Objective: This study evaluated the effect of leucine supplementation coupled with a calorie-restricted diet over a 12-week period in mid-life overweight and obese women on body composition and resting metabolic rate (RMR).
Method: This study was a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which 34 women were randomly assigned to either 10 g leucine (LEU) or placebo daily, while following a calorie-restricted diet A dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) analysis, metabolic rate assessment via a BodyGem® and anthropometrics were performed at baseline and after the 12-week study to determine changes in fat mass, lean mass and RMR. Main variables were analyzed using 2 (condition) by 2 (time) mixed design ANOVAs with repeated measures. Odds ratio was calculated by counting the number of individuals gaining or maintaining lean mass (p ≤ .05).
Results: Both groups lost a significant amount of weight due to both fat and lean mass loss, but there was no significant difference between groups, with RMR remaining unchanged over the course of the study and not significantly different between groups. The loss in lean mass was noticeably less, though not statistically significant (p = 0.644) for the women in the LEU group, with 38% vs. 6%, gaining or retaining lean mass during the intervention relative to the placebo.
Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that a greater proportion of mid-life overweight or obese women taking LEU supplements gained or maintained lean mass during intentional weight loss, though it did not reach a level of statistical significance.
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammatory disease causing more than three million deaths annually around the world. Previous studies have shown an increased incidence of COPD among smokers. Studies also have shown antioxidant nutrients such as carotenoids, have been associated with lower rates of COPD.
Objective: To investigate if the consumption of carotenoids and carotenoid-rich foods is associated with higher pulmonary function.
Methods: Data were taken from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, which included approximately 15,000 individuals aged 45-64 years at baseline. Dietary intake of carotenoids and carotenoid-rich foods were assessed by food frequency questionnaire. Total carotenoid intake was calculated by summing five specific carotenoids: α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, and lutein/zeaxanthin. Pulmonary function was evaluated as the ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second [FEV1] and forced vital capacity [FVC]. Linear regression analysis was used to assess the association between the intakes of carotenoids and carotenoid-rich foods and pulmonary function. Significance level was p < 0.05.
Results: A positive association between the total carotenoid intake with pulmonary function was only marginally significant; however, α-carotene, β-carotene, and β-cryptoxanthin were each positively associated (p = 0.001, p = 0.003, p = 0.007, respectively) with FEV1/FVC ratio in study participants. Food sources of these pro-vitamin A carotenes were also positively associated (p = 0.008) with FEV1/FVC ratio.
Conclusions: This study suggests a possible role for the provitamin A carotenes, and their associated foods in improved pulmonary health.
Background: As effective medication to treat COVID-19 is currently unavailable, preventive remedies may be particularly important.
Objective: To examine the relationship between serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) level and COVID-19 infection, its severity, and its clinical case characteristics.
Methods: This case-control study compared serum 25(OH)D levels and rates of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) between 80 healthy controls and 62 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted to Guangxi People's Hospital, China, 2/16/2020-3/16/2020. Cases were categorized into asymptomatic, mild/moderate, and severe/critical disease. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations between 25(OH)D level, or VDD, and case status/severity of COVID-19 while controlling for demographics and comorbidities. A threshold level of vitamin D for conveying COVID-19 risk was estimated.
Results: Severe/critical COVID-19 cases were significantly older and had higher percentages of comorbidity (renal failure) compared to mild cases. The serum 25(OH)D concentration in COVID-19 patient was much lower than that in healthy control. And 25(OH)D level was the lowest in severe/critical cases, compared with mild cases. In further, significantly higher rates of VDD were found in COVID-19 cases (41.9%) compared to healthy controls (11.1%). And VDD was the greatest in severe/critical cases (80%), compared with mild cases (36%). These statistically significant associations remained even after controlling for demographics and comorbidities. A potential threshold of 25(OH)D (41.19 nmol/L) to protect against COVID-19 was identified.
Conclusion: Elderly and people with comorbidities were susceptible to severe COVID-19 infection. VDD was a risk factor for COVID-19, especially for severe/critical cases. While further confirmation is needed, vitamin D supplementation may have prevention or treatment potential for COVID-19 disease.
The paper "Combating COVID-19 and Building Immune Resilience: A Potential Role for Magnesium Nutrition?" by TC Wallace, which was published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition highlights the importance of adequate magnesium (Mg) supply in relation to COVID-19. Wallace notes that Mg deficiency is associated with low-grade chronic inflammation. Furthermore, hypokalemia and a lack of active Vitamin D are consequences of a Mg deficit. In this way, Mg deficiency may exacerbate the course of COVID-19. Therefore, in patients with Covid-19 permanent monitoring of the Mg status and, if necessary, supplementation should be carried out. The possible importance of Mg in COVID-19 was only recently discussed also by Iotti et al. and the German Society for Magnesium Research e.V. Considering the meaningful connections between Mg and COVID-19 there are relevant research topics that should be addressed: Does Mg deficiency increase the risk of infection with COVID-19 or the risk of a severe course of the disease? Is there an increased prevalence of Mg deficiency in COVID-19 patients? Could Mg supplementation alleviate the course of the disease in COVID-19 or reduce complications? Does pharmacological induction of hypermagnesemia via intravenous Mg provide clinical benefits for COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (for example with regard to lung function or thromboembolism)?
Background: Robust evidence has related yellow passion fruit albedo and long turmeric to the metabolic and glycemic control of diabetes.
Aim: To analyze the incremental cost-effectiveness of the flour made from yellow passion fruit albedo versus long turmeric merged with piperine in the glycemic and lipid control of individuals with type 2 diabetes.
Method: Eighty-nine patients were enrolled in this randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial for 120 days. The first group was prescribed 500 mg capsules, three times a day, of yellow passion fruit albedo flour (FAMA). The second group was prescribed long turmeric capsules (500 mg), merged with piperine (5 mg) (CURPI), at fasting. The third group followed the standard advice recommendations, and ingested a placebo of carboxymethyl cellulose (500 mg) at fasting.
Results: The group using FAMA showed a higher reduction (-5.9%) of glycemia after fasting, compared to placebo (+9%), and CURPI (-3.2%) (p < 0.05). Regarding HbA1c, the study observed a significant and similar statistical reduction (-0.8%) in the intervention groups, in contrast with the placebo group (p < 0.05). The reduction in HOMA-IR in the CURPI group (-9.4%) was higher than the other groups (p < 0.05). The CURPI group also showed a higher reduction of serum triglyceride levels (-20.8%) compared to the placebo (-0.09%) and FAMA (+1.8%) (p < 0.05) groups.
Conclusion: It was concluded that turmeric is the most cost-effective in comparison with yellow passion fruit albedo, because of its decrease in the levels of triglycerides and HOMA-IR, even when adjusted for confounding variables. On the other hand, HbA1c cost-effectiveness relation was similar.
Objective: The dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) has been proposed as a suitable tool to estimate the dietary antioxidant intake. However, the main foods/groups that contribute to the dietary TAC of older adults are poorly studied. We aimed to estimate the dietary TAC and to identify the main foods/groups that contribute to the dietary TAC of older adults in a medium-sized Brazilian city.
Methods: A cross-sectional population-based survey with older adults (≥60 years old) was conducted in Viçosa, Brazil. The assessment tool for food consumption was the recall of habitual consumption. A database with ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) values for foods to evaluate the dietary TAC was used.
Results: We evaluated 620 older adults in which the majority were women. The dietary TAC mean was 11.9 (7.1) mmol/d (food only) adjusted by energy. Besides, when supplements were considered the dietary TAC increased to 35.2 (215.9) mmol/d. The food groups that contributed the most to the dietary TAC were coffee and tea, vegetables, and fruits and juices. The coffee and tea group explained most of the variability of dietary TAC (58.3%).
Conclusions: We concluded that the older adults studied had a relatively low dietary TAC consumption. The coffee and tea were the food group that contribute the most to the dietary TAC. Our data show the need to implement national strategies aimed at improving the quality of the diet of older adults. We highlight the need to increase the consumption of different food groups and, consequently, the intake of different compounds with antioxidant capacity, which will contribute to a better dietary TAC with possible positive health effects.
Objective: Using a rat diabetes model, the authors examined how substrates and products of glycolysis and key regulatory enzymes for glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, Kreb's cycle, and glycogen metabolism react to treatment with okra diet therapy, relative to glibenclamide treatment.
Method: The animal grouping involved normoglycemic rats, untreated diabetic rats, and diabetic rats treated with glibenclamide, 50% w/w okra sauce, exclusive okra sauce diet, or sauce without okra. Alloxan monohydrate was the diabetogenic agent. Insulin and adiponectin were assayed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) while the metabolites and enzymes were assed using standard spectrophotometric methods.
Results: The exclusive diet therapy significantly (p < 0.05) improved insulin activities after 60 days and reversed the altered adiponectin activities. Glucose-6-phosphate, fructose-6-phosphate, and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate levels were depleted during diabetes, but phosphoenolpyruvate and pyruvate accumulated during the first short phase of diabetes. Rats in the glibenclamide and 100% okra diet groups showed comparable hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, and pyruvate kinase activities relative to the normoglycemic rats, while the gluconeogenic enzymes, glucose-6-phosphatase, and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase remained altered. The authors observed that extended treatment with glibenclamide restored the activities of all the Kreb's cycle enzymes, while succinate dehydrogenase and α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase were nonresponsive to the okra diet therapy relative to their control levels. The glycogen stores were normalized by the exclusive diet therapy, but glycogen synthase and phosphorylase activities were unresponsive.
Conclusions: Okra diet has shown insulin-sensitizing potentials with prolonged intake during diabetes as well as the potential to reverse alterations in the major carbohydrate-metabolizing enzyme.
Due to the lack of specific and standardized treatments for the management of fibromyalgia (FM), available evidence suggests a multidisciplinary approach, and nutrition represents an important therapeutic strategy. This work aims to update the relationship between FM and nutrition, through a review of more recent scientific evidence based on a systematic research on PubMed. Of 66 records initially identified, 26 studies were selected and included in the present work. Although there is not sufficient evidence for the efficacy of specific nutritional protocols, the examined papers indicate a potential role of selected nutrients, micronutrients and food components in managing FM symptoms. However, several concerns persist as nutritional status and/or nutritional integration can improve FM symptoms, without expecting to lead to a remission of the disease. The use of targeted nutritional supplements may be of some relevance for the management of FM, but the up to date evidence remains weak. It is advisable, thus, to perform further studies of higher quality.KEY TEACHING POINTSFibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by chronic and diffuse musculoskeletal pain, often associated with a large set of symptoms.The therapeutic approach of FM include pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. Among them, an important role is played by nutrition.Of 66 record screened, 12 studies were included in the present review and five of them were randomized controlled trials. Nevertheless, the overall quality of those trials was scarce.Literature concerning FM and nutritions is growing. However, little evidence suggests that nutrition and/or nutritional intervention play a significant role on FM severity.The results of this review underline the need to carry out clinical studies of higher quality and rigor, possibly RCTs, focused on the role of nutrition in the symptoms and/or severity of FM.
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