The Journal of nutrition
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The Journal of nutrition · Aug 2012
Food prices and poverty negatively affect micronutrient intakes in Guatemala.
Limited empirical evidence exists for how economic conditions affect micronutrient nutrition. We hypothesized that increasing poverty and rising food prices would reduce consumption of high-quality "luxury" foods, leading to an increased probability of inadequacy for several nutrients. The 2006 Guatemala National Living Conditions Survey was analyzed. ⋯ With rising food prices, zinc intake was most acutely affected under both scenarios (P < 0.05) and folate intake in the poorest quintile (+7 percentage points) under the 10% scenario. Price-nutrient elasticities were highest for vitamin B-12 and the meat, poultry, and fish group (-0.503) and for folate and the legumes group (-0.343). The economic factors of food prices and income differentially influenced micronutrient intakes in Guatemala, notably zinc and folate intakes.
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The Journal of nutrition · Jul 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyFortified malted milk drinks containing low-dose ergocalciferol and cholecalciferol do not differ in their capacity to raise serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in healthy men and women not exposed to UV-B.
Uncertainty remains regarding the efficacy of low intakes of ergocalciferol (vitamin D2 or D2) and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3 or D3) provided in food to increase serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OH-D) metabolite concentrations when UV-B exposure is low. We recruited 40 healthy men and women into a double-blind, parallel design, randomized controlled trial. Participants received placebo or 1 of 4 experimental treatments (D2 or D3 at 5 or 10 μg/d) supplied as a malted milk drink for 4 wk during a period of minimal UV-B exposure in the UK. ⋯ Increments from baseline compared with the placebo group following 5 and 10 μg/d of D2 were (mean ± SEM) 9.4 ± 2.5 and 17.8 ± 2.4 nmol/L for 25-OH-D2 and following 5 and 10 μg/d of D3 were 15.1 ± 4.7 and 22.9 ± 4.6 nmol/L for 25-OH-D3, respectively. There was no difference between D2 and D3 groups in the incremental AUC of their respective metabolites. These findings suggest that D2 and D3 are equipotent in increasing 25-OH-D in healthy men and women with negligible UV-B exposure.
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The Journal of nutrition · May 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialMultiple micronutrient-fortified rice affects physical performance and plasma vitamin B-12 and homocysteine concentrations of Indian school children.
Fortifying rice with multiple micronutrients could be a promising strategy for combat micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries. We determined the efficacy of extruded rice grains fortified with multiple micronutrients on the prevalence of anemia, micronutrient status, and physical and cognitive performance in 6- to 12-y-old, low-income school children in Bangalore, India. In a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial, 258 children were assigned to 1 of 3 intervention groups to receive rice-based lunch meals fortified with multiple micronutrients with either low-iron (6.25 mg) or high-iron (12.5 mg) concentrations or identical meals with unfortified rice. ⋯ After 6 mo, plasma vitamin B-12 and homocysteine concentrations (both P < 0.001) as well as physical performance (P < 0.05) significantly improved in the intervention arms. No between-group differences were observed in hemoglobin concentration, anemia, and deficiencies of other micronutrients or cognitive function after 6 mo, but paired analyses revealed a small reduction in anemia prevalence in children in the low-iron group. The fortified rice was efficacious in improving vitamin B-12 status and physical performance in Indian school children.
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The Journal of nutrition · Apr 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyWhole grain compared with refined wheat decreases the percentage of body fat following a 12-week, energy-restricted dietary intervention in postmenopausal women.
Observational studies show inverse associations between intake of whole grain and adiposity and cardiovascular risk; however, only a few dietary intervention trials have investigated the effect of whole-grain consumption on health outcomes. We studied the effect of replacing refined wheat (RW) with whole-grain wheat (WW) for 12 wk on body weight and composition after a 2-wk run-in period of consumption of RW-containing food intake. In this open-label randomized trial, 79 overweight or obese postmenopausal women were randomized to an energy-restricted diet (deficit of ~1250 kJ/d) with RW or WW foods providing 2 MJ/d. ⋯ Serum total and LDL cholesterol increased by ~5% (P < 0.01) in the RW group but did not change in the WW group; hence, the changes differed between the groups (P = 0.02). In conclusion, consumption of whole-grain products resulted in a greater reduction in the percentage fat mass, whereas body weight changes did not differ between the RW and WW groups. Serum total and LDL cholesterol, two important risk factors of cardiovascular disease, increased with RW but not WW consumption, which may suggest a cardioprotective role for whole grain.
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The Journal of nutrition · Apr 2012
Coffee extract attenuates changes in cardiovascular and hepatic structure and function without decreasing obesity in high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed male rats.
Coffee, a rich source of natural products, including caffeine, chlorogenic acid, and diterpenoid alcohols, has been part of the human diet since the 15th century. In this study, we characterized the effects of Colombian coffee extract (CE), which contains high concentrations of caffeine and diterpenoids, on a rat model of human metabolic syndrome. The 8-9 wk old male Wistar rats were divided into four groups. ⋯ The high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats showed the symptoms of metabolic syndrome leading to cardiovascular remodeling and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. CE supplementation attenuated impairment in glucose tolerance, hypertension, cardiovascular remodeling, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease without changing abdominal obesity and dyslipidemia. This study suggests that CE can attenuate diet-induced changes in the structure and function of the heart and the liver without changing the abdominal fat deposition.