Individual Food Intake Research Articles

Validity and reliability of a food frequency questionnaire for community dwelling older adults in a Mediterranean country: Lebanon

BackgroundFood frequency questionnaires (FFQ) is an easy and inexpensive tool that can be used to evaluate nutrient and dietary trends of groups and individuals. Few studies in the East Mediterranean region tailored FFQs to describe dietary intakes of older adults. The purpose of the study is therefore to assess the validity and reproducibility of a FFQ, designed for use with older adults living in a Mediterranean Arabic speaking country, Lebanon.MethodsThe FFQ is composed of a list of 90 food items, commonly consumed by adults above 60 years of age. Validity of the FFQ was tested using the mean of two 24-hours dietary recalls (24HDR), and reproducibility, by repeating the questionnaire within a one-month period, along the second dietary recall. Our study included 42 and 76 participants, for the repoducibility and validity analysis respectively. Subjects were randomly selected from 2 of the 8 governorates in the country.ResultsFFQ reproducibility showed a mean relative difference of 1.03% without any significant difference between all paired components of nutrients. Intra class correlation (ICC) showed good and excellent reliability for caloric intake and all macronutrients, moderate to good reliability for all remaining nutrients, except for poly-unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins A, B12 and fibers. Correlation coefficients for all nutrients were fair to strong. Both administrations of the FFQ showed good internal validity. Validation of FFQ showed a mean relative difference between FFQ and mean 24HDR at 19.5%. Agreements between the 2 methods, for classifying individuals in the same or adjacent quartile, for nutrient intake and nutrient adequacy, were 80 and 78.2% respectively. Mean Kappa coefficient was 0.56 and energy-adjusted correlations were within the recommended values for all items except for vitamin A and B12. Adjusting for nutrient-dense food intake improved the agreement for theses 2 vitamins to 0.49 and 0.56, respectively.ConclusionThe proposed FFQ can be considered a valid tool to help describe nutrient intake of older individuals in an Arabic speaking Mediterranean country. It could serve for possible use in the East Mediterranean region for the evaluation of regular dietary intake of community-dwelling older adults.

Association between Intake of Total Dairy and Individual Dairy Foods and Markers of Folate, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12 Status in the U.S. Population.

Vitamin B6, B12 and folate are required for energy metabolism and have been identified as nutrients of concern for certain population groups. This study examined the cross-sectional association between the consumption of dairy (total dairy, milk, yogurt and cheese) and biomarkers and adequacy for these nutrients in a nationally representative sample. Twenty-four-hour dietary recall data and concentrations of RBC folate (ng/mL), serum folate (ng/mL), and serum vitamins B6 (nmol/L) and B12 (pg/mL) were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2018 (n = 72,831) and were analyzed by linear and logistic regression after adjusting for demographic variables. Significance was set at p < 0.01. Mean intakes of total dairy were 2.21, 2.17, 1.83 and 1.51 cups eq among consumers aged 2–8, 9–18, 19–50 and 51+ years, respectively. Higher intakes of total dairy as well as individual dairy foods (especially milk and yogurt) were positively associated with serum and RBC folate, serum vitamin B6 and serum B12, and generally, with 9–57% lower risk of inadequate or deficient levels of these vitamins. These findings suggest that encouraging dairy consumption may be an effective strategy for improving micronutrient status and provide continued evidence to support the current dietary recommendations for dairy and dairy products.

Determinants of blood acylcarnitine concentrations in healthy individuals of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

SummaryBackground & aimsCirculating levels of acylcarnitines (ACs) have been associated with the risk of various diseases such as cancer and type 2 diabetes. Diet and lifestyle factors have been shown to influence AC concentrations but a better understanding of their biological, lifestyle and metabolic determinants is needed.MethodsCirculating ACs were measured in blood by targeted (15 ACs) and untargeted metabolomics (50 ACs) in 7770 and 395 healthy participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), respectively. Associations with biological and lifestyle characteristics, dietary patterns, self-reported intake of individual foods, estimated intake of carnitine and fatty acids, and fatty acids in plasma phospholipid fraction and amino acids in blood were assessed.ResultsAge, sex and fasting status were associated with the largest proportion of AC variability (partial-r up to 0.19, 0.18 and 0.16, respectively). Some AC species of medium or long-chain fatty acid moiety were associated with the corresponding fatty acids in plasma (partial-r = 0.24) or with intake of specific foods such as dairy foods containing the same fatty acid. ACs of short-chain fatty acid moiety (propionylcarnitine and valerylcarnitine) were moderately associated with concentrations of branched-chain amino acids (partial-r = 0.5). Intake of most other foods and of carnitine showed little association with AC levels.ConclusionsOur results show that determinants of ACs in blood vary according to their fatty acid moiety, and that their concentrations are related to age, sex, diet, and fasting status. Knowledge on their potential determinants may help interpret associations of ACs with disease risk and inform on potential dietary and lifestyle factors that might be modified for disease prevention.

Calculator for inadequate micronutrient intake for Ethiopia (CIMI-Ethiopia): Validation of the software for lactating mothers and their children under 2years.

Early identification of inadequate intake of nutrients from a person's diet is usually crucial to prevent the development of micronutrient malnutrition. However, there is no single dietary assessment tool for Ethiopia that can assess the nutrient intake of a person from the type of food she or he consumed with a given amount. Therefore, the Calculator for Inadequate Micronutrient Intake (CIMI) application was adapted in consideration of food and nutrition contexts in Ethiopia and validated for its suitability to compute nutrient intake and identify nutrient intake inadequacy. For this, a 24‐h recall quantitative dietary data of children aged 12–23 months (n = 781) and lactating mothers (n = 1086) were collected between February 15 and 30, 2017, from rural Genta Afeshum district, Tigray region, Ethiopia. An individual nutrient intake was estimated by calculating using CIMI‐Ethiopia and also by NutriSurvey (NS) software for comparison. The average (mean and median) intake of energy and most nutrients and the prevalence of inadequacy calculated by the two software for the children aged 12–23 months and lactating mothers were comparable, except that of the vitamin A. The correlation coefficients for the intake results calculated by CIMI‐Ethiopia and NS were between 0.85 and 0.97 for the children and between 0.5 and 0.96 for the lactating mothers' group. Most of the mean intake differences calculated by the two methods were within the acceptable limits, except for the vitamins A, D, and B12 in the Bland–Altman plots. CIMI‐Ethiopia is very sensitive to identifying energy, protein, and selected micronutrients inadequacy included in this study, both for the lactating mothers (84.1%–100%) and 12–23‐month‐old children (77.6%–100%) group. Our results showed that CIMI‐Ethiopia estimates the energy and nutrient intake, and can be also used as a screening tool to identify energy, protein, and selected micronutrients inadequacy from an individual woman's and child's diet in rural Tigray, Ethiopia.

Which Dietary Changes to Achieve Nutritional Adequacy While Reducing Diet Cost in the French West Indies?

ObjectivesThe French West Indies are facing increasing rates of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases. Food prices are ∼30% higher in these territories compared with mainland France, while a large part of their populations is socioeconomically disadvantaged. Economic affordability of a healthy diet is a key issue in this region. Our objective was to identify dietary changes that would allow Guadeloupean and Martinican adults to achieve nutritional adequacy while reducing the cost of their diets. MethodsDietary intakes of 1061 adults were obtained from a cross-sectional survey (2013–2014) conducted on a representative sample of the Guadeloupean and Martinican populations. Diet cost was based on mean prices of 1357 foods compiled from a Martinican supermarket website. For each adult, optimized diets respecting all nutritional recommendations and with minimized departure from initial diet were designed with linear programming under 3 scenarios: 1) all nutritional constraints, 2) all nutritional constraints without exceeding initial diet cost, and 3) all nutritional constraints while reducing diet cost by 30%. ResultsWhen cost was not constrained, achieving nutritional adequacy while departing the least from individual food intakes induced an increase in cost for most adults (74%). When cost was not allowed to increase, achieving nutritional adequacy induced an increase in the consumption of fruit & vegetables, unrefined starches, dairy products (especially milk), eggs and vegetable fats, and a decrease in sweetened beverages (especially for < 30 y), refined starches, sweetened products, meat and fish. When a 30% reduction of cost was imposed, achieving nutritional adequacy induced the same types of dietary changes than with scenario 2, but modified their magnitude (and thus the effort for consumers), notably a smaller increase in vegetables (+7 vs. +86g/d) but a larger increase in dairy (+90 vs. +72 g/d) and starchy foods (+112 vs. +54 g/d), and a larger reduction in meat (–48 vs. –12 g/d). Increases in fruits (∼+80g/d) and unrefined starches (+127 g/d) and decrease in sweetened beverages (∼–100 g/d) were still observed. ConclusionsNutrition prevention programs promoting the affordable dietary changes identified in this study could help improve nutritional adequacy of the Guadeloupean and Martinican populations. Funding SourcesFrench National Research Agency.

Shedding light on human tissue (in vivo) to predict satiation, satiety, and food intake using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy: A preliminary study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of a portable near infrared (NIR) instrument to collect the spectra in vivo of different tissues in healthy individuals and to relate their spectral information with food and energy intake, satiation, and satiety data. In this study, a hand-held NIR instrument was used to collect the spectra of different human tissues (e.g. arm, ear, face, jaw and wrist) with partial least squares (PLS) regression used to relate the NIR data with food and energy intake, satiation, and satiety measured in healthy individuals. The coefficient of determination in cross-validation (R2CV) and the standard error in cross validation (SECV) for the prediction of satiety ranged between 0.58 and 0.62 and 223.3–235.0 total area under the curve (AUC), respectively, depending on the tissue analysed. The PLS cross-validation models based on the NIR spectra collected in both the arm and face tissues gave the best prediction of food intake (R2CV 0.47–0.51, SECV 110.8-115 g). No workable calibrations were developed for the prediction of satiation, which might be associated with the inherent complexity of this parameter as well as the experimental conditions used to collect the data (e.g. type of tissue analysed). These results demonstrated the potential ability of in vivo NIR spectroscopy to identify tissue differences associated with satiety and food intake in individuals. However, a wider variety of food types, diets, and human subjects (samples) are needed to develop robust relationships between the NIR spectra of a tissue with both satiety and food intake.

Use of dietary supplement in Iraq

Background: Dietary supplementation is a common strategy to achieve a specific health status or performance benefit. The aim of this study was to describe the use of dietary supplement in Iraqi genders. Patients and Methods: several questions on dietary supplement use were asked as a part of single performed on 112 female and 247 women aged 35–74 years in 2021 .n = 359) ,reported the frequency and prevalence of supplement use by sex and type of supplement . Results: the mean percentage of dietary supplement use varied among female and men. Use was higher in women than in men. Vitamins, minerals were the predominant types of supplements reported, but there were striking differences between genders. Vitamins, particularly D, C, were the most frequently used ingredients by both genders. Herbals use in female more than male. Conclusions: This study indicates that there are wide variations in supplement use in Iraq, which may affect individual and population nutrient intakes. The results underline the need to monitor consumption of dietary supplements, as well as to evaluate the risks and benefits. Keywords: Abstract Background: Dietary supplementation is a common strategy to achieve a specific health status or performance benefit. The aim of this study was to describe the use of dietary supplement in Iraqi genders. Patients and Methods: several questions on dietary supplement use were asked as a part of single performed on 112 female and 247 women aged 35–74 years in 2021 .n = 359) ,reported the frequency and prevalence of supplement use by sex and type of supplement . Results: the mean percentage of dietary supplement use varied among female and men. Use was higher in women than in men. Vitamins, minerals were the predominant types of supplements reported, but there were striking differences between genders. Vitamins, particularly D, C, were the most frequently used ingredients by both genders. Herbals use in female more than male. Conclusions: This study indicates that there are wide variations in supplement use in Iraq, which may affect individual and population nutrient intakes. The results underline the need to monitor consumption of dietary supplements, as well as to evaluate the risks and benefits. Keywords: Dietary supplements type; Iraq; vitamins; minerals, herbals.

Dietary risk factors of physical growth of Filipino school-aged children

Background: Adequate nutrition during childhood is essential to promote child growth and development.&#x0D; Objective: The study evaluated the relationship of habitual nutrient intake and protein adequacy to the prevalence of child malnutrition.&#x0D; Methods: Data were derived from a nationally representative sample of children aged 6–12 years. Two nonconsecutive day 24-h dietary recalls (24hR) were collected to estimate the individual food intake. PC-SIDE version 1.0 software (Software for Intake Distribution Estimation) was used to estimate the habitual intake of key nutrients accounting for between- and within-person differences in dietary intake. The 2007 WHO Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) method was used to measure the protein quality or the utilizable protein intake. The nutritional status of the participants is reflected in the weight-for-age, height-for-age, and body mass index (BMI)-for-age z-scores using the WHO Growth Reference Standard (WHO, 2007).&#x0D; Results: Undernourished school-aged children were found to have high protein inadequacy. Higher consumption of grains and cereal products, meat, and high-quality protein foods was associated with a lower risk of stunting. Higher intake of milk and milk products, grains and cereal products, high-quality protein foods, calcium, riboflavin, and vitamin C was associated with a lower risk of underweight. Higher consumption of grains and cereal products, riboflavin, thiamine, and fiber was associated with a lower risk of wasting. On the contrary, higher consumption of meat, milk and milk products, grains and cereal products, high-quality protein foods, and vitamin C was associated with a higher risk of obesity. Furthermore, linear growth of children was found to be associated with high-quality protein foods, calcium, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and vitamin D.&#x0D; Conclusions: Malnutrition among Filipino children is influenced by nutrient intakes. However, the existence of malnutrition among children may be specifically attributed to the quality of protein consumed. Therefore, the study suggests that nutrition interventions and policies focusing on child malnutrition should improve not just the quantity but also the quality of protein sources consumed by children to aid in proper growth and development.

Ultra-processed food intake and diet carbon and water footprints: a national study in Brazil.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To study the association between ultra-processed food consumption and carbon and water footprints of the Brazilian diet.METHODS Cross-sectional analysis on data collected in 2008–2009 on a probabilistic sample of the Brazilian population aged ≥ 10 years (n = 32,886). Individual food intake was assessed using two 24-hour food records, on non-consecutive days. The environmental impact of individual diets was calculated by multiplying the amount of each food by coefficients that quantify the atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent (carbon footprint) and freshwater use in liters (water footprint), both per gram or milliliter of food. The two coefficients consider the food life cycle ‘from farm to fork.’ Crude and adjusted linear regression models and tests for linear trends assessed the association between the ultra-processed food contribution to total energy intake (quintiles) and the diet carbon and water footprints. Potential confounders included age, sex, education, income, and region. Total energy intake was assessed as a potential mediation variable.RESULTS In the crude models, the dietary contribution of ultra-processed foods was linearly associated with the carbon and water footprints of the Brazilian diet. After adjustment for potential confounders, the association remained significant only regarding the diet water footprint, which increased by 10.1% between the lowest and highest quintile of the contribution of ultra-processed foods. Additional adjustment for total energy intake eliminated this association indicating that the dietary contribution of ultra-processed foods increases the diet water footprint by increasing energy intake.CONCLUSIONS The negative impact of ultra-processed foods on the diet water footprint, shown for the first time in this study, adds to the negative impacts of these foods, already demonstrated regarding dietary nutrient profiles and the risk for several chronic non-communicable diseases. This reinforces the recommendation to avoid ultra-processed foods made in the official Brazilian Dietary Guidelines and increasingly in dietary guidelines of other countries.

Mapping sex differences in the effects of protein and carbohydrates on lifespan and reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster: is measuring nutrient intake essential?

Understanding how diet affects reproduction and survival is a central aim in evolutionary biology. Although this relationship is likely to differ between the sexes, we lack data relating diet to male reproductive traits. One exception to this general pattern is Drosophila melanogaster, where male dietary intake was quantified using the CApillary FEeder (CAFE) method. However, CAFE feeding reduces D. melanogaster survival and reproduction, so may distort diet-fitness outcomes. Here, we use the Geometric Framework of Nutrition to create nutrient landscapes that map sex-specific relationships between protein, carbohydrate, lifespan and reproduction in D. melanogaster. Rather than creating landscapes with consumption data, we map traits onto the nutrient composition of forty agar-based diets, generating broad coverage of nutrient space. We find that male and female lifespan was maximised on low protein, high carbohydrate blends (~ 1P:15.9C). This nutrient ratio also maximised male reproductive rates, but females required more protein to maximise daily fecundity (1P:1.22C). These results are consistent with CAFE assay outcomes. However, the approach employed here improved female fitness relative to CAFE assays, while effects of agar versus CAFE feeding on male fitness traits depended on the nutrient composition of experimental diets. We suggest that informative nutrient landscapes can be made without measuring individual nutrient intake and that in many cases, this may be preferable to using the CAFE approach. The most appropriate method will depend on the question and species being studied, but the approach adopted here has the advantage of creating nutritional landscapes when dietary intake is hard to quantify.

The effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on food craving and food intake in individuals affected by obesity and overweight: a mini review of the magnitude of the effects

Obesity represents one of the wellness diseases concurring to increase the incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. One of the main perpetuating factors of obesity is food craving, which is characterized by an urgent desire to eat a large and various amount of food, regardless of calories requirement or satiety signals, and it might be addressed to the alteration of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity. Despite most of the gold-standard therapies focus on symptom treatment only, non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) could help treat overeating by modulating specific neural pathways. The current systematic review was conducted to identify whether convergent evidence supporting the usefulness of tDCS to deal with food craving are present in the literature. The review was conducted by searching articles published up to January 1st 2022 on MEDLINE, Scopus and PsycInfo databases. We included studies investigating the effects of tDCS on food craving in subjects affected by overweight and obesity. According to eligibility criteria, 5 articles were included. Results showed that tDCS targeting left DLPFC with unipolar montage induced ameliorating effects on food craving. Controversial results were shown for the other studies, that might be ascribable to the use of bipolar montage, and the choice of other target areas. Further investigations including expectancy effect control, larger sample sizes and follow-up are needed to support more robust conclusions. To conclude, tDCS combined with the use of psychoeducative intervention, diet and physical activity, might represents a potential to manage food craving in individuals with overweight and obesity.

Investigation of the effects of animal and plant based milk on satiety and postprandial glucose levels

The aim of this study was to determine the short-term effects of animal and plant-based milk consumption on postprandial glycemia, toughness, food intake of healthy individuals. Cow milk and soymilk were used as the test drink and com-mercial fruit juice as the control group. In the study in which 19 healthy adult subjects participated, fast-ing blood glucose and post-prandial blood glucose ana-lysed, visual analog scale and appetite were ques-tioned. Then, 24-hour food comsumption records were taken and energy and mac-ronutrients were calculated and compared. While the highest energy intake was on the day that cow milk was consumed, no signifi-cant relationship was found between test groups in terms of energy and macronutrient intake (p&gt;0.05). It was de-termined that the difference between fasting and post-prandial blood glucose was in the week in which the highest cow milk was con-sumed and this change was significant (p&lt; 0.05). It was thought that the satiety ef-fect of cow milk may be higher than that of soy milk due to its animal protein and saturated fat content.

Association between fat taste sensitivity and diet quality in healthy male Turkish adults

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between fat taste sensitivity, food intake and diet quality in 41 male adults, aged 19-54 years, without any eating disorders. Food consumption in five consecutive days was recorded to evaluate food intake, and diet quality was assessed by Health Dietary Indicator-2015. Fat taste thresholds were evaluated with 3-Alternative Forced Choice Methodology. The mean fat taste threshold of the hypersensitive and hyposensitive individuals were 1.48 ± 0.30 mM and 7.87 ± 0.61 mM, respectively. Hypersensitive individuals had lower energy, dietary fat, monounsaturated fatty acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and energy rate from dietary fat (p<0.05). Health Dietary Indicator-2015 score was higher in hypersensitives than hyposensitives (p<0.05). Body weight, body mass index and waist circumference were lower in hypersensitive individuals (p<0.05). These findings show that fat taste sensitivity plays an important role in food intake and diet quality in individuals without eating disorders.

Higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, and multiple individual nutrients is associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome among adults with comorbidities

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has attracted increasing attention because its prevalence and socioeconomic burden have increased globally. We hypothesized that higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, and multiple individual nutrients are associated with a lower risk of MetS among adults with comorbidities. Therefore, we aim to explore the association between intake of multiple individual nutrients, vegetables and fruits, and MetS among Korean adults. A data set of 67,302 adults aged ≥ 18 years was collected between 2009 and 2019. Odds ratios for MetS were calculated for log2-transformed multiple individual nutrient intake values and for the interaction of sex and comorbidities with multiple individual nutrient intake. Subsequently, we also predict the risks of MetS based on marginal effects. A 2-fold increase in daily vitamin B2, B3, total vitamin A, retinol, monounsaturated fatty acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, protein, n-3, and n-6 fatty acid intakes was negatively related to the prevalence of MetS in women. High white and red vegetable consumption was associated with a lower risk of MetS in both women and men, whereas high fruit consumption was associated with a lower risk of MetS in men. Furthermore, increased daily vitamin B2, retinol intake, high fruit, and white and red vegetable consumption reduce the risk of MetS among adults with comorbidities. These findings reveal a link between nutrients, fruits, vegetables, and the presence of MetS. More research is needed to identify whether interactions between consumption of nutrients, vegetables, and fruits affect the existence of MetS.

Association of Household Income Level with Vitamin and Mineral Intake

Appropriate nutrient intake is essential for maintaining health and resisting disease. The current study investigated the association between household income quintile and nutrient intake using data from KNHANES 2019. A total of 5088 South Korean adults were analyzed. The estimated average requirement cut-point method, extended to handle participants with intakes higher than the tolerable upper level, was utilized to determine the need for dietary modification. The suitability of overall vitamin, overall mineral, and individual nutrient intake was evaluated by logistic regression analysis. Subgroup analysis was performed on overall mineral intake suitability. None of the individual nutrients had an intake ratio of over 70%, with the ratio being under 30% for some nutrients. The intake of iron, phosphorus, vitamin B9, and vitamin C had a significant upward trend as household income rose. A subgroup analysis revealed sex differences in the trends of overall mineral intake. The results revealed that some nutrients are not consumed appropriately in the Korean population. Furthermore, they suggest that household income is significantly associated with the intake of overall minerals and several individual nutrients. These results suggest that nutritional assistance is required for certain vulnerable groups, and provide supplementary data for appropriate interventions or further research.

Higher intakes of nutrients are linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, arthritis, and depression among Korean adults

Persons with underlying noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are more likely to acquire severe coronavirus disease 2019 disease and to die from coronavirus disease 2019. An urgent need for potential therapy to prevent and control NCDs is critical. We hypothesized that higher intakes of multiple individual nutrients, fruits, or vegetables would be linked with a low risk of NCDs in the Korean population. Thus, we aim to explore the association between NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), arthritis, depression, and dietary factors. A total of 56,462 adults aged 18 years (2009-2019) were included. Dietary factors, including intakes of multiple individual nutrients, fruits, and vegetables, were assessed. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models were used to explore the associations between dietary factors and NCDs. Interactions were found between intakes of multiple individual nutrients and sex for T2DM, hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction, arthritis, and osteoarthritis. Only in women was a 2-fold increase in daily multiple individual nutrient intake (vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C; potassium, protein; phosphorus; calcium; iron; monounsaturated fatty acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid; n-3 fatty acid and n-6 fatty acid; and water) associated with a lower prevalence of T2DM, hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction, arthritis, and osteoarthritis. In both women and men, high fruit or vegetable consumption was linked with a lower risk of T2DM, hypertension, dyslipidemia, osteoarthritis, and depression than low consumption. Our findings found higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, and multiple individual nutrients are linked with a lower risk of NCDs in the Korean adult population. Further work is needed to identify whether interactions between intake of multiple individual nutrients, vegetables, and fruits affect the presence of NCDs.

The effects of grazing on daily caloric intake and dietary quality

BackgroundThe duration and frequency of eating occasions has been identified as a factor contributing to poor dietary quality among U.S. adults. The objective of this study is to examine whether grazing, defined as eating more than three times a day, affects total daily caloric intake and dietary quality measured by the 2015 Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015).MethodsWe used a multivariate individual fixed-effects model to compare the caloric intake and dietary quality of individuals who grazed on 1 day but not another. This allowed us to control for differences in individual food intake and diet quality preferences among study participants. We use the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007-2018, and include data for adults aged 18 years or older who reported 2 days of dietary intake and were not pregnant or lactating (n = 27,775).ResultsGrazing increased total daily caloric intake by 205 cal and increased the daily HEI score by 0.59 points. Grazing increased HEI component scores for total fruit, whole fruit, and refined grains, and decreased HEI component scores for saturated fats. Morning grazing increased total daily caloric intake by 159 cal and increased the daily HEI score by 0.87 points — primarily by increasing component scores for total fruit, whole fruit, whole grains, total dairy, seafood and plant proteins, and sodium. Evening grazing increased daily caloric intake by 76 cal and decreased the daily HEI score by 0.41 points — primarily by decreasing the component scores for total fruit, whole grains, fatty acids, and saturated fats. Evening grazing increased HEI component scores for sodium and refined grains.ConclusionsGrazing increases daily caloric intake and can decrease dietary quality (particularly when grazing in the evening).

The relationship between Dietary approaches to stop hypertension diet adherence and inflammatory factors and insulin resistance in overweight and obese women: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundAlthough there is abundant evidence for an association between dietary pattern, weight, and other related factors, such as homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and inflammatory markers; there is limited information pertaining to levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein −1 (MCP-1). Therefore, this study sought to examine the association between adherence to the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet and levels of inflammatory factors PAI-1, MCP-1, and HOMA-IR. MethodsThis cross-sectional study was performed on 305 obese and overweight women. The typical food intake of individuals was assessed using the 147 items semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Body components were measured for all participants. Insulin resistance was estimated by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA), and biochemical parameters were examined. ResultsNo significant relationship was observed between the DASH diet and MCP-1 (P-trend = 0.70), PAI-1 (P-trend = 0.92), or HOMA-IR (P-trend = 0.08) in the crude model. However, there was a significant inverse relationship between the DASH diet and HOMA-IR (P-trend = 0.03) after adjusting for age, BMI, and physical activity. ConclusionThis study showed that higher adherence to DASH pattern is inversely correlated with HOMA-IR in overweight and obese women.

Differing Nutrient Intake and Dietary Patterns According to the Presence of Hyper-Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterolemia or Hypertriglyceridemia.

Dietary choices may have differing effects on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or triglyceride levels. The aim of this study was to investigate daily nutrient intake and dietary patterns of individuals with hyper-low-density lipoprotein cholesterolemia (hLDL) and hypertriglyceridemia (hTG) in a large Korean population-based study using propensity score (PS) matching. This study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Propensity score values for the predicted probability of patients with hLDL or hTG were estimated using logistic regression analysis, with age, sex, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking status, physical activity status, hypertension, and diabetes. After PS matching, intake of carbohydrates (%) was significantly lower (p = 0.021), and intake of fats (%) and saturated fatty acids (%) was significantly higher in the hLDL group than in the non-hLDL group (p = 0.025 and p = 0.013, respectively). The percentage of individuals with a high score for the Korean Healthy Eating Index (KHEI) “whole grains” or “saturated fatty acids” components was higher in the non-hLDL group than in the hLDL group (p < 0.05 for both). Dietary sodium/potassium ratio was significantly higher in the hTG than in the non-hTG (p = 0.049). Our results suggest that individualized dietary information and counseling require consideration of a person’s specific lipid levels.

COVID-19 Screening by Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Seropositivity: Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics, Comorbidities, and Food Intake Quality.

Developing countries have reported lower molecular diagnostic testing levels due to a lack of resources. Therefore, antibody tests represent an alternative to detect exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and analyze possible risk factors. We aimed to describe and compare the clinical-epidemiological characteristics and the quality of food intake in Mexican individuals with a positive or negative test to antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. We carried out antibody tests and applied a survey to 1799 individuals; 42% were positive, and diabetes was more prevalent in these cases (p < 0.01). No differences were identified in the blood type nor influenza vaccination between groups. Coughing, respiratory distress, muscle pain, joint pain, and anosmia were the most prevalent symptoms among seropositive cases (p < 0.0001). Food intake quality was similar in both groups, except for the most consumed type of fat (p = 0.006). In conclusion, this study supports the association of diabetes as a principal risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Mexican population. The results do not support previous associations between blood group or influenza vaccination as protective factors against SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, frequent consumption of polyunsaturated fats is highlighted as a new possible associated factor with COVID-19, which more studies should corroborate as with all novel findings.