Only limited information is available on the nutrition knowledge of the general Austrian population and how this relates to the nutrition knowledge of health professionals (medical doctors, ...pharmacists, nutritionist, dieticians) and school teachers.
Adolescents and adults at the age of 14-75 years (
= 1000), medical doctors (
= 307), pharmacists (
= 295), nutritionists (
= 124), dieticians (
= 160) and school teachers (
= 873) completed an online survey using a German version of the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire-Revised (GNKQ-R) including self-reported data on sex, age, BMI, and health status. Adolescent and adult participants were recruited by a research agency to be representative for the Austrian population for age, sex, and education. A convenience sample was used for health professionals (medical doctors, pharmacists, nutritionist, dieticians) and school teachers. All participants completed a computer-assisted web-based interviewing (CAWI) survey.
Total scores for nutrition knowledge of the general population (61.4%) were significantly lower than scores from all other groups (medical doctors 81.3%, pharmacists 83.0%, dieticians 87.5%, nutritionists 85.6%, school teachers 74.5%). The main drivers for better nutritional knowledge were female sex, higher age, and higher level of education, while BMI classification and self-reported health status had no impact. In regard to single questions, the most striking result was the misclassification of sugar as the nutrient with the most calories by 41.4% of the general population while only 29.0% correctly identified fat to be the nutrient with the most calories.
The nutritional knowledge of the general population should be significantly improved in order to lay a basis for better dietary behavior. In view of the relatively low scores of teachers, their nutrition education should be improved in order to enable transfer of sound education in schools.
We show how series expansions of functions of bosonic number operators are naturally derived from finite-difference calculus.
The scheme employs Newton series rather than Taylor series known from ...differential calculus, and also works in cases where the Taylor expansion fails.
For a function of number operators, such an expansion is automatically normal ordered.
Applied to the Holstein-Primakoff representation of spins, the scheme yields an exact series expansion with a finite number of terms
and, in addition, allows for a systematic expansion of the spin operators that respects the spin commutation relations within a truncated part of the full Hilbert space.
Furthermore, the Newton series expansion strongly facilitates the calculation of expectation values with respect to coherent states.
As a third example, we show that factorial moments and factorial cumulants arising in the context of photon or electron counting are a natural consequence of Newton series expansions.
Finally, we elucidate the connection between normal ordering, Taylor and Newton series by determining a corresponding integral transformation, which is related to the Mellin transform.
Phthalates are a class of chemicals widely used as plasticisers in a multitude of common consumer products. Through contact with such products, people are regularly exposed to phthalates, which are ...suspected to contribute to adverse health effects, particularly in the reproductive system.
In the present study, 14 urinary phthalate metabolites of 10 parent phthalates were analysed by HPLC–MS/MS among the Austrian population aged 6–15 and 18–81 years in order to assess phthalate exposure. In the total study population, ranges of urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations were n.d.–2,105μg/l (median 25μg/l) for monoethyl phthalate (MEP), n.d.–88μg/l (10μg/l) for mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), n.d.–248μg/l (28μg/l) for mono-isobutyl phthalate (MiBP), n.d.–57μg/l (1.8μg/l) for mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP), n.d.–20μg/l (n.d.) for mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), n.d.–80μg/l (2.6μg/l) for mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (5OH-MEHP), n.d.–57μg/l (1.9μg/l) for mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (5oxo-MEHP), n.d.–219μg/l (11μg/l) for mono-(5-carboxy-2-ethylpentyl) phthalate (5cx-MEPP), n.d.–188μg/l (1.6μg/l) for 3-carboxy-mono-proply phthalate (3cx-MPP), n.d.–5.5μg/l (n.d.) for mono-cyclohexyl phthalate (MCHP), n.d.–4.5μg/l (n.d.) for mono-n-pentyl phthalate (MnPeP), n.d.–3.4μg/l (n.d.) for mono-n-octyl phthalate (MnOP), n.d.–13μg/l (n.d.) for mono-isononyl phthalate (MiNP), and n.d.–1.1μg/l (n.d.) for mono-isodecyl phthalate (MiDP). Generally, children exhibited higher levels of exposure to the majority of investigated phthalates, except to MEP, which was found in higher concentrations in adults and senior citizens at a maximum concentration of 2,105μg/l. Individual daily intakes were estimated based on urinary creatinine and urinary volume excretion and were then compared to acceptable exposure levels, leading to the identification of exceedances of mainly the Tolerable Daily Intakes (TDI), especially among children. The execution of a cumulative risk assessment based on Hazard Indices showed cause for concern mainly for children, as well as in rare cases for adults.
Although phthalate exposure seems to have decreased in previous years, the wide distribution and existing exceedances of acceptable levels indicate that phthalate exposure should be further monitored in order to identify exposure sources and enable appropriate minimisation measures.
Food legislation in the European Union and elsewhere includes both hazard- and risk-based approaches for ensuring safety. In hazard-based approaches, simply the presence of a potentially harmful ...agent at a detectable level in food is used as a basis for legislation and/or risk management action. Risk-based approaches allow consideration of exposure in assessing whether there may be unacceptable risks to health.
The advantages and disadvantages of hazard- and risk-based approaches for ensuring the safety of food chemicals, allergens, ingredients and microorganisms were explored at an ILSI Europe workshop.
It was concluded that both types of approach have their place, depending on the context. However, problems can arise when both types of approach are used in regulation by separate agencies that address different aspects of the same agent/substance present in food. This separation of decision-making can result in hazard-based restrictions on marketing and use, whereas risk-based assessments for those exposed show there is reasonable certainty no harm will result. This in turn can lead to contradictory, confusing and ultimately unnecessary actions. Use of hazard-based approaches for foods also means that comparisons with benefits for nutrition and food security cannot be undertaken. This has the potential to lead to bias in the overall conclusions of regulators and risk managers, who may not have been presented with the benefits of particular foods. The value of risk-based approaches is becoming increasingly recognised.
•Food safety legislation includes both hazard-based and risk-based approaches.•Advantages and disadvantages of hazard- and risk-based approaches are discussed.•Hazard-based approaches can be useful in some contexts.•Risk-based approaches are more widely used and their value is well recognised.•Separation of hazard- and risk-based assessment can lead to contradictory actions.
Portion sizes of meals have been becoming progressively larger which contributes to the onset of obesity. So far, little research has been done on the influence of body weight on portion size ...preferences. Therefore, we assessed whether Body Mass Index (BMI), as well as other selected factors, contribute to the estimation of food portions weight and the subjective perception of portion sizes. Through online questionnaires, the participants were asked to estimate the weight of pictured foods in the first study. In the second study, the participants indicated how the depicted varying portion sizes of different meals relate to their actual consumed real-life portion sizes. A total of 725 and 436 individuals were included in the statistical analysis in the first and second study, respectively. BMI and gender had a small effect on the capacity to estimate the weight of foods. The main predictor for portion size choices was the factor gender with men estimating ideal portion sizes as larger than women. Further, age and hunger together with external and restrictive eating behaviors were among the deciding factors for portion size choices. As expected, externally motivated eaters chose bigger portions while restrictive individual smaller ones. Gender- and age-related differences in portion size preferences likely reflect distinct energy requirements. The individuals with a higher BMI do not differ strongly from other BMI groups in their portion-related preferences. Therefore, other factors such as meal frequency, snacking, or a lifestyle, may contribute more to the onset, development, and maintenance of overweight.
Periodic fasting (PF) is an increasingly popular approach that assists in the management of metabolic and inflammatory diseases as well as in preventing mechanisms involved in aging. However, little ...is known about the effects of fasting on gut microbiota and its impact on the epigenetic regulation of metabolically relevant enzymes, especially sirtuins (SIRTs). We analyzed the effect of periodic fasting on the human gut microbiota, SIRTs expression, and mitochondrial content in 51 males and females. The participants fasted under supervision for five consecutive days following the Buchinger fasting guidelines. Ketogenesis, selected mRNAs, miRNAs, mitochondrial (mt) DNA, and gut composition were analyzed before and after PF. PF triggered a significant switch in metabolism, as indicated by the increase in ß-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase isoform 4 (
expression in the capillary blood. MtDNA,
,
, and
expression in blood cells were elevated, whereas
and
were not affected. Following fasting, gut microbiota diversity increased, and a statistically significant correlation between
gene expression and the abundance of
and
was detected. The abundance of longevity related
species increased after fasting and inversely correlated with age as well as body mass index (BMI). Thus, this represents the first study that showing that fasting not only changes the composition of the gut microbiota, making it more diverse, but also affects SIRT expression in humans.
Caloric restriction (CR) is a traditional but scientifically verified approach to promoting health and increasing lifespan. CR exerts its effects through multiple molecular pathways that trigger ...major metabolic adaptations. It influences key nutrient and energy-sensing pathways including mammalian target of rapamycin, Sirtuin 1, AMP-activated protein kinase, and insulin signaling, ultimately resulting in reductions in basic metabolic rate, inflammation, and oxidative stress, as well as increased autophagy and mitochondrial efficiency. CR shares multiple overlapping pathways with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), particularly in energy metabolism and inflammation. Consequently, several lines of evidence suggest that PPARs might be indispensable for beneficial outcomes related to CR. In this review, we present the available evidence for the interconnection between CR and PPARs, highlighting their shared pathways and analyzing their interaction. We also discuss the possible contributions of PPARs to the effects of CR on whole organism outcomes.
Non-enzymatic browning reactions between lipid aldehydes and aminophospholipids might play an important role in the oxidative stability of cold-pressed vegetable oils. We, therefore, aimed to study ...the Maillard-type reaction between hexanal, a lipid oxidation product of linoleic acid, and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE (16:0/18:1)) at a ratio of 2:1 at conditions representative of the extraction of cold-pressed soybean oils (CPSBO) and determine the radical scavenging activity of the carbonyl-amine adducts with the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The reaction product, 2-pentyl-3,5-dibutyl-dihydropyridine, could be identified by means of LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS. The formation of this nitrogen-containing heterocycle significantly increased with time and temperature (
< 0.05). The products formed during the carbonyl-amine reaction between PE (16:0/18:1) and hexanal at 60 °C showed a radical scavenging activity of approximately 20% (
< 0.05). The fraction, containing 2-pentyl-3,5-dibutyl-dihydropyridine, contributed to, but was not solely responsible for, the radical scavenging activity (
< 0.05). Incubation of CPSBO fortified with PE (16:0/18:1) at 60 °C for 60 min had the strongest radical scavenging activity of 85.1 ± 0.62%. Besides 2-pentyl-3,5-dibutyl-dihydropyridine, other carbonyl-amine adducts might impact the radical scavenging activity of CPSBO as well. The oxidative stability of CPSBO might be increased by promoting the formation of carbonyl-amine reaction products, such as 2-pentyl-3,5-dibutyl-dihydropyridine.
The capacity of microbiota to produce medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) and related consequences for the gastrointestinal (GI) tract have never been reported before. We verified the impact of ...nutrition-related factors on fatty acid (FAs) production and found that caloric restriction decreased levels of most of MCFAs in the mouse cecum, whereas overnight fasting reduced the levels of acetate and butyrate but increased propionate and laurate. A diet high in soluble fibre boosted the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and caproate whereas a high-cellulose diet did not have an effect or decreased the levels of some of the FAs. Rectal infusion of caprylate resulted in its rapid metabolism for energy production. Repeated 10-day MCFA infusion impacted epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT) weight and lipid accumulation. Repeated infusion of caprylate rectally tended to increase the concentration of active ghrelin in mice plasma; however, this increase was not statistically significant. In Caco-2 cells, caprylate increased the expression of Fabp2, Pdk4, Tlr3, and Gpr40 genes as well as counteracted TNFα-triggered downregulation of Pparγ, Occludin, and Zonulin mRNA expression. In conclusion, we show that colonic MCFAs can be rapidly utilized as a source of energy or stored as a lipid supply. Further, locally produced caprylate may impact metabolism and inflammatory parameters in the colon.
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