Folic Acid, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid and Vitamin B12in Human Dietaries

Abstract

Adequate "high cost" and adequate "low cost" diets were designed according to food plans published by the Bureau of Human Nutrition and a "poor" diet was selected from data compiled in the Vanderbilt Cooperative Study of Maternal and Infant Nutrition. A one-week menu plan of each type of diet was prepared according to accepted cooking procedures. Representative homogenates of the entire day’s intake were analyzed for folic acid, vitamin B₆, pantothenic acid, and vitamin B₁₂ using microbiologic procedures. The results indicate daily intakes of "total" folic acid activity (Str. faecalis 29-21) ranging from 27 to 346 µg. The mean intakes were as follows: high cost, 193 µg.; low cost, 157 µg.; and "poor," 47 µg. The means and ranges of vitamin B₆ intake were as follows: high cost, 2 mg. (1.1 to 3.2 mg.); low cost, 2.7 mg. (1.6 to 3.6 mg); and "poor," 1 mg. (0.7 to 1.4 mg.). The mean and ranges of "total" pantothenic acid activity were high cost, 16.3 mg. (13.3 to 19.2 mg); low cost, 14.2 mg. (9.9 to 20.5 mg); and "poor," 6 mg. (5.2 to 7.2 mg.). The means and ranges of vitamin B₁₂ activity were: high cost, 31.6 µg. (4.1 to 85.5 µg.); low cost, 16 µg. (1.2 to 75.6 µg.); and poor, 2.7 µg. (1.1 to 8.1 µg.). These dietary levels are equal to or greater than the estimates of adult requirements as based on the relatively meager evidence available for vitamin B₆, pantothenic acid, folic acid, and vitamin B₁₂. They provide no support for a concept of widespread dietary lack of these factors. They afford an indication of the expected daily intake and, thereby, should offer some guide to a reasonable level of non-therapeutic supplementation for those who believe that such supplementation is desirable.