Table 2 Dietary intake and RBC membrane composition of sarcopenic older adults

Dietary intake through food records

Recommended dietary intake [41]

 Energy (kcal/d)

1894.73 (340.81)

1808.45 (336.31)

2086.47 (279.19)

0.040^*

17.99

♀&♂:30 kcal/kg body weight/d

 Protein (E%)

14.83 [13.45–17.01]

15.35[13.55–17.67]

14.71 [13.45–15.30]

0.306

19.67

♀&♂: > 15%

 Total carbohydrate (E%)

46.01 [38.64–48.15]

46.56 [39.09–48.72]

45.94 [38.64–46.06]

0.905

14.84

♀&♂: 50–55%

 Total fat (E%)

34.34 (5.67)

34.55 (5.75)

33.86 (5.80)

0.769

16.50

♀&♂: > 20% but < 30–35%

 Saturated fatty acids (g/d)

25.55 [21.29–37.16]

24.76 [20.38–33.21]

36.17 [23.48–38.20]

0.248

37.20

♀: < 22 g/d; ♂: < 28 g/d

 Monounsaturated fatty acids [MUFA’s] (g/d)

23.76 [20.10–31.19]

22.47 [19.18–28.92]

26.94 [23.17–32.72]

0.724

35.34

♀:22-44 g/d; ♂:28-55 g/d

 Polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFA’s] (g/d)

10.44 [8.52–14.41]

9.92 [7.88–14.65]

11.61 [8.52–13.59]

0.773

43.91

♀:11-22 g/d; ♂:14-28 g/d

 Omega-3 PUFAs

  Total Omega-3 (g/d)

1.99 (0.99)

1.94 (0.91)

2.11 (1.21)

0.675

49.77

♀: 2.2–4.4 g/d; ♂: 2.8–5.6 g/d

  ALA (g/d)

1.62 (0.90)

1.61 (0.84)

1.65 (1.07)

0.920

55.28

♀: 2.2 g/d; ♂: 2.8 g/d

  EPA (g/d)

0.03 [0.02–0.15]

0.03 [0.02–0.09]

0.12 [0.03–0.25]

0.083

117.21

  DHA (g/d)

0.08 [0.04–0.16]

0.08 [0.04–0.13]

0.12 [0.07–0.24]

0.182

82.41

  Total EPA + DHA (g/d)

0.11 [0.07–0.36]

0.11 [0.06–0.26]

0.27 [0.08–0.42]

0.104

93.66

♀&♂: 0.250–0.500 g/d

 Omega-6 PUFAs

  Total Omega-6 (g/d)

8.80 [6.16–11.34]

8.82 [6.05–11.39]

7.38 [6.55–10.64]

0.950

46.85

♀: 8.8–18.0 g/d; ♂: 11.0–22.0 g/d

  Total LA (g/d)

7.60 [5.96–10.49]

7.74 [5.61–10.34]

6.90 [6.55–10.49]

0.965

48.90

♀: 8.8 g/d; ♂: 11.0 g/d

PUFAs status through RBC fatty acids composition

Laboratory reference values [47]

 Omega-3 PUFAs

  RBC ALA (%)

0.18 (0.05)

0.19 (0.06)

0.15 (0.04)

0.078

31.00

0.08–0.40%

  RBC DPA (%)

3.13 (0.36)

3.13 (0.33)

3.15 (0.46)

0.895

11.57

1.70–5.10%

  RBC EPA (%)

1.05 [0.83–1.31]

1.00 [0.81–1.35]

1.13 [1.00–1.31]

0.636

34.94

0.29–4.30%

  RBC DHA (%)

5.40 (0.85)

5.28 (0.96)

5.65 (0.48)

0.294

15.71

2.25–8.72%

  RBC Omega-3 index

6.54 (1.12)

6.40 (1.25)

6.84 (0.70)

0.335

17.11

2.66–12.20

 Omega-6 PUFAs

  RBC LA (%)

10.23 (1.61)

10.42 (1.87)

9.80 (0.70)

0.351

15.72

7.81–18.10%

  RBC GLA (%)

0.09 (0.04)

0.10 (0.03)

0.07 (0.04)

0.044^*

43.14

0.00–0.26%

  RBC AA (%)

15.45 (1.16)

15.46 (1.24)

15.42 (1.05)

0.935

7.53

10.11–19.00%

  RBC DGLA (%)

1.59 [1.47–2.01]

1.59 [1.40–1.99]

1.60 [1.50–2.02]

0.733

24.93

0.93–2.90%