Assessment of hormonal and metabolic effects of dietary fiber in young Thai women.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether daily dietary fiber intake at the reference level has any impact on studied hormones in a population of Thai women. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Twenty-eight healthy Thai women (aged 18-20 years, BMI 18.5-25 kg/m2) with a history of regular menstrual cycles committed themselves to prepared food without changing the usual ratio of three major macronutrients. Dietary fiber from natural source at the amount of 8-10 g/day equal to their regular consumption was added to their daily diet for one menstrual cycle, then, increased to be 25-30 g/day for another 2 successive cycles. A single blood sample on midluteal day (day 18-23) was obtained in all three cycles. Plasma luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, prolactin, estradiol, progesterone, cortisol, and insulin together with total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were analyzed. RESULTS: The measured hormones and lipids did not change significantly when compared between a control and two experimental cycles (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Short-term consumption of 25-30 g/day fiber diet as recommended by the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) in a Thai population did not alter the studied hormones and lipids thus did not create any health problems.

Energy and nutrients intake of Thai active duty army personnel at the Army Special Warfare Command Unit.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the daily energy and nutrient intake of the active duty army personnel at the Army Special Warfare Command (SWC) Unit during home stations. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was carried out at the SWC unit in Lopburi province, Central region of Thailand. One hundred and eight personnel, who were at home stations, volunteered for participation in the present study. Three-day food records were used for evaluating nutrient intakes. Dietary data were analysed using the Nutritionist III programme and expressed as mean and standard deviation. RESULTS: All 108 active duty army personnel were men with the mean age of 37.0 years (SD 7.4). The mean actual energy intake was 2,304 kcal/day (SD 645), which accounted for 109% of Dietary Reference Intake for Thais (DRI). Most mean intakes of vitamins and minerals were above DRI levels, including vitamin A, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin C, and iron. However, their average intakes of vitamin B1 and calcium were lower. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated the undesirable intake patterns which may become significant when intakes occur routinely or extend to longer periods and can adversely affect military readiness as well as health. Further improvements in dietary intake for these personnel are needed.