Search results

The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle (<150 min of physical exercise/week) and associated factors of this behavior in Brazil.

An observational study was conducted through an online questionnaire in August–September 2020 (5.5 months after the beginning of the pandemic in the country). Socioeconomic, lifestyle, anthropometric, dietary and perceived stress data were evaluated as possible related factors to a sedentary lifestyle through multiple logistic regression analysis.

A total of 1,347 individuals were evaluated (median of 31 years old, 80.1% women), of whom 76.7% were considered sedentary. Associated factors to a sedentary lifestyle were being overweight; a greater difference between current weight and prepandemic weight; female sex; lower percentage of home-cooked meals; greater increase in the frequency of consumption of alcoholic beverages; higher frequency of consumption of cereals, sausages and sweets during the pandemic; and higher score of perceived stress.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies have aimed to reveal the associated factors to a sedentary lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Protective factors against a sedentary lifestyle were eating breakfast, being a student, living with parents, a higher frequency of fruit consumption, a higher rate of alcohol consumption and a higher cognitive restriction of food intake during the pandemic. Most of the study participants were sedentary, especially women. A sedentary lifestyle was associated with worse lifestyle/eating habits and stress. Such findings encourage an interdisciplinary approach because habits and lifestyle have numerous interferences.

The purpose of this paper is to verify the possible associations between dietary components and the intestinal microbiota in clinical parameters of inflammatory bowel disease.

In this review, a search in PubMed and Bireme databases was performed. The authors included randomized clinical trials published between 2005 and 2017, only in adult humans with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

Six articles were included by the end of the search. The most widely used intervention was the use of prebiotics, including fructooligosaccharides or fructooligosaccharides with inulin, followed by probiotics. The main findings regarding the microbiota were the increase in the total amount of bacteria and variability (phyla). Clinically, there was improvement in inflammation seen in parameters such as C-reactive protein, interleukins and tumor necrosis factor alpha.

Dietary interventions, especially from symbiotics, can modulate the microbiota, mainly in relation to time, when compared pre- and post-supplementation, and this positively interferes with clinical parameters of inflammatory bowel diseases. However, the studies were quite heterogeneous in population, methodology, intervention, mycobiota analysis and inflammatory markers.

Gut microbial changes are associated with diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes and may be influenced by diet patterns. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the effects of alcohol, sodium chloride (NaCl) and dietary restriction on the composition of the gut microflora.

Five-week-old male C57BL/6N mice were orally administered by gavage with ethanol (ET; 4 g/kg), 200 µL of 6% NaCl (NC), or equivalent volumes of phosphate-buffered saline (ET-control and NC-control) every two days for 10 weeks. The mice were also orally administered by gavage with the recommended diet (RD-control; 3 g per mouse per day), or with 40% (RD-40) or 60% restricted level (RD-60). DNA samples obtained from mice ceca were sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq Sequencing system; raw data were analyzed using BIOiPLUG software.

This study shows that high ethanol and NaCl consumption, and diet restriction can change the composition of the intestinal microflora, especially Akkermansia muciniphila in ET (p = 0.0050) and NT (p = 0.0366) groups. In addition, the ratio of Bacteriodetes/Firmicutes and the diversity of microflora were generally reduced (p = 0.0487-0.4929).

These results raise the possibility of a relationship between diet patterns, change of intestinal microbiome and disease, which must be further evaluated.

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the impact of specific carbohydrate restriction (polysaccharides and disaccharides) in the form of the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) in treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

A female patient diagnosed with diarrhea predominant IBS was assigned to the SCD for six months. The diet occurred in phases and was advanced based on the individual’s tolerance level under the guidance of a registered dietitian. Quality of life was measured by a pre- and post-IBS severity score questionnaire. Gastrointestinal symptoms were measured by self-assessment of IBS symptoms using a seven-point Likert-like scale, with −3 = substantially worse to +3 = substantially better. Probiotics were consumed throughout the duration of the study.

The quality of life severity score significantly improved from a severity of 315 (with 500 being the most severe) to 15. The initial symptoms from the first day on the diet compared to the total period for bloating, abdominal pain/discomfort, flatulence/wind, diarrhea, bowel urgency, stool consistency, stool frequency, energy levels, incomplete evacuation and abdominal rumbling were improved significantly (p < 0.0005). The SCD diet significantly improved the quality of life and IBS symptoms in a female patient with IBS-diarrhea.

This study is the first of its kind to evaluate the efficacy of the SCD to treat IBS. The SCD should be considered a therapeutic option to treating IBS after fermentable carbohydrate restriction.

Meat consumption has a variety of implications in society. While various types of meat-restricted diets exist to address this, not enough is known about how the average meat consumer views different avenues to lessening their intake. In response, this study aims to assess US omnivores’ impressions of three meat-restricted diets.

An online survey was administered to a cross-sectional, census-balanced sample from Nielsen of 30,000+ US adults. Omnivores (N = 928) were randomized into one of the three conditions where they were asked about their perceptions of a vegetarian diet, a reduced-meat diet or a chicken-free diet as individuals not currently following that dietary pattern.

The findings showed that omnivores had a more favorable perception of a reduced-meat diet on a greater number of study variables as compared to the vegetarian or chicken-free diets. The research also demonstrated that a majority of omnivores were in the precontemplation stage of cognitive change, suggesting that most American omnivores are not actively demonstrating a readiness to alter their meat consumption in the ways presented.

This research is the first to examine the comparative trends around these three diets among omnivores. It also speaks to how the desirability of meat restriction varies by type of approach, i.e. elimination or reduction, and if the latter, what type. The findings may be of relevance for efforts to reduce global meat consumption for ethical, health, or environmental reasons.

The epidemic of obesity is escalating worldwide. This paper aims to focus on feasible and affordable measures to reduce obesity among sedentary persons aged 30 to 50 years, to provide suitable intervention to overcome excess body weight and to prevent further weight gain. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine such effects in India.

In total, 288 sedentary office going people were motivated to reduce weight and on the basis of their being obese and willingness to participate in the study, 144 of them were selected for the intervention study. They were randomly divided into four groups. Subjects of Group I formed the control, Group II were given a high fiber and low glycemic diet mix, Group III participated in an exercise program and Group IV followed both. Anthropometric measurements were measured initially and at 30 days of interval up to 120 days, and biochemical tests were done before and after the intervention.

The subjects in Groups II, III and IV had 5 per cent reduction in anthropometric measurements. The biochemical tests revealed that the rate of decrease of mean total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were greatest in Group II. In Group IV, there was maximum decrease of mean total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio, mean LDL and HDL ratio, mean fasting blood glucose and also a favorable increase of HDL cholesterol. In Group III, there was maximum increase of hemoglobin. All the central obesity measures, except body mass index, are highly and positively correlated with the biochemical parameters.

It was observed that, in some individuals, the weight loss was 8 to 10 kg, and for a few, the weight loss was less in the range of 1 to 2 kg. This indicated that the same kind of diet and exercise brought about weight reduction to different extents due to individual response. Because of the individual differences, there is a need to highlight the response of the intervention by examining the individual variability referring to age and gender rather than pooling the mean data.

It was observed that the inclusion of high fiber and low glycemic diet in the intervention had a profound influence in the reduction of weight. Exercise alone may not be very effective when opted as a single measure for reducing obesity, and it can only act as a complementary program along with diet for any weight reduction program.

Emerging evidence indicates that there may be a link between calcium intake and body composition . However, few review papers to date appear to collate this information. This paper aims to fill this gap.

All randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and large observational studies published between 1998 and 2009 were identified using Medline scientific database. Studies had a minimum duration of 30 days and included all sources of calcium (dairy and supplemental).

Twenty‐one studies were identified; including 14 RCTs and seven large observational studies. Twelve studies (seven of the RCTs) reported that regular consumption of dietary or dairy calcium may reduce fat mass in adults. Nine studies (seven of the RCTs) found no association between calcium intake and body composition. Two studies reported that fat loss was augmented when a calcium‐rich diet was combined with energy restriction. Overall, results from reviewed studies yield conflicting findings. Further intervention studies are needed to “separate out” the effects of habitual, supplemental and dairy calcium. More studies also need to investigate the combined effects of a calcium‐rich diet and energy restriction. Only then can calcium‐rich diets be used alongside conventional treatments for obesity.

This paper gives a concise, up‐to‐date review of literature investigating the link between calcium intake and adult body composition.

A healthy diet has been recognized as one of the most important factors associated with maintaining human health and helping in preventing the development of some chronic diseases. Therefore, this paper aims to study the perceptions of a sample of university people regarding a healthy diet.

It was undertaken a descriptive cross-sectional study on a non-probabilistic sample of 382 participants. The data were collected among a sample of Portuguese university people and measured whether people’s perceptions were compliant with a healthy diet.

The results revealed that the participants’ perceptions were, in general, compliant with a healthy diet (scores between 0.5 and 1.5, on a scale from −2 to +2). However, significant differences were found between age groups (p = 0.004), with a higher average score for young adults, and also between groups with different levels of education (p = 0.025), with a higher score for university degree. The variable chronic diseases also showed significant differences (p = 0.017), so that people who did not have any chronic diseases obtained a higher score.

This study is considered important because it provides evidences about the relation between nutrition knowledge and the perceptions towards a healthy diet. The study allowed concluding that the participants were aware about some nutritional aspects of their diets and, therefore, their perceptions were compliant with a healthy diet. This finding is very relevant because it could be a support for health policy initiatives directed at promoting healthy eating behaviours.

Smedleys Ltd v. Breed effectively disposes of Section 3 (3), Food and Drugs Act, 1955 as a defence in law in what nowadays constitutes the commonest source of all food prosecutions, viz., foreign matter in food. Their Lord‐ships' judgment is indeed a brilliant exposition of the law on the subject, but the result of their dismissal of the appeal can only be seen, as one of their number stated, that local authorities and magistrates for all practical purposes can ignore the subsection, and from the numerous reports of legal proceedings, this is what they have been doing for many years. It was resurrected in a case, similar in circumstance to that in Smedleys, a couple of years ago, in respect of a snail in black currant jam, in which the snail and black currants were identical in size and appearance.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common complications of pregnancy. GDM is defined as glucose intolerance of variable severity with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. The purpose of this paper is to produce information on prevalence, screening and diagnosis, pathophysiology and dietary, medical and lifestyle management of GDM.

This literature review aimed to document and record the results of the most updated studies published dealing with dietary, medical and lifestyle factors in managing GDM.

The prevalence of GDM differs worldwide based on population characteristics, race/ethnicity and diagnostic criteria. The pathophysiology of GDM is multifactorial and it is likely that genetic and environmental factors are associated with the occurrence of GDM. Medical nutritional therapy remains the mainstay of GDM management and aerobic and resistance physical activities are helpful adjunctive therapy when euglycemia is not attained by the medical nutritional therapy alone. When diet and exercise fail to achieve glycemic control, pharmacological agents such as insulin therapy and oral hypoglycemic medications are prescribed. Plasma glucose measurement is an essential part of glycemic control during pregnancy, as well as glycemic control can be evaluated using indicators of glycemic control such as hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), glycated albumin and fructosamine.

This review is a comprehensive review that illustrates the effect of healthy diet, medical therapy and lifestyle change on improving GDM condition.