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Recent evidence suggests that especially processed foods may lead to undesirable metabolic effects in gut microbiota. The emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners that are added to processed foods may play a role in the progression of the diseases through the modulation of microbiota in mice. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners.

This paper presents a narrative review of the effects of emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners which are mainly in consumed in the Western diet, to the gut microbiota by mainly focusing on the experimental studies.

Although in vivo studies and animal model studies showed various adverse effects of sweeteners and emulsifiers to microbiota, studies should be conducted in humans to investigate the effects of these food additives to human microbiota by making dietary interventions in the context of ethical rules.

In future, studies will allow us to draw more definitive conclusion whether human population consuming sweeteners and emulsifiers are at risk.

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.

Heritability studies attempt to estimate the contribution of genes (vs. environments) to variation in phenotypes (or outcomes of interest) in a given population at a given time. This chapter scrutinizes heritability studies of adverse health phenotypes, emphasizing flaws that have become more glaring in light of recent advances in the life sciences and manifest most visibly in epigenetics.

Drawing on a diverse body of research and critical scholarship, this chapter examines the veracity of methodological and conceptual assumptions of heritability studies.

The chapter argues that heritability studies are futile for two reasons: (1) heritability studies suffer from serious methodological flaws with the overall effect of making estimates inaccurate and likely biased toward inflated heritability, and, more importantly (2) the conceptual (biological) model on which heritability studies depend – that of identifiably separate effects of genes versus the environment on phenotype variance – is unsound. As discussed, contemporary bioscientific work indicates that genes and environments are enmeshed in a complex (bidirectional, interactional), dynamic relationship that defies any attempt to demarcate separate contributions to phenotype variance. Thus, heritability studies attempt the biologically impossible. The emerging research on the importance of microbiota is also discussed, including how the commensal relationship between microbial and human cells further stymies heritability studies.

Understandably, few sociologists have the time or interest to be informed about the methodological and theoretical underpinnings of heritability studies or to keep pace with the incredible advances in genetics and epigenetics over the last several years. The present chapter aims to provide interested scholars with information about heritability and heritability estimates of adverse health outcomes in light of recent advances in the biosciences.

Gut health has multidimensional impact on childhood growth and development. Diet being the major modulator of gut health, this study aims to hypothesize if supplementation of dietary prebiotics and vitamins can impact gut environment of healthy children.

A double-blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted with parallel allocation of children 8–13 years of age to placebo or test group. Test group was supplemented with 1.5 g of formulation comprising prebiotics and vitamins, and to placebo, maltodextrin (1.5 g) was supplemented. After four weeks, the effect on markers of gut health (i.e. beneficial microbes, and gut integrity markers such as secretory Immunoglobulin A [sIgA] and calprotectin concentration) was evaluated in feces of children.

Significant increase of 17.1% in fecal bifidobacteria counts (p = 0.04) was observed in the test group compared to placebo after four weeks. Also, fecal calprotectin concentration decreased (20%) significantly (p = 0.01) in test group compared to placebo. In addition, the test group showed significant improvement in fecal sIgA and lactobacilli compared to baseline concentration (p = 0.01 and 0.001, respectively).

This study demonstrates that prebiotic (and vitamin) intervention may influence health outcomes in children by positively modulating markers of gut health.

There are limited studies demonstrating the efficacy of prebiotic and vitamins on gut health of school age children.

This paper aims to summarize the available literatures, specifically in the following areas: metabolic and other side effects of aspartame; microbiota changes/dysbiosis and its effect on the gut-brain axis; changes on gut microbiota as a result of aspartame usage; metabolic effects (weight gain and glucose intolerance) of aspartame due to gut dysbiosis; and postulated effects of dysregulated microbiota-gut-brain axis on other aspartame side-effects (neurophysiological symptoms and immune dysfunction).

Aspartame is rapidly becoming a public health concern because of its purported side-effects especially neurophysiological symptom and immune dysregulation. It is also paradoxical that metabolic consequences including weight gain and impaired blood glucose levels have been observed in consumers. Exact mechanisms of above side-effects are unclear, and data are scarce but aspartame, and its metabolites may have caused disturbance in the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Additional studies investigating the impact of aspartame on gut microbiota and metabolic health are needed.

Exact mechanism by which aspartame-induced gut dysbiosis and metabolic dysfunction requires further investigation.

Today, coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) treatment is an evolving process, and synbiotic administration has been suggested as a new therapeutic strategy. This study aims to investigate the effect of synbiotic supplementation in COVID-19 patients.

In this placebo-controlled trial, 80 patients were randomized to receive oral synbiotic capsule (containing fructooligosaccharide and seven bacterial strains; Lactobacillus (L) casei, L. rhamnosus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Bifidobacterium breve, L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, L. bulgaricus, each one 109 colony-forming units) or placebo for two months. Inflammatory markers (Interleukin-6 [IL-6], C-reactive protein [CRP], erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR]) and white blood cell (WBC) count were evaluated at two timepoints (baseline, two months later). The measured variables were adjusted for confounders and analyzed by SPSS v21.0.

All 80 enrolled patients completed the study. The study adherence was good (approximately 70%). The mean changes for IL-6 were not significant (Δ = −0.6 ± 10.4 pg/mL vs Δ = +11.2 ± 50.3 pg/mL, p > 0.05). There were no significant improvements for CRP, ESR and WBC.

Administration of synbiotics for two months did not improve inflammatory markers in COVID-19 patients.

Globally, consumer’s inclination towards functional foods had noticed due to their greater health consciousness coupled with enhanced health-care cost. The fact that probiotics could promote a healthier gut microbiome led projection of probiotic foods as functional foods and had emerged as an important dietary strategy for improved human health. It had established that ice cream was a better carrier for probiotics than fermented milked due to greater stability of probiotics in ice cream matrix. Global demand for ice cream boomed and probiotic ice cream could have been one of the most demanded functional foods. The purpose of this paper was to review the technological aspects and factors affecting probiotic viability and to standardize methodology to produce functional probiotic ice cream.

Attempt was made to search the literature (review and researched papers) to identify diverse factors affecting the probiotic viability and major technological challenge faced during formulation of probiotic ice cream. Keywords used for data searched included dairy-based functional foods, ice cream variants, probiotic ice cream, factors affecting probiotic viability and health benefits of probiotic ice cream.

Retention of probiotic viability at a level of >10⁶ cfu/ml is a prerequisite for functional probiotic ice creams. Functional probiotic ice cream could have been produced with the modification of basic mix and modulating technological parameters during processing and freezing. Functionality can be further enhanced with the inclusion of certain nutraceutical components such as prebiotics, antioxidant, phenolic compounds and dietary fibres. Based upon reviewed literature, suggested method for the manufacture of functional probiotic ice cream involved freezing of a probiotic ice cream mix obtained by blending 10% probiotic fermented milk with 90% non-fermented plain ice cream mix for higher probiotic viability. Probiotic ice cream with functional features, comparable with traditional ice cream in terms of technological and sensory properties could be produced and can crop up as a novel functional food.

Probiotic ice cream with functional features may attract food manufacturers to cater health-conscious consumers.

Interest in probiotic food products has constantly increased due to the awareness on importance of gut microbiome; an increasing demand has encouraged the development of other matrices such as cereals, vegetable and fruit juices to deliver probiotics. The purpose of this paper is to standardize and evaluate a ready to serve probiotic oats milk drink fermented with microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum to be further used as a therapeutic module.

Fermentation of oats milk extract with microencapsulated L.plantarum was subjected to various trials in making it favourable for consumption and tested for sensory characteristics, physicochemical parameters, nutrient content, viable colony count and shelf life.

Fermented oats milk drink with 3% inoculum of microencapsulated L.plantarum was able to achieve desirable level of 2.5 × 10⁸ and 2.3 × 10⁸ colony forming units (CFU)/mL for spice and strawberry flavoured drink, respectively. Antioxidant property significantly increased after fermentation showing inhibitory effect against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) assay (p = 0.05).

Analysis of all the parameters were conducted only with three samples; this was the potential limitation identified in this study as large sample size always be a better representative of the results.

Spice and strawberry flavoured nondairy oats milk drink facilitated to be a suitable carrier for microencapsulated L. plantarum with good sensory attributes, low fat, moderate calorie, high fiber content, antioxidant potential and a shelf life of two-week period at 4°C.

The developed ready to serve, spice and strawberry flavoured nondairy oats milk drink with compactly packed functional components inclusive of beneficial probiotic organisms, ß-glucan and antioxidants can be prescribed as a therapeutic food for many clinical conditions and would serve as a good probiotic option for vegans.

The purpose of this study is to collect and assess the evidence available on the effect of non nutritive sweeteners on appetite, weight and glycemic regulation. As a replacement for sugars, non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs) are widely being used in different food products with the assumption that these would lower calorie intake and help to manage weight and blood sugar levels better. However, studies using animal models have reported that chronic exposure to NNSs leads to increased food consumption, weight gain and insulin resistance.

Evidence was acquired from systematic reviews or meta-analyses (2016–2021) of relevant clinical studies, especially randomized control trials using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines.

The review showed NNSs exposure did not conclusively induce increased food intake or change in subjective appetite ratings. Appetite biomarkers like ghrelin, gastric inhibitory peptide, C-peptide levels and Peptide YY remained mostly unaffected by NNSs. Meta-analyses of human randomized control studies showed a reduced energy intake and body weight. No significant change was seen in blood glucose levels, post-prandial glycemic or insulin response after consumption of NNSs. Adequate evidence is not available to conclusively say that NNSs influence gut health at doses relevant to human use.

Most studies which are prospective cohort, observational and cross-sectional studies suggest that use of NNSs may promote obesity and metabolic syndrome in adults. Such studies are plagued by confounding variables and reverse causation. Mechanistic evidence is mostly based on in-vitro and in-vivo studies. The same causal pathways may not be operative or relevant in humans.

This review of available literature concludes that to achieve specific public health and clinical goals, the safe use of NNSs for the reduction of intakes of free sugars and energy should be explored. This would be possible by educating the consumer about energy compensation and understanding the nutritional content of artificially sweetened products in terms of calories coming from fat and complex carbohydrates used in the product.

This study was, thus, designed with the objective of examining the usefulness of NNSs in human population, especially with respect to insulin regulation, glycemic control and weight management. Well-designed randomized control trials which control for confounding variables are needed to generate high quality evidence.

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate health conditions prior to and at least two months after the start of consuming raw fermented milk (RFM) products.

One-Item health score, 1-item immunity score, immune status (ISQ), mood, bowel and skin conditions were rated for the period prior and post switching to RFM products. A linear mixed model was used to evaluate the post to prior RFM health and mood scores, taking into account gender, location of living and health group. Data from 390 participants (mean age of 54 years old) were included for the analysis, of which 277 (45 per cent) were allocated to the poor health group. Participants were allocated to the poor health group if they reported being immune depressed or suffering from a chronic disease prior to RFM; otherwise, they were allocated to the normal health group.

The highest intake of RFM was from RF kefir. Post RFM, people consumed around 1 glass (200 ml) of RF kefir per day. After switching to RFM, significant improvements on health and mood scores were reported. The strongest improvements after switching to RFM consumption were seen in subjects from the poor health group. With the exception of skin score, all measured health items significantly improved (p < 0.001). Health, immunity, bowel and mood scores increased with around 20 per cent in the poor health group and around 8 per cent in the normal health group. Women had more health complaints prior to RFM and had stronger health improvement post RFM compared to men. Bowel and mood scores were overall lower in women than in men. Living location had no significant impact on RFM-related health changes. This consumer survey suggests that positive health and mood changes are associated with the consumption of RFM products.

The consumption of RFM products improved the self-reported health status of adults. Immune-depressed people or people suffering from a chronic disease prior to RFM reported the strongest impact on their health, immunity, bowel and mood scores post switching RFM consumption compared to people with a normal health.