Department of Nutritional Physiology, Institute of Nutrition, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Dornburger Str. 24, Jena, Germany.
Lipids Health Dis. 2011 Aug 19;10:141. doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-10-141.
Increasing land restrictions and a reduced livestock-to-human ratio during the 20th century led the Maasai to lead a more sedentary, market-orientated lifestyle. Although plant-derived food nowadays contributes substantially to their diet, dairy products being high in saturated fatty acids (SFA) and low in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) still are an important energy source. Since reliable data regarding the Maasai diet date back to the 1980s, the study objective was to document current diet practices in a Kenyan Maasai community and to investigate the fatty acid distribution in diet and red blood cells.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 26 Maasai (20 women, 6 men) from Loodokilani, Kajiado District, Kenya. Food intake was described by the subjects via 24-h recall, and both food and blood samples were analysed.
Two main foods--milk and ugali--constituted the Maasai diet in this region. A total of 0.9 L of milk and 0.6 kg of ugali were consumed per person and day to yield an energy intake of 7.6 MJ/d per person. A major proportion of ingested food contributing 58.3% to the total dietary energy (en%) was plant-derived, followed by dairy products representing 41.1 en%. Fat consumed (30.5 en%) was high in SFA (63.8%) and low in PUFA (9.2%). Long-chain n-3 PUFA (EPA, DPA and DHA) made up only 0.15% of the ingested fatty acids, but 5.9% of red blood cell fatty acids.
The study indicates the Maasai diet is rich in SFA and low in PUFA. Nevertheless, red blood cells are composed of comparable proportions of long-chain n-3 PUFA to populations consuming higher amounts of this fatty acid group.
在 20 世纪，土地限制的增加和牲畜与人类比例的降低导致马赛人过着更加久坐不动、以市场为导向的生活方式。尽管植物性食物现在在他们的饮食中占很大比重，但乳制品富含饱和脂肪酸（SFA），而多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFA）含量低，仍然是重要的能量来源。由于有关马赛人饮食的可靠数据可追溯到 20 世纪 80 年代，因此本研究的目的是记录肯尼亚马赛社区当前的饮食实践，并研究饮食和红细胞中脂肪酸的分布。
在肯尼亚卡贾多区卢多基拉尼的 26 名马赛人（20 名女性，6 名男性）中进行了横断面研究。通过 24 小时回忆，由受试者描述食物摄入量，同时分析食物和血液样本。
牛奶和乌加利两种主要食物构成了该地区马赛人的饮食。每人每天要消耗 0.9 升牛奶和 0.6 公斤乌加利，以产生每人每天 7.6 兆焦耳的能量摄入。摄入的主要食物中，有 58.3%来自植物，占总膳食能量（en%）的 58.3%，其次是乳制品，占 41.1%。消耗的脂肪（30.5%）中 SFA（63.8%）含量高，PUFA（9.2%）含量低。长链 n-3 PUFA（EPA、DPA 和 DHA）仅占摄入脂肪酸的 0.15%，但占红细胞脂肪酸的 5.9%。
该研究表明，马赛人的饮食富含 SFA，而 PUFA 含量低。然而，与摄入大量这种脂肪酸的人群相比，红细胞中长链 n-3 PUFA 的比例相当。
