Nutrition
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The importance of food consumption in relation to human health has increased consumer attention in nutraceutical components and foods, especially fruits and vegetables. Berries are a rich source of a wide variety of non-nutritive, nutritive, and bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, phenolics, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, stilbenes, and tannins, as well as nutritive compounds such as sugars, essential oils, carotenoids, vitamins, and minerals. Bioactive compounds from berries have potent antioxidant, anticancer, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antineurodegenerative properties, both in vitro and in vivo. The following is a comprehensive and critical review on nutritional and non-nutritional bioactive compounds of berries including their absorption, metabolism, and biological activity in relation to their potential effect on human health.
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Insulin resistance (IR) and white adipose tissue (WAT) dysfunction frequently are associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); however, the pathogenic mechanisms contributing to their clustering are not well defined. The aim of this study was to define some nutritional, anthropometric, metabolic, and genetic mechanisms contributing to their clustering. ⋯ Patients exhibiting NAFLD and IR had preferential central fat deposition directly related to their serum alanine aminotransferase levels. These patients showed peripheral adipose tissue dysfunction and exhibited inappropriately low LEP biosynthesis that could be partially restored after anabolic conditions induced by insulin signaling.
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There is a substantial interest in the potential role of chocolate in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It has been recently reported that a higher frequency of chocolate intake is linked to lower body mass index (BMI) in adults. The aim of the present study was to determine if higher chocolate consumption also is associated with lower BMI, as well as other markers of total and central body fat, in adolescents. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that a higher chocolate consumption was associated with lower total and central fatness in European adolescents.
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For hospitalized patients requiring parenteral nutrition (PN), adequate nutritional support has a profound effect on hospital length of stay, morbidity, mortality, and complication rates. Inappropriate or inadequate nutritional therapy may worsen clinical outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate the compliance with nutritional guidelines for PN in a university hospital setting. ⋯ In routine hospital practice, PN is generally not provided in compliance with established guidelines. To improve the quality of nutritional therapy, a nutritional support team should be established. Furthermore, there should be periodical training sessions in nutrition for medical and nursing staff, as well as in standard operating procedures.
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Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystemic chronic disease that is complicated by protein-energy malnutrition (PEM). Considering that PEM also may influence left ventricular mass (LVM), the aim of this study was to evaluate whether LVM is related to patients' nutritional status and to determine clinically relevant features of SSc. ⋯ Our study shows that LVM correlates with patients' BMI, skin thickening, and the vascular domain of DSS. Therefore, LVM could serve as a marker of nutritional status and fibrosis in patients with SSc.