Studies on the bioavailability of zinc in man. Effects of the Guatemalan rural diet and of the iron-fortifying agent, NaFeEDTA
1979
Solomons, Noel W. | Jacob, Robert A. | Pineda, Oscar | Viteri, Fernando E.
Two dietary factors largely determine the zinc nutriture of a population--daily consumption and the biological availability of dietary zinc. The mean fasting zinc levels of the rural Guatemalan population are low. Subjects (many were Americans or Europeans) were given a standard rural meal of Guatemala--120 g corn tortillas, 250 g of coffee sweetened with 15 g of sugar, 40 g sweet rolls, 120 g black bean gruel. Four hours after the meal plasma zinc level was significantly lower than the fasting zinc level. Adding 25 mg of zinc to the bean gruel prevented the decline, but did not raise plasma zinc above fasting level. Fortifying sugar with the iron-fortifying agent, NaFeEDTA, apparently would not influence further the bioavailability of dietary zinc. The basic rural diet of Guatemala probably impairs zinc nutriture, with the major factors being phytates, dietary fiber and calcium and a minor factor being coffee. A population that consumes a maize and legume diet may need zinc nutrition analysis
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