USE OF WEIGHED DIET RECORDS IN THE EVALUATION OF DIETS WITH DIFFERENTPROTEIN CONTENTS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE-2 DIABETES

Compliance with diets containing different amounts of protein was stud ied in 15 nonobese type 2 diabetes patients (13 males aged 38-69 y). A method based on interviews and training in the technique of weighed d iet records was used. Protein intake recorded by the patients was eval uated on the basis of 24-h nitrogen output (criterion standard measure ment). Three diets were prescribed in random order, each lasting 4 wk: usual diet (UD), chicken diet (CD) (both with 1.2-1.5 g protein/kg bo dy wt), and low-protein diet (LPD; with 0.5-0.8 g protein/kg body wt). Diets were isoenergetic and similar in fat content. Nutritional statu s was not altered during the study according to anthropometric indexes (body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness, midupper arm muscle are a, and waist-to-hip ratio) and laboratory data (serum albumin, hematoc rit, and lymphocyte values). The correlation of protein intake recorde d on the weighed diet records with that estimated by nitrogen output w as 0.64 for the UD (P = 0.01), 0.79 for the CD (P < 0.001), and 0.66 f or the LPD (P = 0.008). No difference was found in mean protein intake (g/kg body wt) calculated from the weighed diet records and nitrogen output for the UD (1.37 compared with 1.36 g/kg body wt) and CD (1.38 compared with 1.32 g/kg body wt). With the LPD, patients did not consu me more protein than prescribed, but underreported their actual protei n intake by 13% (0.68 compared with 0.78 g/kg body wt, P < 0.05). In c onclusion, the method of weighed diet records was sufficiently accurat e for assessing protein intake in this sample of type 2 diabetes patie nts.