FOOD SOURCES AND DIETARY INTAKES OF PHYLLOQUINONE IN THE AMERICAN DIET: DATA FROM THE FDA TOTAL DIET STUDY

Authors: BOOTH SARAH L - TUFTS-HNRCA; PENNINGTON JEAN - DIV OF NUTR, FDA; SADOWSKI JAMES A - TUFTS-HRRCA

Submitted to: Journal Of The American Dietetic Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Dietary food intake records from thousands of Americans living in a wide variety of communities were analyzed for their vitamin K intakes. People in the study consisted of both males and females from newborn to 80 years of age. Vitamin K is required for normal blood clotting and also for normal bone biology. Breast-fed babies consumed 6 times less vitamin K than formula-fed babies confirming the observation that breast fed babies have a higher incidence of bleeding problems compared to formula fed babies. Young adults of both genders aged 25-30 were the only people who were consuming, as a group, less than the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin K. The best food sources found to contribute the greatest amount of vitamin K to the diet were dark green and leafy vegetables, although the addition of fats and oils to mixed dishes, fried foods, and desserts were also important contributors to dietary intake. The proportion of vitamin K obtained from vegetables increased significantly with aging. The data presented in this paper will allow future studies to determine the role of vitamin K in improving the health of the American public and identify diseases that may be related to vitamin K intake.

Technical Abstract: Although it is assumed that a healthy population is not at risk for vitamin K deficiency, few studies have estimated dietary phylloquinone intake. Core foods from the FDA Total Diet Study (TDS), based on the 1987-88 National Food Consumption Survey, were recently analyzed for phylloquinone. Of the 14 age-gender groups selected, the 25-30 year old women and men were consuming less than the current RDA for vitamin K. In contrast, formula-fed infants had estimated phylloquinone intakes 6 times greater than the RDA. All other groups were consuming within the recommended daily intakes but lower than 90 mcg/day. The top contributors of total phylloquinone intake were dark, green vegetables although the addition of fats and oils to mixed dishes and desserts were also important contributors to dietary intake. The proportion of phylloquinone obtained from vegetables increased with aging. These data identify important dietary yphylloquinone sources in the American diet which can be used for the development of dietary assessment instruments in epidemiological studies.