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Topic Review
Probiotics in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Prebiotics are food substances that the organism does not digest and which, once they reach the colon, favor the growth of bacterial species of the microbiota considered to produce beneficial effects for the human organism. Among the main benefits are improvement in intestinal motility, both in terms of frequency and of volume; reduction in LDL cholesterol and blood triglycerides; contribution to the synthesis of folic acid; improvement in the immunological function; and, thanks to butyric acid, a reduction in the risk of malignant tumors.
  • 981
  • 11 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Innovations in Infant Feeding
The field of nutrition in early life, as an effective tool to prevent and treat chronic diseases, has attracted a large amount of interest over recent years. The vital roles of food products and nutrients on the body’s molecular mechanisms have been demonstrated. The knowledge of the mechanisms and the possibility of controlling them via what we eat has opened up the field of precision nutrition, which aims to set dietary strategies in order to improve health with the greatest effectiveness. However, this objective is achieved only if the genetic profile of individuals and their living conditions are also considered. The relevance of this topic is strengthened considering the importance of nutrition during childhood and the impact on the development of obesity. In fact, the prevalence of global childhood obesity has increased substantially from 1990 and has now reached epidemic proportions. 
  • 981
  • 02 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Antioxidants in Foods of Various Diets
Any agent with the ability to either quench free radicals or prevent the generation of pro-oxidant molecules, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), can be considered an antioxidant.
  • 981
  • 09 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Dyslipidemia
Dyslipidemia is a significant threat to public health worldwide and the identification of its pathogenic mechanisms, as well as novel lipid-lowering agents, are warranted. Magnesium (Mg) is a key element to human health and its deficiency has been linked to the development of lipid abnormalities and related disorders, such as the metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, or cardiovascular disease.
  • 978
  • 07 May 2021
Topic Review
Prickly Pear Cacti Cladodes for Hyperglycemia Management
The consumption of prickly pear (PP; Opuntia spp.) cladodes was reported to exert hypoglycemic effects, making it a potential cost-effective nutritional intervention for the management of T2DM. Several studies have demonstrated that the consumption of prickly pear cladodes and the related products reduced post-prandial glucose levels. The cladodes’ high fiber content may be implicated in improving glycemic control, by affecting glucose absorption and effectively slowing its release into the blood circulation. Given these potential hypoglycemic effects, prickly pear cladodes may represent a potential functional food ingredient to improve glycemic control and counter the negative metabolic effects of the modern Western diet. 
  • 978
  • 28 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Emotional Eating
Emotional eating is considered as the propensity to eat in response to emotions. It is considered a critical risk factor for recurrent weight gain. Such overeating is able to affect general health due to excess energy intake and mental health.
  • 978
  • 18 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Human Milk Microbiota and Oligosaccharides
Human milk represents a cornerstone for growth and development of infants, with extensive array of benefits. In addition to exceptionally nutritive and bioactive components, human milk encompasses a complex community of signature bacteria that helps establish infant gut microbiota, contributes to maturation of infant immune system, and competitively interferes with pathogens. Among bioactive constituents of milk, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are particularly significant. 
  • 976
  • 12 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Dietary Fats and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease
The favorable transition from hominids to homo sapiens during evolution prompted changes in the physiological functions and immune competences (including survival to pathogens and infections) to adapt to the intake of high-energy containing foods, principally dietary fats. Today, the access to a variety of highly-caloric fatty foods is hardly balanced by energy consumption. As a consequence, the dominant genetic pathways evolved to favor the intake of calorie-rich diets and the storage of energy as fats in the adipose tissue are in some circumstances redundant, especially in affluent societies, giving rise to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD)-comorbidities. Current guidelines recommend reducing the daily intake of dietary fats for the prevention of ischemic cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
  • 976
  • 12 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Diet and Anxiety
The term anxiety describes the experience of worry, apprehension, or nervousness in association with physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. Anxiety may be experienced occasionally as part of normal life and may be adaptive if it increases preparedness for novel situations. If anxiety symptoms are persistent, excessive, or interfere with functioning, they can become pathological.
  • 976
  • 29 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Microbiota-derived Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Obesity
Microbiota-derived Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs), primarily acetate, propionate and butyrate, are metabolites produced by gut microbiota via dietary non-digestible carbohydrates (CHO) fermentation. Maternal very low-calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) during pregnancy and lactation stimulates the growth of diverse species of SCFA-producing bacteria, which may induce epigenetic changes in infant obese gene expression and modulate adipose tissue inflammation in obesity.
  • 975
  • 29 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Metabolic Role of Ketogenic Diets in Treating Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a long-term neurological condition that results in recurrent seizures. Approximately 30% of patients with epilepsy have drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). The ketogenic diet (KD) is considered an effective alternative treatment for epileptic patients. 
  • 975
  • 14 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Nutrition during Pregnancy and Lactation
A woman’s nutritional status during pregnancy and breastfeeding is not only critical for her health, but also for that of future generations. Nutritional requirements during pregnancy differ considerably from those of non-pregnant women. Thus, a personalized approach to nutritional advice is recommended. Currently, some countries recommend routine supplementation for all pregnant women, while others recommend supplements only when necessary. Maternal physiological adaptations, as well as nutritional requirements during pregnancy and lactation, will be reviewed in the literature examining the impacts of dietary changes. All of these data have been studied deeply to facilitate a discussion on dietary supplement use and the recommended doses of nutrients during pregnancy and lactation. 
  • 974
  • 09 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Sicana odorifera Naudim Vell. Seeds By-Products
The “Kurugua” (Sicana odorifera) is a native fruit that demonstrates attractive nutritional, coloring, flavoring, and antioxidant properties. The main by-products from the processing and consumption of kurugua fruit are epicarp and seeds.
  • 973
  • 29 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Current Trends of Zinc Fortification
Zinc, through its structural and cofactor roles, affects a broad range of critical physiological functions, including growth, metabolism, immune and neurological functions. Zinc deficiency is widespread among populations around the world, and it may, therefore, underlie much of the global burden of malnutrition. Current zinc fortification strategies include biofortification and fortification with zinc salts with a primary focus on staple foods, such as wheat or rice and their products. However, zinc fortification presents unique challenges. Due to the influences of phytate and protein on zinc absorption, successful zinc fortification strategies should consider the impact on zinc bioavailability in the whole diet. When zinc is absorbed with food, shifts in plasma zinc concentrations are minor. However, co-absorbing zinc with food may preferentially direct zinc to cellular compartments where zinc-dependent metabolic processes primarily occur. Although the current lack of sensitive biomarkers of zinc nutritional status reduces the capacity to assess the impact of fortifying foods with zinc, new approaches for assessing zinc utilization are increasing.
  • 972
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Zinc Supplementation on Nutritional Status in CKD
Zinc is one of the most important and essential trace elements required by all living organisms for many physiologic functions, with three major biological roles catalytic, structural and regulatory ones. It is the second most abundant metal in mammalian tissues, after iron, with almost 90% of that found in muscle and bone. Likewise, the cellular Zn2+ concentrations are nearly as high as those of major metabolites like the ATP. Zinc is an essential cofactor that influences the expression and activity of numerous enzymes, transcription factors and regulatory proteins.
  • 971
  • 19 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Nutrient Profiling Models
A nutrient profiling model (NPM) was developed in 2005 in the UK to regulate the marketing of foods to children. It was revised in 2018, but the new version has not been finalised. The Eatwell Guide (EWG) is the UK’s official food-based dietary guidelines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agreement between the 2005 and 2018 versions of the NPM and the EWG. Using recent National Diet and Nutrition Surveys, we estimated the healthiness of individual diets based on an EWG dietary score and a NPM dietary index. We then compared the percentage of agreement and Cohen’s kappa for each combination of the EWG score and NPM index across the range of observed values for the 2005 and 2018 versions. A total of 3028 individual diets were assessed. Individuals with a higher (i.e., healthier) EWG score consumed a diet with, on average, a lower (i.e., healthier) NPM index both for the 2005 and 2018 versions. Overall, there was good agreement between the EWG score and the NPM dietary index at assessing the healthiness of representative diets of the UK population, when a low cut-off for the NPM dietary index was used, irrespective of the version. This suggests that dietary advice to the public is broadly aligned with NPM-based food policies and vice-versa.
  • 969
  • 16 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Beta-Glucans of Cereals
β-glucans are a polymeric dietary fiber characterized by β-(1,3) and β-(1,4) glycosidic bonds between glucose monomers. They are often used as thickeners, stabilizers, and fat substitutes in foods. The functional and technological quality of β-glucans is attributed to their origin/source, molecular weight, and structural properties. In particular, physical treatments such as drying, cooking, freezing, and refrigeration influence their molecular, morphological, and rheological characteristics. In addition to their useful technical qualities, β-glucans are recognized for their numerous beneficial impacts on human health. 
  • 969
  • 04 May 2023
Topic Review
Adzuki Bean Alleviates Obesity
Adzuki bean consumption has many health benefits, but its effects on obesity and regulating gut microbiota imbalances induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) have not been thoroughly studied. Mice were fed a low-fat diet, a HFD, and a HFD supplemented with 15% adzuki bean (HFD-AB) for 12 weeks. Adzuki bean supplementation significantly reduced obesity, lipid accumulation, and serum lipid and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels induced by HFD. It also mitigated liver function damage and hepatic steatosis. In particular, adzuki bean supplementation improved glucose homeostasis by increasing insulin sensitivity. In addition, it significantly reversed HFD-induced gut microbiota imbalances. Adzuki bean significantly reduced the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B); enriched the occurrence of Bifidobacterium, Prevotellaceae, Ruminococcus_1, norank_f_Muribaculaceae, Alloprevotella, Muribaculum, Turicibacter, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, and Lachnoclostridium; and returned HFD-dependent taxa (Desulfovibrionaceae, Bilophila, Ruminiclostridium_9, Blautia, and Ruminiclostridium) back to normal status. PICRUSt2 analysis showed that the changes in gut microbiota induced by adzuki bean supplementation may be associated with the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, sulfur, and cysteine and methionine; and LPS biosynthesis; and valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation. 
  • 969
  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Skeletal Muscle and Vitamin D
Vitamin D, unlike the micronutrients, vitamins A, E, and K, is largely obtained not from food but by the action of solar ultraviolet light on its precursor, 7-dehydrocholesterol, in skin. With the decline in UV light intensity in winter, most skin production of vitamin D occurs in summer. Since no defined storage organ or tissue has been found for vitamin D, it has been assumed that an adequate vitamin D status in winter can only be maintained by oral supplementation. Skeletal muscle cells have now been shown to provide an extravascular conservation site for 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which cycles between blood and muscle accounting for its long residence time in blood. In winter, this conservation mechanism appears to be upregulated by parathyroid hormone; a process that appears to have evolved to maintain adequate vitamin D status when vitamin D supply falls.
  • 965
  • 17 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Childhood Obesity
Obesity is a chronic recurrent disease related to excessive fat tissue accumulation that presents a risk to health. The diagnosis of overweight, obesity, and severe obesity is usually based on the measurement of high and weight, calculation of weight-to-length ratio in children below the age of 5 years and body mass index (BMI) in older children.
  • 965
  • 19 Oct 2022
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