As the number of subjects choosing vegan diets increases, healthcare providers must be prepared to give the best advice to vegan patients during all stages of life. A completely plant-based diet is ...suitable during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, and childhood, provided that it is well-planned. Balanced vegan diets meet energy requirements on a wide variety of plant foods and pay attention to some nutrients that may be critical, such as protein, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc, iodine, calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. This paper contains recommendations made by a panel of experts from the Scientific Society for Vegetarian Nutrition (SSNV) after examining the available literature concerning vegan diets during pregnancy, breastfeeding, infancy, and childhood. All healthcare professionals should follow an approach based on the available evidence in regard to the issue of vegan diets, as failing to do so may compromise the nutritional status of vegan patients in these delicate periods of life.
When you are part of a community, especially a scientific one, you are required to contribute significantly to its welfare, because the community as a whole represents each individual within it and, ...in turn, determines the wellbeing of the participants themselves ....
•Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are chemo-radiotherapy resistant, causing tumor relapse.•CSCs are known to reside within specific hypoxic and acidic tumor niches.•Phytocompounds affect CSC self-renewal, ...metabolism and microenvironment.•Phytocompounds might be exploited for cancer prevention and treatment.
In the last decades cancer has been considered as an epigenetic dysfunction, given the profound role of diet and lifestyle in cancer prevention and the determination of cancer risk. A plethora of recent publications have addressed the specific role of several environmental factors, such as nutritional habits, behavior, stress and toxins in the regulation of the physiological and cancer epigenome. In particular, plant-derived bioactive nutrients have been seen to positively affect normal cell growth, proliferation and differentiation and also to revert cancer related epigenetic dysfunctions, reducing tumorigenesis, preventing metastasis and/or increasing chemo and radiotherapy efficacy. Moreover, virtually all cancer types are characterized by the presence of cancer stem cell (CSC) subpopulations, residing in specific hypoxic and acidic microenvironments, or niches, and these cells are currently considered responsible for tumor resistance to therapy and tumor relapse. Modern anti-cancer strategies should be designed to selectively target CSCs and modulate the hypoxic and acidic tumor microenvironment, and, to this end, natural bioactive components seem to play a role. This review aims to discuss the effects elicited by plant-derived bioactive nutrients in the regulation of CSC self-renewal, cancer metabolism and tumor microenvironment.
Abstract
It has been hypothesized that alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota might be associated with the onset of certain human pathologies, such as Alzheimer disease, a ...neurodegenerative syndrome associated with cerebral accumulation of amyloid-β fibrils. It has been shown that bacteria populating the gut microbiota can release significant amounts of amyloids and lipopolysaccharides, which might play a role in the modulation of signaling pathways and the production of proinflammatory cytokines related to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. Additionally, nutrients have been shown to affect the composition of the gut microbiota as well as the formation and aggregation of cerebral amyloid-β. This suggests that modulating the gut microbiome and amyloidogenesis through specific nutritional interventions might prove to be an effective strategy to prevent or reduce the risk of Alzheimer disease. This review examines the possible role of the gut in the dissemination of amyloids, the role of the gut microbiota in the regulation of the gut–brain axis, the potential amyloidogenic properties of gut bacteria, and the possible impact of nutrients on modulation of microbiota composition and amyloid formation in relation to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease.
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that nutritional habits, like those based on high consumption of fruits and vegetables, have been associated with a longer life expectancy and a significant ...decrease in the incidence and prevalence of several chronic diseases with inflammatory basis, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This beneficial activity has been related to the content of several bioactive compounds in fruit and vegetables, such as polyphenols. The cardioprotective effects of polyphenols have been linked mainly to its antioxidant properties; however, recent findings attribute its anti-atherosclerotic potential to modulate simultaneous signaling and mechanistic pathways. Emerging data suggest that polyphenols can regulate cellular lipid metabolism; vascular and endothelial function; haemostasis; as well as platelet function; which represent primary conditions for atherosclerotic plaque formation and development. This review presents the results of a selection of experimental studies and clinical trials regarding the atheroprotective effects of the most common dietary polyphenols.
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•Regular dietary intake of polyphenols reduces the risk of chronic diseases.•Polyphenols may modulate vascular and endothelial function.•Polyphenols may regulate platelet function.•Polyphenols can modulate the haemostatic system.•Polyphenols may be a novel pharmacological approach for cardiovascular diseases prevention.
The usefulness of a diet rich in vegetables and fruits on human health has been widely recognized: a high intake of antioxidant and bioactive compounds may in fact play a crucial role in the ...prevention of several diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and other chronic pathologies. The strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) possesses a remarkable nutritional composition in terms of micronutrients, such as minerals, vitamin C, and folates, and non-nutrient elements, such as phenolic compounds, that are essential for human health. Although strawberry phenolics are known mainly for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant actions, recent studies have demonstrated that their biological activities also spread to other pathways involved in cellular metabolism and cellular survival. This paper has the main objective of reviewing current information about the potential mechanisms involved in the effects elicited by strawberry polyphenols on human health, devoting special attention to the latest findings.
Strawberries are a common and important fruit in the Mediterranean diet because of their high content of essential nutrients and beneficial phytochemicals, which seem to have relevant biological ...activity in human health. Among these phytochemicals, anthocyanin and ellagitannins are the major antioxidant compounds. Although individual phytochemical constituents of strawberries have been studied for their biological activities, human intervention studies using whole fruits are still lacking. Here, the nutritional contribution and phytochemical composition of the strawberry are reviewed, as is the role played by the maturity, genotype, and storage effects on this fruit. Specific attention is focused on fruit absorption, metabolism, and the possible beneficial biological activity on human health.
As many diseases have been shown to have several or indirect causes (i.e. are multifactorial) the question is what is the relative importance of each factor in a given disease? Also, what happens ...when some diseases, although apparently disparate, share causative factors and/or tissue pathologies? Host inflammation response mechanisms are largely shared by the body’s different tissues and systems and only recently has special attention been paid to the possible linkages among chronic periodontitis and other chronic systemic diseases. The aim of this review was to consider and discuss the mounting evidence that the basis for the inter‐relationships between chronic periodontitis and atheromatous disease and diabetes lie at a fundamental intracellular level, namely oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, as a meeting background among such chronic diseases and periodontitis.
Honey is a natural substance appreciated for its therapeutic abilities since ancient times. Its content in flavonoids and phenolic acids plays a key role on human health, thanks to the high ...antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that they exert. Honey possesses antimicrobial capacity and anticancer activity against different types of tumors, acting on different molecular pathways that are involved on cellular proliferation. In addition, an antidiabetic activity has also been highlighted, with the reduction of glucose, fructosamine, and glycosylated hemoglobin serum concentration. Honey exerts also a protective effect in the cardiovascular system, where it mainly prevents the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins, in the nervous system, in the respiratory system against asthma and bacterial infections, and in the gastrointestinal system. A beneficial effect of honey can also be demonstrated in athletes. The purpose of this review is to summarize and update the current information regarding the role of honey in health and diseases.
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