3.1. Healthy Older Men Have Suboptimal to Optimal Micronutrient Intake and Vitamin Biomarker Status
vitamin deficiencies
VITAMIN DEFICIENCIES, NA DEFICIENCY
Initially, 63 older men met the screening criteria, and of those, 41 were enrolled in the study; 35 study participants completed the study (Although diet composition was not a part of the enrollment criteria or the primary outcome of the study, a dietary assessment was performed during the study to survey eating patterns. Not surprisingly, many of the participants had intakes of several micronutrients that did not meet the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for older adults (However, the use of dietary recall is notoriously problematic [At enrollment, vitamin deficiencies in this cohort were exceptionally rare (No participants from either group had blood concentrations of calcium, copper, magnesium, or zinc that would constitute a deficiency. Because suboptimal concentrations of these minerals are poorly defined, the assessment of suboptimal status was not performed.