Prevalent Low Thiamine Status Among Adults Living in Seoul Metropolitan Area (South Korea)

Abstract

Abstract. The thiamine status of South Korean people has not been recently reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine thiamine intake and status of Korean adults based on a biochemical index. Three consecutive 24-h food recalls and morning first-urine samples were obtained from 143 healthy adults (65 men and 78 women), aged 20–64 years, living in Seoul metropolitan area, Korea. Daily dietary thiamine intake of men and women was 1.42 ± 0.37 mg and 1.18 ± 0.24 mg, respectively. Only 9.1% of the subjects consumed less total thiamine (dietary plus supplemental thiamine) than the estimated average requirement for Koreans. The top 10 major dietary thiamine sources were pork, polished rice, ramyeon (Korean instant noodles), baechukimchi (Chinese cabbage), mandarin oranges, chicken, cow’s milk, bread, beef, and potatoes. Those top 10 foods provided 57.85% of the subjects’ dietary thiamine intake and the top 30 food sources provided 77.23% of their dietary thiamine intake. Urinary thiamine excretions for men and women were 37.20 ± 26.54 and 39.09 ± 28.80 μg/g creatinine, respectively. Urinary thiamine excretion was positively correlated with total thiamine intake (r = 0.3349, p < 0.0001). Approximately 40% of the subjects had urinary thiamine excretion < 27 μg/g creatinine, indicating thiamine deficiency. In conclusion, thiamine intake among Korean adults in this study was generally adequate, but there was a high prevalence of a low thiamine status. Further study is required to explain the incongruity of adequate intake and low thiamine status thiamine in the South Korean population.