Results of screening assessment of nutritional value and amino acids content in the industrial workers diet

Abstract

To decrease the toxic effects of xenobiotics on healthy workers in healthful and dietary meals, it's important to consider not only the proper diet intake of macro- and micronutrients, but protein quality in terms of essential amino acids. A study was conducted to evaluate nutritional value and amino acids content in the industrial workers diets of two metallurgical enterprises by calculation and laboratory methods. We found that set of healthful and dietary meals at the calculation stage do not comply with regulatory requirements for fats and carbohydrates by 34 and 16 percent, respectively. According to laboratory tests, from 57 to 68 percent of sets of healthful and dietary meals do not comply with regulatory requirements for proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The discrepancy in the data on the amount of determined nutrients between the calculated and laboratory methods may be due to calculation errors, shortage and quality of raw materials, as well as a limitation of methods for determining fat and carbohydrates. With a set of healthful and dietary meals workers can satisfy the almost daily requirement for the corresponding energy expenditures for some amino acids, however, the required amount of these amino acids in workers in contact with heavy metals has not been established. It has also been found that in diets of healthful and dietary meals, the ratio of tryptophan / lysine /methionine + cystine is violated towards an excess of tryptophan, whose deamination products are highly toxic. It is necessary to continue further investigation of ready-made diets of healthful and dietary meals for nutritional value and amino acid content in order to identify factors affecting the discrepancy within research results between calculation and laboratory methods, as well as establish adequate norms for amino acids intake in workers exposed to toxic substances.