CALCIUM AND PHOSPHORUS UTILIZATION BY OMNIVORES AND VEGETARIANS (BONE STRENGTH)

Studies were conducted to investigate the utilization of dietary calcium and phosphorus from two kinds of wheat bran in lacto-ovo-vegetarian, vegan, and omnivore diets by lacto-ovo-vegetarians and omnivores. Normal urinary calcium and phosphorus response to intake of calcium and phosphorus was evaluated using 24-hour composites. Results suggested lacto-ovo-vegetarians showed better ability to absorb calcium and phosphorus from lacto-ovo-vegetarian diets with or without bran supplements than did omnivores. However, lacto-ovo-vegetarians fed bran supplemented diets tended to increase their urinary calcium excretion to a greater extent than did the omnivore group. It was postulated that this hypercalciuria might have been due to the increased ability of the lacto-ovo-vegetarians to absorb phosphorus. The effect of variations in calcium and phosphorus intake levels fed with either animal or plant proteins on bone breaking strength and calcium and phosphorus utilization of weanling mice was investigated. Sixty-four weanling mice were fed either 0.3% calcium and 0.3% phosphorus or 1.2% calcium and 1.2% phosphorus plus animal or plant protein for eight weeks. Mice fed animal protein diets had more resistance to bone breakage than did the plant protein fed mice. Feeding of animal proteins in comparison to plant diets apparently inhibited absorption of phosphorus. Feeding of low phosphorus diets also enhanced femur bone breakage resistance in comparison to feeding of high calcium diets which resulted in increased fecal phosphorus excretions and decreased urinary phosphorus excretion. The attitudes of physicians and nurses as well as nutritional attributes of plant product oriented diets and general nutritional attitudes were surveyed in Imo, Nigeria. Physicians and nurses were found to have favorable attitudes toward nutrition and fairly high nutrition knowledge scores. However, nurses and physicians surveyed were not confident of their knowledge of nutrition; physicians were more confident than the nurses surveyed. A need for education concerning nutritional attributes of plant products was found