Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care
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Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care · Nov 2015
ReviewAn update on Curcuma as a functional food in the control of cancer and inflammation.
Curcumin, commonly known as turmeric, is a spice that comes from the root Curcuma longa. The present article presents an update of new studies of curcumin activities as tested in anticancer models from 2011 to 2015. ⋯ The laboratory and the clinical studies until 2011 were summarized in a review published in this journal. An update of the new studies and knowledge from 2011 to March 2015 focuses on new ways to overcome its low bioavailability and data from clinical trials.
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Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care · Sep 2015
ReviewNoncoeliac gluten sensitivity: a diagnostic dilemma.
Noncoeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) has gained attention as an emerging clinical entity. Data regarding the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and management of NCGS are scattered in view of the diagnostic uncertainty surrounding the disorder. We aim to provide a current perspective of NCGS and its associated controversies. ⋯ Physicians are increasingly being posed with the dilemma of patients presenting with self-reported NCGS. However, this appears to be the tip of the iceberg and future studies are in need of delineating which gluten-based component is responsible for each individual patient's complaint.
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Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care · Mar 2015
ReviewVitamin C supplementation in the critically ill patient.
Vitamin C is not only an essential nutrient involved in many anabolic pathways, but also an important player of the endogenous antioxidant defense. Low plasma levels are very common in critical care patients and may reflect severe deficiency states. ⋯ The recent research on the modulation of oxidative stress and endothelial protection offer interesting therapeutic perspectives, based on the biochemical evidence, with limited or even absent side-effects.
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Muscle wasting is common in severe critical illness. ICU-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) contributes to acute and long-term morbidity and mortality. The question remains whether nutrition therapy in ICU can prevent or attenuate these complications. This review aims at integrating the most recent clinical data in order to answer this important clinical and research question. Clinical evidence was obtained from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Results from animal experiments and observational studies are referred to when - respectively - providing possible explanatory mechanisms or new hypotheses. ⋯ Current evidence does not support improved physical function with increased energy/protein provision in the first ICU week. Future RCTs aimed at reducing the burden of ICU-AW and improving long-term function should particularly focus on nutrition beyond the acute phase of critical illness and on non-nutritional interventions such as early mobilization.
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Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care · Mar 2015
ReviewShould enteral nutrition be started in the first week of critical illness?
To review the mechanistic evidence for early enteral nutrition in critically ill patients within the first week of ICU admission. ⋯ Despite the wide range of quality in the current clinical outcomes evidence, early enteral nutrition within the first week of ICU admission, delivered to the appropriate patient, promotes gut-mediated immunity, lowers metabolic response to stress, maintains microbial diversity, and improves clinical outcomes versus standard of care or parenteral nutrition therapy.