To make healthy food choices, consumers need to be aware of the sugar content of foods. Units act as an environmental cue that might influence sugar content estimation accuracy. The present study (1) tested whether estimations of sugar content is more accurate in sugar cubes vs grams, (2) compared accuracy of sugar content to estimations of the foods’ weight and energy content, and (3) investigated gender, education, and Body-Mass Index (BMI) as potential correlates. A sample of 886 adults were randomly assigned to estimating the sugar content of 10 common foods in grams or cubes. Estimations of sugar content diverged considerably from actual values in both groups (0.22 ≤ Cohen's dsgram ≤ 1.20; 0.20 ≤ Cohen's dscubes ≤ 1.10), but was more pronounced for sugar content estimations in grams in 7 out of 10 foods (ts ≥ 4.04, ps < .001, Cohen's ds ≥ 0.14). Sugar content misestimation was somewhat more pronounced than misestimation of weight (0.05 ≤ Cohen's ds ≤ 1.43) and energy content (0.04 ≤ Cohen's ds ≤ 1.19). Relationships between sugar content misestimation and gender (0.00 ≤ Cohen's ds ≤ 0.33), education (-.07 ≤ r ≤ .11), and BMI (-.08 ≤ r ≤ .06) were mostly negligible. Although sugar content estimations were somewhat more accurate in sugar cubes vs grams, estimation accuracy is generally low. In addition to promoting consumers’ knowledge through labelling and education, additional avenues for interventions might need to be explored for sizeable effects on food choices.

This study represents the first investigation into the safety of a novel, high-purity spermidine-trihydrochloride supplement (hpSPD) in humans. Spermidine, a natural compound found in various foods, has demonstrated potential health benefits in animal and epidemiological studies. However, evidence from clinical trials and safety evaluations of spermidine supplements is limited as pure spermidine for human administration has not been available. In this randomized, double-blind, within subject and placebo-controlled trial, 37 healthy men (50-70 years old, BMI 18.5-28 kg/m2) were administered either hpSPD or a placebo. We hypothesized that 7-day and 28-day dosing of 40 mg/day of hsSPD would have minimal effects on safety, although metabolic and polyamine homeostasis has not previously been examined at this dosage level. Consistent with our hypothesis, 40 mg/day hpSPD did not result in any significant changes in clinical, lipids, chemistry, or hematological parameters compared to placebo. Compliance was high, and no study product-related adverse events were reported. Substantial changes in serum and urine polyamine concentrations were not observed following hpSPD supplementation, suggesting effective homeostatic control of full dose highly purified spermidine supplements with no evidence of adaptation of spermidine metabolism at 40 mg/day. These findings suggest that hpSPD at 40 mg/day for up to 28 days is safe and well-tolerated in healthy older men. The study is consistent with preclinical results and provides important evidence supporting the safety of high-purity spermidine supplementation, enabling further research with single molecule spermidine to investigate its potential biology for improving human health. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05459961).

Alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3, ALA) intake may have a beneficial effect in reducing cancer risk; however, its association with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk remains conflict. Additionally, ALA was emphasized to be associated with mucins, an important glycoproteins family within the intestine. Thus, we hypothesized that a higher dietary ALA intake may reduce the risk of CRC and this preventative effect has an interaction with mucin 4 (MUC4) rs2246901. We conducted a case-control study at the National Cancer Center in Korea, involving 1,039 cases and 1,982 controls, aiming to determine the interaction of the MUC4 rs2246901 polymorphism and ALA intake in CRC risk. Dietary ALA intake was collected via semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQFFQ), categorizing by four quartiles. We evaluated the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) through unconditional logistic regression models. Higher dietary ALA intake was found to be inversely associated with CRC risk (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.58, 95% CI=0.45-0.75, p for trend <0.001). No significant association between MUC4 rs2246901 polymorphism and CRC risk was found. In recessive model, MUC4 rs2246901 seemed to modify this association; participants with at least one major allele (A) and higher ALA intake had a significantly lower CRC risk than those who had a lower intake (aOR=0.56, 95% CI=0.43-0.72, p interaction=0.047). A higher dietary ALA was proposed as a potential protective nutrient against CRC. Moreover, this association might be influenced by presence of the MUC4 rs2246901 polymorphism.

A lack of consumption of a diversified diet is associated with poor physical and cognitive development in children. Evidence on the relationship between minimum dietary diversity (MDD) and childhood malnutrition remains inconclusive in India. We hypothesized that children aged 6 to 23 months on a diversified diet (five out of eight defined foods and beverages) are less likely to be malnourished (stunting, wasting, and underweight) compared to their counterparts who are not on a diversified diet. This cross-sectional study was based on the 2019-2021 National Family Health Survey of India, comprising a weighted sample of 57,714 children aged 6 to 23 months. Multilevel logistic regression was conducted for data analysis. The results showed a significant protective effect of dietary diversity on underweight (odds ratios [OR] = 0.91; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.86-0.96). In addition, children who did not consume eggs (OR = 1.09; 95% CI; 1.03-1.15), dairy products (OR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.17-1.27), or fruits and vegetables (OR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.06-1.17) were more likely to be underweight than children who did. Children who did not consume dairy products, fruits, and vegetables were also more likely to be stunted and wasted. However, we did not find significant associations of MDD with wasting and stunting. Nutritional interventions promoting daily consumption of dairy products, eggs, fruit, and vegetables are recommended to address the growing problem of childhood malnutrition in India. Regions with higher rates of malnutrition and those lacking MDD, such as Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, should be prioritized.

Randomized controlled trials (RCT) demonstrate that whole wheat consumption improves glycemia. However, substantial inter-individual variation is often observed, highlighting that dietary whole grain recommendations may not support the health of all persons. The objective of this report is to describe the rationale and design of a planned RCT aimed at establishing the gut microbiota and metabolome signatures that predict whole wheat-mediated improvements in blood glucose tolerance in adults with prediabetes. It is hypothesized that a controlled diet containing wheat bread (WHEAT; 160 g/day) compared with refined bread (WHITE) will improve glucose tolerance in a gut microbiota-mediated manner. Biospecimens will be collected before and after each 2-wk study arm. Testing for oral glucose tolerance test and gastrointestinal permeability will be performed post-intervention. Assessments will include oral glucose tolerance (primary outcome) and secondary outcomes including gut microbiota, targeted and untargeted metabolomics of fecal and plasma samples, intestinal and host inflammatory responses, and intestinal permeability. WHEAT is predicted to alleviate glucose intolerance by shifting microbiota composition to increase short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria while reducing populations implicated in intestinal inflammation, barrier dysfunction, and systemic endotoxemia. Further, benefits from WHEAT are anticipated to correlate with gut-level and systemic metabolomic responses that can help to explain the expected inter-individual variability in glucose tolerance. Thus, knowledge gained from integrating multi-omic responses associating with glucose tolerance could help to establish a precision nutrition-based framework that can alleviate cardiometabolic risk. This framework could inform novel dietary whole grain recommendations by enhancing our understanding of inter-individual responsiveness to whole grain consumption.

The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) is a tool to evaluate the inflammatory potential of diets. Our research hypothesized that a higher DII score would be associated with an increased risk of dyslipidemia and that this outcome may differ by sex. Data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study were used. The analysis included participants aged 40-69 years from the HEXA study (n = 40,500) and the Ansan-Ansung study (n = 4,701). The mean follow-up was 5.03 years for the HEXA study and 8.14 years for the Ansan–Ansung study. The DII scores were calculated based on dietary data. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to calculate hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). In pooled analyses, a high DII score was associated with a higher risk of dyslipidemia and its components. Sex-specific analyses revealed associations only in women. A pro-inflammatory diet, as indicated by a higher DII score, was associated with an increased risk of hypercholesterolemia, hyper-low-density lipoprotein cholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and dyslipidemia, with HR of 1.17 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.29), 1.16 (95% CI: 1.03, 1.29), 1.32 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.52), and 1.17 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.26), respectively. However, among men, there was no association between DII and dyslipidemia. These findings emphasize the inflammation feature of existing dietary patterns in influencing the development of dyslipidemia and related health issues. Further research will be needed to identify the mechanisms of how DII scores affect the risk of dyslipidemia.