Vegetable Food Consumption Research Articles

Pollen-Food Allergy Syndrome: A not so Rare Disease in Childhood.

Seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (SAR) affects millions of people worldwide, particularly in childhood and adolescence. Pollen food allergy syndrome (PFAS) is a common adverse reaction occurring few minutes after the consumption of vegetable foods in patients with pollen-induced SAR. PFAS has rarely been investigated in the pediatric population, as it has been mainly examined as an adult disease. Recent studies suggested that PFAS might be more frequent in childhood than previously recognized. The present review aims to give an overview of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, management and prognosis of PFAS in children with SAR-induced by pollens.

The Intake of Taurine and Major Food Source of Taurine in Elementary School Children in Korea.

Taurine is a β-amino acid found most broadly distributed in human body, abundant in animal foods, and has an antioxidative function. Current nutritional intake and dietary habits of children in elementary schools show low level of the intake of vegetable foods and high level of the intake of processed foods and fast foods; this necessitates the emphasis of the intake of antioxidative nutrients for children. On account of the less consumption of vegetable foods as a main source of antioxidative nutrients for elementary school children, animal foods containing abundant amount of taurine can be preferably taken as an alternative foods therefor. Many previous studies have reported the protein intake of the children in elementary schools so far. However, the studies, reported the intake of taurine of elementary school children, are few. Thus, this study analyzed taurine and nutrients intake for children in Daegu, Korea. The average daily energy intake of the children was 153 ± 155mg/day. The mean taurine intake values are followed; 27.6 ± 11.6mg/day in the Q1 group, 61.2 ± 10.0mg/day in the Q2 group, 137.7 ± 51.1mg/day in the Q3 group, and 385.9 ± 123.6mg/day in the Q4 group (p<.001). Q3 and Q4 groups showed significantly higher level of the intake of vitamin D, vitamin B12, Calcium, and folate than those of Q1 and Q2 groups. In the study, foods that affected the intake of taurine were as followed; fish and shellfish (79%), meat (14%), seaweed (5%), and other food products (2%).As a consequence, Taurine intake appears to be affected by seafood intake, and if seafood is consumed primarily, the amount of energy intake would be appropriate and will contribute to the increase of intakes of taurine, calcium and vitamin D.

Correlates of overweight and obesity among urban adolescents in Bihar, India

Background:For better perception of adolescent overweight and obesity as a global public health problem, systematic collection of baseline data is urgently needed in India.Objective:A community-based study was undertaken for better perception of the prevalence and correlates of obesity in an adolescent urban community in Katihar, Bihar.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted among urban adolescents in the eastern part of India to find out prevalence of overweight and obesity and sociodemographic correlates by interview technique followed by clinical examination with ethical consideration.Results:Out of 400 adolescent study participants, 21% were overweight or obese. The study showed that there was a significant association between less consumption of vegetable foods, fruits, meals cooked outside the home, alcohol consumption, yoga practice, socioeconomic status, and the occurrence of overweight/obesity in the adolescents.Conclusions:We attempted to find out the prevalence and risk correlates of overweight and obesity among adolescents and found it quite alarming compared to developed countries. The urban underserved population in India has difficulty to access quality healthcare and not conscious enough to seek healthcare until critically ill. Community-based studies are required to highlight the problem of obesity among urban adolescents by a comprehensive approach.

Micronutrient-enriched rapeseed oils reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors in rats fed a high-fat diet

Many epidemiological studies have demonstrated that vegetable food consumption is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases. The beneficial effects have been attributed to the content of bioactive molecules present in large quantities in plant food. The main proposal of this study was to evaluate in vivo whether micronutrient-enriched rapeseed oils (optimised oils) obtained using different crushing and refining procedures and characterised by different quantities and qualities of micronutrients, could have any beneficial effect on lipid profile and antioxidant status of plasma and liver. Sprague–Dawley rats were fed a high-fat diet for 4 weeks. The lipid source consisted of 20% optimised rapeseed oils with different quantities and qualities of micronutrients. The control group received traditional refined rapeseed oil. The experimental optimised oils all had a hypolipidaemic effect. In the group fed the highest levels of micronutrients, the reduction in plasma and hepatic triglycerides reached 25% and 17%, respectively, that of cholesterol 20% and 14%, respectively. In plasma, the ferric antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and reduced glutathione significantly increased and lipid peroxidation decreased in parallel with the enhancement of micronutrients. The same trend was observed in the liver, except for glutathione peroxidase which was not affected by optimised oils. These results indicate that a regular intake of optimised rapeseed oils can help to improve lipid status and prevent oxidative stress, providing evidence that optimised oils could be a functional food with potentially important cardioprotective properties.

Nutritional and oxidative status in occupational obese subjects

Nutritional status, referred to meat and vegetable food consumption, is related to folate and B12 vitamin levels; hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is due to folate and B12 vitamin–methionine metabolism imbalance, which can lead to oxidative stress, OS (imbalance between reactive oxygen species, ROS, and total antioxidant capacity, TAC). Possible early vitamin B12 (B12) deficiency can be highlighted by holotranscobalamin (HoloTC, bioactive cobalamin fraction) assay. Erythrocyte folate is a biomarker of 2- to 3-month folate storage. To evaluate nutritional status and OS we conducted an observational study on 118 occupational obese subjects (34M/84F, aged 16–69, median 46.5 years; BMI 26.5–54.1, median 33.3 kg/m2) without previous cardiovascular disease. Serum TAC and ROS (spectrophotometry, Diacron International, Italy), serum B12 and HoloTC, serum and erythrocyte folate, plasma Hcy (immunoenzymatic, AxSYM, Abbott Diagnostics, USA), lipid panel and inflammatory parameters by routine methods. All subjects showed adequate serum and erythrocyte folate levels, but HoloTC values revealed cobalamin deficiency in 30% of cases not congruent with B12 concentrations, low only in 10%. 43% of cases showed mild HHcy (>10.5 μmol/L; median 12.44 μmol/L, IQR 11.2–16.2). OS was found by normal mean TAC values (370.5 micromolHClO/mL, 340–405; n.v. > 350) but increased mean ROS concentrations (386 CarrU, 337–434; n.v. 250–300) in 93% of subjects. Normal folate and B12 vitamin levels revealed a good nutritional status in our occupational obese subjects. The presence of Oxidative Stress, due to imbalance between ROS and TAC and mild hyperhomocysteinemia may heighten the obesity-related cardiovascular risk.

Worldwide incidence of hip fracture in elderly women: relation to consumption of animal and vegetable foods.

Hip fracture, a major health problem in elderly persons, varies in incidence among the populations of different countries and is directly related to animal protein intake, a finding that suggests that bone integrity is compromised by endogenous acid production consequent to the metabolism of animal proteins. If that is so, vegetable foods might provide a countervailing effect, because they are a rich source of base (bicarbonate) in the form of metabolizable organic anions, which can neutralize protein-derived acid and supply substrate (carbonate) for bone formation. We analyzed reported hip fracture incidence (HFI) data among countries (N = 33) in women aged 50 years and older, in relation to corresponding country-specific data on per capita consumption of vegetable and animal foods as reported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. HFI varied directly with total (r = +.67, p < .001) and animal (r = +.82, p < .001) protein intake and inversely with vegetable protein intake (r = .37, p < .04). The countries in the lowest tertile of HFI (n = 11) had the lowest animal protein consumption, and invariably, vegetable protein (VP) consumption exceeded the country's corresponding intake of animal protein (AP): VP/AP > 1.0. By contrast, among the countries in the highest tertile of HFI, animal protein intake exceeded vegetable protein intake in nearly every case (10 of 11 countries). Among all countries, HFI correlated inversely and exponentially with the ratio of vegetable/animal protein intake (r = -.84, p < .001) and accounted for 70% of the total variation in HFI. Adjusted for total protein intake, vegetable food consumption was an independent negative predictor of HFI. All findings were similar for the subset of 23 countries whose populations are predominantly Caucasian. The findings suggest that the critical determinant of hip fracture risk in relation to the acid-base effects of diet is the net load of acid in the diet, when the intake of both acid and base precursors is considered. Moderation of animal food consumption and an increased ratio of vegetable/animal food consumption may confer a protective effect.