The British journal of nutrition
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The scientific community has become increasingly interested in the overall quality of diets rather than in single food-based or single nutrient-based approaches to examine diet-disease relationships. Despite the plethora of indices used to measure diet quality, there still exist questions as to which of these can best predict health outcomes. The present study aimed to compare the ability of five diet quality indices, namely the Recommendation Compliance Index (RCI), Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS), and Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), to detect changes in chronic disease risk biomarkers. ⋯ Compared with other dietary patterns, higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a favourable cardiometabolic, hepatic and renal risk profile. Diets congruent with current universally accepted guidelines may be insufficient to prevent chronic diseases. Clinicians and public health decision makers should be aware of needs to improve the current dietary guidelines.
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The consumption of ready-made meals, such as pre-packaged dishes, available at grocery stores and fast-food restaurants, is a habit related to our modern fast-paced lives. No study has examined the association of daily ready-made meal consumption with diet quality or health-related outcomes. The present study aimed to investigate the association between self-reported ready-made meal consumption and diet quality, as measured by compliance with dietary recommendations and with a set of adiposity measures, in a nationally representative sample of 1352 subjects, aged 18-69 years, participating in the nationwide population-based ORISCAV-LUX (Observation of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Luxembourg) survey. ⋯ The fractions (%) of macro- and micronutrients derived from daily consumption of ready-made meals varied from 10% for total cholesterol to 0.65% for total fibre. Increased consumption of ready-made meals was found to be independently associated with abdominal obesity. On controlling for age, sex, socio-economic status and lifestyle factors, daily consumption of ready-made meals was found to be associated with higher energy intake and with poor compliance with national nutritional recommendations, and hence it could plausibly increase the risk of central obesity and fat deposition.
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The dietary patterns of immigrants usually change with the duration of residence and progressively resemble those of the host country. However, very few studies have investigated individuals migrating to countries with a high-quality diet, such as the Mediterranean diet (MD), and none has yet focused on Latin-American immigrants. The present study examined the association of the duration of residence with obesity-related eating habits and dietary patterns among Latin-American immigrants residing in Spain. ⋯ A longer duration of residence in Spain was found to be associated with both healthy and unhealthy changes in some eating habits and dietary patterns among Latin-American immigrants. Some of the healthy changes observed contrasted the 'Westernisation' of the diet reported in studies conducted in other Western countries. The results of the present study support the role of the food environment of the host country in the modification of the dietary patterns of immigrants.
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Comparative Study
Impact of fish oils on the outcomes of a mouse model of acute Pseudomonas aeruginosa pulmonary infection.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic Gram-negative bacterium that causes pneumonia in immunocompromised humans and severe pulmonary damage in patients with cystic fibrosis. Imbalanced fatty acid incorporation in membranes, including increased arachidonic acid and decreased DHA concentrations, is known to play a critical role in chronic inflammation associated with bacterial infection. Other lipids, such as EPA and alkylglycerols, are also known to play a role in inflammation, particularly by stimulating the immune system, decreasing inflammation and inhibiting bacterial growth. ⋯ In our model, DHA/EPA (2:1) significantly improved the survival of mice after infection, which was associated with the acceleration of bacterial clearance and the resolution of inflammation leading to the improvement of pulmonary injuries. By contrast, alkylglycerols did not affect the outcomes of P. aeruginosa infection. Our findings suggest that supplementation with ray oil enriched in DHA/EPA (2:1) can be considered as a preventive treatment for patients at risk for P. aeruginosa infection.