Dietary levels of vitamin E and polyunsaturated fatty acids and plasma vitamin E.

Seventeen daily diets (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) were analyzed from a 35-day menu cycle fed to students, under contract in the University dining halls. This 35-day menu cycle was repeated 6.6 times over the course of two 15-week semesters and registration and final examination periods. The average 2, 500 kcal diet collected during the sixth and seventh menu cycles contained 96 plus or minus 26 g fat of which 19.5 plus or minus 1.8% was linoleate and 28.7 plus or minus 14.2 mg total tocopherol of which 7.5 plus or minus 3.5 mg was RRR-alpha-tocopherol. Blood samples obtained from 26 female undergraduate student volunteers contained adequate levels of plasma total vitamin E, 1.09 plus or minus 0.25 mg/100 ml, despite the observation that 71% and 65% of the diets analyzed did not meet the value tabluated in the eighth edition of "Recommended Dietary Allowances" for adult females in terms of RRR-alpha-tocopherol or total vitamin E activity, respectively. These data emphasize the importance of the average long-term consumption of this fat-soluble vitamin rather than daily intake.