American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 63, 991S-993S, Copyright © 1996 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

REVIEW ARTICLES

Fatty acid-related functions

J Dupont, BJ Holub, HR Knapp and M Meydani
Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.

The first recommendations for specific nutrient quantities that must be obtained to support health were made by the US Department of Agriculture before 1939. Hazel Stiebeling was the leader of this effort and the scientific background was published in the Yearbook of Agriculture. The recommendations clearly stated that food must be available to provide the nutrients to support health. The science of nutrition in the United States is engaged in the most thorough review and reexamination of the recommended dietary allowances in at least a generation of nutrition scientists. There is a new awareness of nutrition complexity and the likelihood of identification of new essential nutrients. This meeting was devoted to the search for functional endpoints to reach quantitative estimates of dietary substances needed to support a function. Included in that concept is determining a range of individual needs and identifying factors that alter these needs. We give the rationale for endpoints of fatty acid metabolism related to platelets and the risk of thrombosis, give the rationale for the recommendation for a new nutrient, and show the necessity for including nutrient interaction in the determination of needs for two nutrients.