Dietary intake and sources of non-starch polysaccharide in English men and women.

Up-to-date information is unavailable on intakes of non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) in Britain. We surveyed 739 men aged 40-69 years and 976 women aged 25-69 years using a validated food-frequency questionnaire focused on carbohydrates. Mean NSP intake in the three decades of men was 15.5-16.4 g/day and in the five decades of women it was 14.3-15.3 g/day, with no clear effect of age. These NSP intakes are higher than those from a 1977 survey but well short of the recent government-recommended population mean of 18 g/day. However, nine people consumed over 32 g/day. The relative contribution of food groups to NSP intake varied with age and sex. Women obtained more NSP from raw fruit and salad, brown breads and breakfast cereals. Their preference for these foods probably explains why, overall, their NSP intakes were close to those of men. Younger people and men obtained relatively more of their NSP from potatoes cooked with fat and from pulses and less from raw fruit. The largest single source of soluble NSP was potatoes and half of this came from potatoes cooked with fat. In older women raw fruit and salad were equally important. Pulses provided about 10% of soluble NSP in younger women, cooked vegetables about 10% in older women. Increased potato consumption deserves attention as a means of obtaining the metabolic benefits of a high soluble NSP intake.