diaries and provides data on total isoflavone, lignan and phyto-oestrogen consumption by food group.Design: Development of a food composition database for twelve phyto-oestrogens and analysis of soya food and phyto-oestrogen consumption in a populationbased study.Setting: Men and women, aged 40–79 years, from the general population participating in the Norfolk arm of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Norfolk) between 1993 and 1997, with nutrient and food data from 7 d food diaries.Subjects: A subset of 20 437 participants.Results: The median daily phyto-oestrogen intake for all men was 1199 mg (interquartile range 934–1537mg; mean 1504mg, SD 1502mg) and 888mg for all women (interquartile range 710–1135 mg; mean 1205 mg, SD 1701mg). In soya consumers, median daily intakes were higher: 2861 mg in men (interquartile range 1304–7269mg; mean 5051mg, SD 5031mg) and 3142 mg in women (interquartile range 1089–7327mg; mean 5396 mg, SD 6092 mg). In both men and women, bread made the greatest contribution to phyto-oestrogen intake – 40?8% and 35?6%, respectively. In soya consumers, vegetable dishes and soya/goat’s/sheep’s milks were the main contributors – 45?7% and 21?3% in men and 38?4% and 33?7% in women, respectively.Conclusions: The ability to estimate phyto-oestrogen intake in Western populations more accurately will aid investigations into their suggested effects on health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveSupplements are an important source of micronutrient intake, which, unless taken into account, can misclassify individuals with regard to levels of nutrient exposure. A label-based vitamin and mineral supplements (ViMiS) database was developed to contain manufacturers’ information and to enter supplement use by participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition in Norfolk (EPIC-Norfolk). The ViMiS database contains information on all ingredients, broken down into nutrient information in order to be combined with nutrient intake derived from food consumption.DesignDevelopment of the ViMiS database and cross-sectional analysis of supplement use in a population-based study.SettingMen and women aged 40–79 years from the general population participating in the EPIC-Norfolk study between 1993 and 1997, with data available from 7 d diet diaries (7dDD).SubjectsA subset of 19 330 participants with available 7dDD and known supplement status.ResultsTo date, the ViMiS database includes 2066 supplements, which altogether contain 16 586 ingredients, with a median of eleven nutrient/ingredients per supplement. Forty per cent of the cohort took a supplement, of which cod liver oil was the most common (24·5 %).ConclusionsThe ViMiS database provides a flexible tool for estimating total nutrient intake. The high prevalence of supplement use in the general population indicates that supplement use needs to be taken into account when examining the relationship of intake of particular nutrients to health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]