The American journal of clinical nutrition
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Meta Analysis
Cholesterol-lowering effects of oat β-glucan: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Health claims regarding the cholesterol-lowering effect of soluble fiber from oat products, approved by food standards agencies worldwide, are based on a diet containing ≥3 g/d of oat β-glucan (OBG). Given the number of recently published randomized controlled trials (RCTs), it is important to update the findings of previous meta-analyses. ⋯ Adding ≥3 g OBG/d to the diet reduces LDL and total cholesterol by 0.25 mmol/L and 0.30 mmol/L, respectively, without changing HDL cholesterol or triglycerides.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effect of daily vitamin B-12 and folic acid supplementation on fracture incidence in elderly individuals with an elevated plasma homocysteine concentration: B-PROOF, a randomized controlled trial.
Elevated plasma homocysteine concentrations are a risk factor for osteoporotic fractures. Lowering homocysteine with combined vitamin B-12 and folic acid supplementation may reduce fracture risk. ⋯ These data show that combined vitamin B-12 and folic acid supplementation had no effect on osteoporotic fracture incidence in this elderly population. Exploratory subgroup analyses suggest a beneficial effect on osteoporotic fracture prevention in compliant persons aged >80 y. However, treatment was also associated with increased incidence of cancer, although the study was not designed for assessing cancer outcomes. Therefore, vitamin B-12 plus folic acid supplementation cannot be recommended at present for fracture prevention in elderly people. The B-PROOF study was registered with the Netherlands Trial Register (trialregister.nl) as NTR1333 and at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00696414.
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In Mexico, stunting and anemia have declined but are still high in some regions and subpopulations, whereas overweight and obesity have increased at alarming rates in all age and socioeconomic groups. ⋯ Although some prevalences of double burden were lower than expected, assuming independent distributions of the 2 conditions, the coexistence of stunting, overweight or obesity, and anemia at the national, household, and intraindividual levels in Mexico calls for policies and programs to prevent the 3 conditions.
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Ecuador's current nutrition policies have not taken adequate notice of the double burden of malnutrition and continue to focus on stunting and to a lesser extent on overweight, without addressing the simultaneous presence of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight or obesity (OW/OB). ⋯ This article shows the coexistence of high rates of undernutrition and OW/OB at the individual, household, and national levels in Ecuador. Although integrated approaches to address the emerging double burden are required, public health policies to date have not responded adequately.