Seafood (wild and farmed) for the elderly: contribution to the dietary intakes of iodine, selenium, DHA and vitamins B12 and D.

A large body of published data was analyzed to determine the concentrations of DHA, vitamins B12 and D, iodine, selenium in seafood (finfish and shellfish, wild and farmed, seawater and freshwater). The data on apparent consumption per inhabitant were taken from statistics prepared by OFIMER. This was used to determine the mean consumption of the main products of seafood in France in 2004 and the mean intakes of people aged 65 years and over. Not enough seafood is consumed by older people, according to the French recommended dietary allowances (french RDA), seafood provides 25% of the vitamin D RDA, 56% of the vitamin B12 RDA, 28% of iodine RDA, 23% of selenium RDA and 203% of DHA french RDA. For DHA, mean intake is aprox. 100% of international RDA. Seafood is the only class of food that provides major fractions of all these elements. We therefore recommend that older people increase their consumption of seafood to counteract the potential problems due to the low concentrations of these elements in their usual diets; this could overcome a potentially major public health problem. All elderly people would benefit from an increased intake of vitamin D and B12, iodine and selenium. Although some segments of the population seem not to lack DHA, others, such as those whose socio-economic positions or life styles restrict their seafood intakes, would benefit greatly from an increased intake of this omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid.