The American journal of clinical nutrition
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Possible effects of Ramadan fasting on anthropometric and metabolic variables were investigated in healthy Tunisian Moslem women. Total daily energy intake remained unchanged whereas the qualitative components of nutrients were markedly affected. Neither body weight nor body composition were influenced by Ramadan fasting. ⋯ The circadian evolution of nutrient oxidation rates was modified. Fat oxidation was increased and carbohydrate oxidation was decreased during the light span of the nycthemeron. Qualitative and quantitative circadian changes in feeding associated with Ramadan might be counterbalanced by specific metabolic changes in order to preserve normal body weight and composition.
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The rise of blood glucose in normal and diabetic subjects after meals varies markedly and depends on many factors, including the source of the carbohydrate, its method of preparation, and the composition of the total meal. Classification of carbohydrates as simple or complex does not predict their effects on blood glucose or insulin. Rapidly absorbed carbohydrates, which produce large blood glucose and insulin responses, may be in the form of both sugars and starches. ⋯ The natural sugars in fruit and fruit juices raise blood glucose approximately as much as does sucrose and less than do most refined starchy carbohydrate foods. The optimum amount of sugars in the diet is not known. However, undue avoidance of sugars is not necessary for blood glucose control and is not advised because it may result in increased intakes of fat and high-glycemic-index starch.
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Carbohydrate sweeteners in the diet, which are sources of added sugars, have recently undergone changes that vary considerably among countries. The major driving force for these changes is a technological development that permits conversion of corn and other starches to sweeteners. Major changes in the type of sweeteners used in the United States began in the mid-1970s. ⋯ A UK Department of Health report followed in 1989. An overview of issues is provided, terminologies used to describe sugars and sweeteners are defined, the findings of the US and UK reports are reviewed, trends in the availability of added and naturally occurring sugars are evaluated, and recommendations for future assessment of sugars are discussed. The potential problem of underreporting of food intakes in national food consumption surveys is also reviewed.
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It has been suggested that infants born to overweight parents are at risk of becoming overweight because of reduced total energy expenditure (TEE). We therefore examined the relationship between infant TEE and parental nutritional status as assessed by body mass index (BMI) in a large sample of healthy infants. TEE was measured by the doubly labeled water method in 124 infants at 12 wk of age. ⋯ No aspect of infant energy expenditure was found to be related to parental BMI. Moreover, there was no difference between TEE of two subsets of infants born to parents with high and low BMIs. We therefore find no evidence for parental body composition being associated with reduced infant energy expenditure at 12 wk of age.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effect of the energy density of a solid-liquid meal on gastric emptying and satiety.
The effect of the energy density of a meal on gastric emptying and satiety was assessed in nine volunteers. They ingested, in randomized order, a diluted (2671 kJ/L, 950 mL) and a concentrated (7452 kJ/L, 350 mL) test meal of 2500 kJ each (80% as solids). ⋯ Both the intensity and duration of satiety correlated significantly with the gastric emptying time for solids (r = 0.60 and 0.67, respectively, P < 0.01). These results show that satiety depends on gastric emptying of energy and is not affected by the energy density of food intake.