Carninutrients and antinutrients: differences in dietary intake among vegetarians and non-vegetarians

Vegetarijanska prehrana prihvaćena je u široj znanstvenoj zajednici, meñutim, i dalje je pomalo kontroverzna po pitanju adekvatnosti s obzirom na unos karninutrijenata i antinutrijenata. Cilj ovog rada bio je ispitati hipotezu da vegetarijanci unose manje karninutrijenata i više antinutrijenata, te je tako ispitan unos karnitina i vitamina D (odreñenog kao zbroj unosa vitamina D3 i 25-hidroksivitamina D3), odnosno, fitata vegetarijanskom i ne-vegetarijanskom prehranom. Prehrambeni unosi procijenjeni su na temelju 60 jednodnevnih dnevnika prehrane uz vaganje, od kojih je 30 bilo prikupljeno od vegetarijanaca, a 30 od ne-vegetarijanaca. Rezultati su pokazali da vegetarijanci doista unose manje karnitina (12,1 naspram 53,2 mg; p < 0,05) i vitamina D (0,25 naspram 4,04 μg; p < 0,05) te više fitata (1879,6 naspram 652,9 mg; p < 0,05) nego ne-vegetarijanci. U radu su predstavljeni mogući nedostaci i prednosti primijećenog unosa te, dodatno, značaj 25-hidroksivitamina D3 u ukupnom dnevnom unosu vitamina D.It is considered that vegetarian diets generally provide an adequate nutrition, but this is still a controversy among some scientists because of the suggested lower carninutrient and higher antinutrient intake among vegetarians. The aim of this thesis was to test that hypothesis. 60 single-day weighed food diaries were collected: 30 from vegetarians and 30 from non-vegetarians, and they were used to estimate the dietary intake of two carninutrients – carnitine and vitamin D (defined as the sum of vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3), and one antinutrient – phytate. The results showed that vegetarians do have a lower carnitne (12.1 vs. 53.2 mg; p < 0.05) and vitamin D intake (0.25 vs. 4.04 μg; p < 0.05) as well as higher phytate intake (1879.6 vs. 652.9 mg; p < 0.05) than non-vegetarians. The proposed health consequences are discussed. The significance of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in total vitamin D intake is also disscused