Assessing phytochemical intake in a group of Mexican women.

OBJECTIVE

Identify the content of selected phytochemicals (PHYs) in Mexican foods and evaluate the reliability of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in assessing PHYs intake among Mexican women.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Values for PHYs content were obtained from four different data sets. PHYs intake was assessed in 50 women of reproductive age enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study. Values were obtained from a FFQ administered twice, one year apart in order to evaluate its reliability. Selected PHYs included flavonol (FOL), flavones (FES), flavanol (FAL), secoisolariciresinol (SE), matairesinol (MA), lariciresinol (LA), pinoresinol (PI), cynamic acid (CA) and coumestrol (CU).

RESULTS

Daily PHYs intake ranged from 1.3 microg +/- 0.9 for MA to 116.3 +/- 43.8 mg for CA. The adjusted correlation coefficients ranged from 0.17 for FAL to 0.47 for LA. Pinto beans, oranges, hot sauce, broccoli, apples and onions were the main sources of the selected PHYs daily intake.

DISCUSSION

The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the consumption of PHYs in the Mexican diet, and would help evaluate their potential health impact.