Increasing intakes of vegetables are associated with risk reduction in various non-communicable diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. In order to compare the proportion of daily vegetable ...intake among adults from these 30 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries as well as Japan, we applied data from the OECD website and the 2017 National Health and Nutrition Survey, Japan (NHNS-J). The figures for Australia, Israel, Korea, New Zealand, and the United States exceeded 80%, where survey questions in these countries asked the amount of intake, instead of the frequency of intake. In Japan, results from the one-day dietary record showed that 99.2% of adults consumed vegetables on the survey day; however, this decreased to 66.3% when assessed by a qualitative question. Proportion of daily vegetable intake as well as average intake amount was higher among those aged 60 y or older. Health policies to increase vegetable intake should target younger age groups to promote health in future generations, in Japan.
The improvement of the social and economic conditions of society has eliminated the threat of death from the majority of infectious diseases. However, the rapid progress of civilization has created ...new possibilities for the appearance of factors with adverse effects for the health of society. This has led to increased morbidity from certain diseases, the presence of which had not been observed several centuries ago. Chronic noncommunicable diseases (e.g., cancers, cardio-vascular disorders, diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases) result from an inappropriate relationship between people and their environment. The common characteristic for all chronic diseases is a "new" form of inflammation, very often called metaflammation, which is considered as a subclinical, permanent inflammation. As a result, metabolic cascade, including cellular oxidative stress, atherosclerotic process, and insulin resistance, occurs, which slowly generates significant deterioration in the organism. Polyphenols are the major group of non-nutrients, considering their diversity, food occurrence, and biological properties. The current review aims to present a wide spectrum of literature data, including the molecular mechanism of their activity and experimental model used, and summarize the recent findings on the multitude of physiological effects of dietary polyphenols towards the prevention of several chronic diseases. However, despite several studies, the estimation of their dietary intake is troublesome and inconclusive, which will be also discussed.
BackgroundFour modelling approaches are commonly used to adjust for overall energy intake when seeking to estimate the causal effect of an individual dietary component on an outcome; (1) the ...‘standard model’ adjusts for total energy intake, (2) the ‘energy partition model’ adjusts for remaining energy intake, (3) the ‘nutrient density model’ examines the exposure as a proportion of total energy, and (4) the ‘residual model’ indirectly adjusts for total energy by using the residual from regressing the exposure nutrient on total energy intake. Unfortunately, it remains underappreciated that each approach evaluates a different causal effect estimand and only partially accounts for confounding by common causes of dietary intake and composition.MethodsSemi-parametric directed acyclic graphs and Monte Carlo simulations were used to identify the estimand implied by each approach and the correct interpretation of the model results. The performance of each model for estimating the corresponding target estimand was explored both in the absence and presence of confounding that acts through diet. An alternative approach based on the energy partition model that simultaneously adjusts for all competing dietary components, termed the ‘all-components model’, was also explored and compared with the four traditional approaches. This model involves using the weighted coefficients of different dietary components to estimate any desired causal effect estimand.ResultsThe ‘standard model’ and the mathematically identical ‘residual model’ both estimate the average relative causal effect (i.e. a ‘substitution’ effect) but provide biased estimates even in the absence of any confounding. The ‘energy partition model’, that adjusts for remaining energy intake, estimates the total causal effect (i.e. an ‘additive’ effect) but only provides unbiased estimates in the absence of confounding or when all individual nutrients have equal effects on the outcome. The ‘nutrient density model’ does not target a causally meaningful estimand but can provide extremely biased estimates of the average relative causal effect of the exposure rescaled as a percentage of total energy intake. Accurate estimates of both the total and average relative causal effects were obtained with the ‘all-components model’.ConclusionOnly the ‘all-components model’ produces unbiased estimates of different causal effects. Lack of awareness of the estimand differences and accuracy of the different modelling approaches may explain some of the apparent heterogeneity among existing nutritional studies. Serious questions may be raised regarding the validity of meta-analyses where different strategies returning different estimands have been inappropriately pooled.
Several bacterial species associated with the human gut and with fermented foods produce menaquinones (MK-n; vitamin K2) as part of their energy metabolism. Given that MK-n offer multiple health ...benefits to humans, research into this topic is of increasing interest.
To outline the current understanding of bacterial MK-n production and how it relates to the gut microbiota, food fermentation, the production of dietary supplements, and health.
In bacteria, MK-n display various functions in addition to their chief role in energy production, including a role in defense mechanisms, the sensing of environmental changes, the reduction of metals, sporulation, and pathogenicity. In humans, they are relevant for health beyond the effects of phylloquinones (vitamin K1), which are primarily related to blood coagulation, as they seem to be more effective extrahepatically, impacting on cardiovascular and bone health and protecting against non-communicable diseases. While the contribution of gut microbiota to the human vitamin K budget remains unclear, more is known about fermented foods. Some fermented foods from either plant (e.g., sauerkraut and natto) or animal origin (e.g., cheese) are valuable sources of MK-n, even compared to non-fermented animal source foods, which only contain limited amounts of one specific form (MK-4). Bacillus subtilis, commonly used in the production of natto, is the most employed microorganism at industrial level for the production of dietary MK-7 supplements, a process which can be optimized by selecting the appropriate fermentation parameters.
•In bacteria, MK-n have various functions in addition to their chief role in energy production.•In humans, vitamin K2 exerts various health-related benefits, broader so than K1.•The contribution of gut bacteria to vitamin K2 intake is less clear than for fermented foods.•Based on the bacteria involved, fermented foods provide different vitamin K2 forms.•Bacillus subtilis is used for the industrial production of dietary MK-7 supplements.
Objective: To compare dietary intakes between LGBTQ + and non-LGBTQ + college students. Participants: Participants were LGBTQ+ (n = 92) and non-LGBTQ+ (n = 491) college students. Methods: The 26-item ...Dietary Screener Questionnaire assessed intakes of added sugars, fiber, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy, and calcium. Percentage of participants meeting Dietary Guidelines for Americans were also computed. Multivariate ANCOVA assessed differences in dietary intake. Chi-square analyses assessed differences in proportions of LGBTQ + and non-LGBTQ + students meeting recommendations. Results: LGBTQ + students reported lower intakes of fiber, whole grains, fruit, and fruits and vegetables both including and excluding French fries (all p < 0.05). Fewer LGBTQ + students met recommendations for fruit (5.7%) compared to their non-LGBTQ + counterparts (14.2%; p = .03). Conclusions: LGBTQ + students report poorer indices of diet quality compared to non-LGBTQ + students. Health promotion programming efforts to improve these outcomes may need to be tailored differently for students who identify as LGBTQ+.
Self-reported dietary intake is assessed by methods of real-time recording (food diaries and the duplicate portion method) and methods of recall (dietary histories, food frequency questionnaires, and ...24-hour dietary recalls). Being less labor intensive, recall methods are more frequently employed in nutritional epidemiological investigations. However, sources of error, which include the participants' inability to fully and accurately recall their intakes as well as limitations inherent in the food composition databases applied to convert the reported food consumption to energy and nutrient intakes, may limit the validity of the generated information. The use of dietary biomarkers is often recommended to overcome such errors and better capture intra-individual variability in intake; nevertheless, it has its own challenges. To address measurement error associated with dietary questionnaires, large epidemiological investigations often integrate sub-studies for the validation and calibration of the questionnaires and/or administer a combination of different assessment methods (e.g. administration of different questionnaires and assessment of biomarker levels). Recent advances in the omics field could enrich the list of reliable nutrition biomarkers, whereas new approaches employing web-based and smart phone applications could reduce respondent burden and, possibly, reporting bias. Novel technologies are increasingly integrated with traditional methods, but some sources of error still remain. In the analyses, food and nutrient intakes always need to be adjusted for total daily energy intake to account for errors related to reporting.
Parents' attempt to limit or restrict children's intake of ‘unhealthy’ or discretionary foods has been widely considered as a counterproductive feeding practice associated with poorer dietary ...outcomes, but empirical evidence is varied.
The present systematic literature review aimed to investigate the association between parental restriction and children's dietary intake.
Studies were identified through PsycInfo, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus databases on April 29th, 2022. Included were peer-reviewed, English-language articles published between 2001 and 2022, with an effect size between restriction and children's intake of foods that are ‘healthy’ (i.e., fruit, vegetables, other general healthy foods) or ‘discretionary’ (i.e., sweet or savoury energy-dense/nutrient poor foods, high-sugar foods, high-salt/fat foods, and high-energy/sugar-sweetened beverages), or overall diet quality. Risk of bias was assessed using a quality assessment checklist designed to evaluate survey studies.
Included studies (n = 44) were most often conducted in the USA, cross-sectional, and participants were mothers. Effect sizes (k = 59) from 21 studies were used in nine meta-analyses investigating various healthy and discretionary dietary intake variables. No meta-analytic effects were statistically significant. Qualitative synthesis of effect sizes ineligible for meta-analysis (k = 91) identified patterns of associations between restriction and increased intake of healthy foods, and decreased intake of discretionary foods.
Studies used a diverse selection of measures of restriction and dietary intake, limiting the ability of this review to make accurate cross-study comparisons. However, results suggest that instead of restriction being detrimental for children's dietary outcomes, it may be unrelated, or associated with more beneficial dietary outcomes. Research that utilises validated measures of restriction and dietary outcomes and a longitudinal design is needed to clarify this association.
Sodium and potassium measured in 24-h urine collections are often used as reference measurements to validate self-reported dietary intake instruments.
To evaluate whether collection and analysis of a ...limited number of urine voids at specified times during the day (“timed voids”) can provide alternative reference measurements, and to identify their optimal number and timing.
We used data from a urine calibration study among 441 adults aged 18–39 y. Participants collected each urine void in a separate container for 24 h and recorded the collection time. For the same day, they reported dietary intake using a 24-h recall. Urinary sodium and potassium were analyzed in a 24-h composite sample and in 4 timed voids (morning, afternoon, evening, and overnight). Linear regression models were used to develop equations predicting log-transformed 24-h urinary sodium or potassium levels using each of the 4 single timed voids, 6 pairs, and 4 triples. The equations also included age, sex, race, BMI (kg/m2), and log creatinine. Optimal combinations minimizing the mean squared prediction error were selected, and the observed and predicted 24-h levels were then used as reference measures to estimate the group bias and attenuation factors of the 24-h dietary recall. These estimates were compared.
Optimal combinations found were as follows: single voids—evening; paired voids—afternoon + overnight (sodium) and morning + evening (potassium); and triple voids—morning + evening + overnight (sodium) and morning + afternoon + evening (potassium). Predicted 24-h urinary levels estimated 24-h recall group biases and attenuation factors without apparent bias, but with less precision than observed 24-h urinary levels. To recover lost precision, it was estimated that sample sizes need to be increased by ∼2.6–2.7 times for a single void, 1.7–2.1 times for paired voids, and 1.5–1.6 times for triple voids.
Our results provide the basis for further development of new reference biomarkers based on timed voids.
clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01631240.
The presence of pesticide residues in apple fruit raises serious health concerns. In multi-residue pesticide analysis, the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) extraction method ...has gradually replaced less efficient traditional extraction methods. This study developed a modified QuEChERS method coupled with ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) to simultaneously detect the residue of multiple pesticides in apple fruit. The method exhibited high linearity (R2 ≥ 0.99), and excellent recoveries (74.4–118.1 %) for 31 pesticides with relative standard deviations below 20 %. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 0.1–4.0 μg/kg and 2.0–10.0 μg/kg, respectively. By using the established method, 20 pesticides were detected in 152 'Fuji' apple samples collected from the orchards of 17 cities in two major apple production regions of China, with an overall detection rate of 58.6 %. The residue levels were below the maximum levels set by GB 2763–2019. Moreover, both the chronic dietary intake risk (%ADI) and the acute dietary intake risk (%ARfD) for all the detected pesticides were lower than 100 %, indicating that the dietary intake risks are acceptable and would not pose potential health risks.
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•31 pesticides were simultaneously determined in apples by QuEChERS-UHPLC-MS/MS.•The method has satisfying sensitivity and recovery for all studied pesticides.•58.6% of the apple samples were detected with one or several pesticide residues.•The levels of pesticide residues pose no health risk to consumers.
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