Food & Nutrition Research最新文献

Background: The Nutri-Score is a color-coded front-of-pack nutrition label that classifies foods and beverages from A (higher nutritional quality) to E (lower nutritional quality). The NewTools-score is an adaptation of the Nutri-Score 2023-version, modified to better align with the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. Validating nutrient profiling models in different countries is crucial for their reliability and effectiveness in promoting healthier food choices and combating non-communicable diseases.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the convergent validity of the Nutri-Score and the NewTools-score by evaluating their agreement with a reference standard based on rankings of foods' healthiness by Norwegian nutrition experts. Additionally, we examined the consistency among these experts in rating foods' healthiness representative of the Norwegian diet.

Design: Between August and December 2023, 29 nutrition experts completed a web-based questionnaire, scoring 100 foods on a scale from 1 (less healthy) to 6 (very healthy) based on the Norwegian food-based dietary guidelines. Agreement among experts was evaluated using descriptive statistics and Cronbach's alpha. We calculated both Nutri-Score and NewTools-score for all 100 foods and assessed their agreement with the reference standard through cross-classification and score distribution analyses.

Results: The nutrition experts exhibited high agreement in their healthiness ratings of foods representative of the Norwegian diet. The Nutri-Score 2023-version showed good agreement with the experts for most foods, although discrepancies were observed for wholegrain and refined grains, fat content in dairy products, certain fish products, and plant-based dairy and meat substitutes. The NewTools-score displayed overall better agreement with the reference standard for several foods and with fewer discrepancies.

Conclusions: Norwegian nutrition experts showed high agreement in rating the healthiness of foods representative of the Norwegian diet. While the Nutri-Score 2023-version aligned well with experts' ratings, the NewTools-score demonstrated better agreement than Nutri-Score in this Norwegian context, despite some remaining discrepancies.

Background: Iodine is crucial for thyroid hormones, normal metabolism, growth and development in the foetal period. Low iodine status in women of childbearing age is particularly worrying since iodine deficiency continues into pregnancy.

Objective: This study aimed to measure iodine status in non-pregnant and pregnant women in Northern Norway and investigate group differences and determinants of urine iodine concentrations (UICs) based on dietary factors and participants' knowledge about iodine.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included pregnant (n = 131) and non-pregnant (n = 493) women from the Northern Norway Mother-and-Child Contaminant Cohort Study 2 study (2017-2021) and the Fit Futures 3 study (2020-2021). UIC was measured in spot urine, and dietary iodine intake was calculated from food frequency questionnaires. Group differences in median UIC were explored using non-parametric tests. Associations between independent variables and median UIC were estimated through quantile regression, adjusting for relevant covariates.

Results: Median UIC was 91 μg/L in non-pregnant and 134 μg/L in pregnant women, thus below the World Health Organization definition of insufficient iodine status of < 100 μg/L and 150 μg/L, respectively. Dairy products and lean fish were the most important dietary iodine sources, but the median estimated intake did not reach the recommended intake. Taking iodine supplements was the strongest determinant of UIC in both groups (P < 0.01), and users had adequate iodine status at a group level. A high proportion of the non-pregnant women (84%) were not taking iodine supplements. Poor knowledge about iodine in the participant groups was observed but was not associated with UIC.

Conclusion: Pregnant and non-pregnant women not using iodine supplements had inadequate iodine status and insufficient iodine intake. Supplement use or interventions at the societal level are essential to ensure adequate status in these vulnerable groups.

Background and aims: There is limited data regarding the vitamin D status of infants and young children in Norway. We aimed to assess vitamin D status among Norwegian children at approximately 6 and 12 months of age and explore associations between child vitamin D status, dietary factors, and maternal vitamin D status.

Methods: Mothers/parents completed a food frequency questionnaire for their 6/12-month-old child. Dried blood spot samples were collected from the mother and child.

Results: The mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (S-25(OH)D) concentration was 81 nmol/L (standard deviation [SD] 22 nmol/L) for 6-month-old children (n = 84) and 72 nmol/L (SD 22 nmol/L) for 12-month-old children (n = 56) (P = 0.03 for difference between age groups). In the younger and older age groups, 94 and 88% of the children, respectively, had a S-25(OH)D concentration ≥ 50 nmol/L. The mean dietary vitamin D intake was 12 μg/day for the 6-month-olds and 14 μg/day for the 12-month-olds. Adjusted linear regression models showed that for every μg/day increase in dietary vitamin D intake, serum 25(OH)D (nmol/L) increased by around one nmol/L for both age groups (P = 0.002 for the younger age group and P = 0.04 for the older age group). Use of vitamin D supplements was associated with higher S-25(OH)D concentrations in both age groups, while a higher S-25(OH)D concentration among formula users was found only in the youngest age group. Breastfeeding was not associated with S-25(OH)D concentration in either age group. Small positive correlations between child and maternal vitamin D status were observed for both the younger (r = 0.22) and the older (r = 0.28) age groups (P = 0.04 for both groups).

Conclusion: While there was a wide range in S-25(OH)D concentrations among children, most were within the sufficient range. Adequate vitamin D intake should be encouraged both in the first and second year of life.

Background: Population adherence to nutrition recommendations measured by dietary surveys is well known, but people's perceptions in adherence to nutrition recommendations are less explored. For macronutrients, nutrition recommendations suggest broad intake ranges.

Objective: To study individuals' perceptions of their macronutrient intakes compared to the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations and discrepancies between perceived and actual macronutrient intakes.

Design: The ScenoProt trial investigated nutritional and health effects of replacing animal-source proteins with plant-source proteins in Finnish adults (n = 102, 78% women, mean age 47 years). This cross-sectional sub-study utilized data collected at the baseline of the trial. Participants' perceptions of intakes and sources of carbohydrates, fibers, fats, and proteins were collected by a questionnaire developed for the study. Actual macronutrient intakes and sources were assessed with 4-day food records. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine associations between sociodemographic factors and the capacity to self-assess macronutrient intakes relative to the nutrition recommendations.

Results: Discrepancies were found in relative proportions of three categories, below/according to/above the recommendation, between perceived and actual macronutrient intakes regarding the nutrition recommendations. Participants rated themselves rather according to or above than below the recommendation. The most distinct gap was discovered between perceived and actual carbohydrate intakes, for example, proportions of participants being below the recommendation: 8% measured as perceived intake; 70% measured as actual mean intake. Gaps were also observed for fat and protein. Cereals were one of the most common protein sources but only 8% of the participants named them. No associations emerged between age, gender, or education (46% with a master's degree or higher) and the capacity to self-assess macronutrient intakes.

Discussion & conclusions: Our study suggests that self-assessment of macronutrient intakes is challenging. Misperceptions can be obstacles in shifting to healthier and more sustainable diets. Interpretation of nutrition recommendations to the public could still be improved.

Background: Front-of-pack nutrition labelling is an important policy tool for public health. The Nutri-Score classifies foods according to nutritional quality from A (high quality) to E (low quality). We have previously identified inconsistencies between Nutri-Score and the Norwegian food-based dietary guidelines. The objective was to propose revisions to the Nutri-Score 2023 algorithms and determine if the revised algorithms better align with the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 (NNR2023) and the Keyhole label.

Methods: Items in the Norwegian pre-packed foods databases Tradesolution (n = 26,033) and Unil (n = 577) were classified using the Nutri-Score 2023 algorithms. To address carbohydrate quality, a penalty for low-fibre content was introduced, and the sugar scale compressed. The protein cap was removed for fish products to reward their nutritional quality. To improve the scoring of high-fat foods, the scale for saturated fat was extended, fat content determined the inclusion in the algorithm for fats, rather than food categories, and favourable fat quality in oils was rewarded through a fat quality component. Data from the databases guided the identification of specific thresholds. The distribution of Nutri-Score was calculated before and after applying the revisions.

Results: In total, 5.5% of all products received a less favourable Nutri-Score with the revised carbohydrate quality components. Most refined pastas and flour shifted shifted from A to B or C, whilst whole grain pasta largely remained A. Sugar-rich breakfast cereals shifted from B to C or D. For fish, 11% (1% of all products) were moved from D or E to C or D. The variation in scores for cheese and creams increased. Around 5% of all products were affected by the revisions related to fat quality.

Conclusions: The proposed revisions make the Nutri-Score more coherent with the NNR2023 and the Keyhole label. The proposed revisions also hold relevance for other European countries and should therefore be considered in the next revision of the Nutri-Score.

Objective: This study investigated the mechanisms related to lipid metabolism regulation after combined supplementation with deer antler polysaccharides and postbiotics.

Methods: Thirty-two male mice were divided into high-fat diet, HD + deer antler polysaccharides, HD + Bacillus coagulans postbiotics, and HD + deer antler polysaccharides + B. coagulans postbiotics groups. The diets contained 60% fat. After 9 weeks, the effects of deer antler polysaccharides and postbiotics on lipid metabolism were assessed through blood biochemical, histological tissue staining, and polymerase chain reaction analyses.

Results: Supplementation with deer antler polysaccharides and postbiotics significantly inhibited weight gain in obese mice, reduced serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein levels and markedly increased the serum high-density lipoprotein level. Additionally, hepatic lipid droplet accumulation and adipocyte hypertrophy improved. The expressions of the lipid synthesis genes, sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (i.e. SREBP-1c), and fatty acid synthase (i.e. FAS), significantly decreased, while peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (i.e. PPAR-α) and acyl-CoA oxidase 1 (i.e. ACOX1) expression significantly increased. The expressions of the inflammation-related genes, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (i.e. TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1 also significantly decreased.

Conclusion: Thus, combined deer antler polysaccharides and postbiotic supplementation regulated obesity in mice, potentially by modulating lipid synthesis and inflammation-related gene expression.

Background: Dietary sugar intake has been implicated in the development of metabolic dysfunction, chronic inflammation, and immune dysfunction, contributing to the pathogenesis of various diseases. This study aimed to investigate the associations between dietary total simple sugar intake and glycemic markers, lipid profile, serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and adenosine deaminase activity (ADA), among semi-professional football players.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 108 semi-professional football players. Dietary intake of simple sugars was assessed using validated dietary assessment tools, while serum levels of biochemical variables were measured using standard laboratory assays. Multinomial logistic regression analysis and partial correlation analysis were performed to examine the associations between dietary simple sugars and serum biomarkers, adjusting for confounders.

Results: Strong positive associations were observed between dietary total simple sugar intake and hs-CRP and ADA levels in multinomial regression analysis. Also, among individual assessment of dietary simple sugars, dietary fructose and glucose intake were positively correlated with serum hs-CRP levels (r = 0.484, P < 0.001 and r = 0.393, P < 0.001, respectively) and serum ADA levels (r = 0.233, P = 0.001 for glucose; r = 0.188, P = 0.01 for fructose). There was no other association between dietary simple sugar intake and metabolic parameters.

Conclusion: Our findings highlight the significant impact of dietary sugar intake on inflammation, as reflected by serum hs-CRP and ADA levels. Strategies aimed at reducing sugar consumption may help mitigate inflammation and improve overall health outcomes. Further research is warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and to explore potential therapeutic interventions targeting dietary sugar intake for the prevention and management of chronic diseases.

Objective: To investigate the relative validity of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in estimating fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM) with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as reference method in women with overweight and obesity 2 weeks and 6 months postpartum (pp).

Methods: Body composition of 94 women with overweight and obesity was assessed using Seca mBCA 515 and GE Healthcare Lunar iDXA. Agreement between the two methods for FM and FFM at 2 weeks and 6 months pp, as well as the changes in FM and FFM between the two timepoints, were tested using paired t-test, Bland-Altman plots and regression analyses.

Results: The mean (standard deviation [SD]) body mass index (BMI) at 2 weeks pp was 30.6 (2.6) kg/m² and mean (SD) weight loss at 6 months pp was 4.7 (4.8) kg. BIA underestimated FM at both 2 weeks pp and 6 months pp by mean (SD) 0.7 (1.4) kg and 0.3 (1.3) kg and overestimated FFM at both timepoints by 1.2 (1.5) kg and 0.7 (1.4) kg, with proportional bias for FFM. BIA underestimated changes in FM by mean (SD) 0.5 (1.1) kg and overestimated changes in FFM by 0.5 (1.0) kg, with proportional bias for change in extracellular water by total body water. Agreement was generally high for both cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons.

Conclusions: At group level, BIA was a valid tool for assessment of FM and FFM in women with overweight and obesity at 2 weeks and 6 months pp when compared to DXA. We also consider it valid for following changes in FM and FFM over time when fluid distribution is stable.

Background: Food production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. Climate and environmental impacts from food production vary across geographical areas. To estimate these impacts of food and diets, country-specific data are needed.

Objective: This project aimed to compile an environmental impact food database, including the impact categories (ICs) global warming potential, soil acidification, freshwater and saltwater eutrophication, water use and land use, representative of the Norwegian diet.

Design: The compilation was based on literature searches for original life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on foods, including domestic and imported foods, which constitute the habitual diet in Norway. Food items of importance in the average Norwegian diet were identified based on the national dietary survey Norkost 3. The study's generic system boundaries included impacts from farm to fork: production, processing, packaging, transportation, storage and food preparation at home. Conversion factors for edible portions were applied when relevant. When LCA data of a certain food were missing, data from foods with similar cultivation conditions and nutritional composition were used as proxies. Data from other LCA food databases were also used if original LCA studies were not identified, or the LCA studies found were evaluated as being of poor quality.

Results: The compiled database is tailored specifically for and covers main animal- and plant-based foods in the Norwegian diet.

Discussion: Limitations of the compilation project include the fact that most LCA studies identified in the present project covered ICs up to the farm gate and used varying methodology. Also, proxy values were used when data for specific food items were missing. These methodological issues introduce variability and complicate direct comparisons. The strength of the present study is the thorough work in compiling and filling data gaps for the IC values of foods in the Norwegian diet.

Conclusions: The Norwegian LCA food database enables simultaneous estimation of food and nutrient intakes and estimation of climate and environmental impacts of Norwegian diets.

Objective: Myricetin is a bioactive compound in many edible plants. We have previously demonstrated that myricetin could significantly protect mice against colitis by regulating Treg/Th17 balance, while underlying mechanism remains unclear. The current study aimed to unravel the potential regulating mechanism of myricetin.

Methods: The concentrations of 22 amino acids in colon were determined using HPLC-MS/MS and principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the data. MetaboAnalyst was used to detect potential biological pathway influenced by myricetin. The results were further verified using qPCR, molecular docking method, and AhR inhibitor.

Results: Studies had found that the biosynthesis of phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan; phenylalanine metabolism; and histidine metabolism were the most important pathways related to myricetin. Therefore, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which is closely related to the metabolism of tryptophan, phenylalanine, and tyrosine, was postulated to be the underlying signaling pathways. Furthermore, administration of myricet in significantly increased the relative expressions of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1, whereas AhR inhibitor abolished the amelioration of myricetin on DSS-induced colitis. Moreover, AhR inhibitor weakened the regulatory effect of myricetin on Treg/Th17 balance. Furthermore, the results obtained by the molecular docking method speculated that myricetin could bind to AhR as a ligand and activate AhR.

Conclusion: The results suggested that myricetin could exert its protection against dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis by activating AhR signaling pathway.