Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the intake of calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium and sodium with drinking water among 19-26 years old women, students at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW).
Material and methods: Data on intake of drinking water and food products were collected based on 4-day record method. Information about kind of water usage to prepare beverages and meals were obtained by using a specific questionnaire. Minerals concentrations in water samples were assessed using the atomic spectrophotometer absorption (ASA) technique.
Results: The average consumption of drinking water equaled 870 +/- 389 cm3/d (100-2738 cm3/d). The drinking water used by the women for meals or beverages preparation contributed in 9,8% of calcium and 3,8% of magnesium to their daily diet. Contribution of tap water in the intake of calcium and magnesium depended on the contents of these minerals in water, and amounted from 6,0% (< or = 68,3 mg calcium on dm3 water--1st quartile) to 14,8% (> 112 mg/dm3--4th quartile) for calcium and from 2,9% (< or = 10,9 mg/dm3) to 4,7% (> 15,4 mg/dm3) for magnesium. The contribution of iron, zinc, potassium and sodium was low, and not exceeded 2%. Comparing the average content of minerals in non-boiled and boiled tap water the cooking process influenced the levels of calcium (95,8 +/- 31,8 vs 89,7 +/- 31,1 mg/dm3), magnesium (12,1 +/- 3,24 vs. 12,7 +/- 3,04 mg/dm3), zinc (0,35 +/- 0,87 vs. 0,17 +/- 0,89 mg/dm3), potassium (3,31 +/- 2,67 vs. 3,66 +/- 4,18 mg/dm3) and sodium (23,2 +/- 15,4 vs. 25,9 +/- 17,2 mg/dm3). Nevertheless, from the nutritional point of view the differences in the concentrations of these minerals were insignificant. Conclusions. Drinking water can be an important source of calcium and magnesium in diet, wherein the amount of the supplied element depends on its content in drinking water used for preparing beverages and/or meals.