The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that Dieters would have less variation between their pre and post prandial ratings than Non-dieters. We compared 159 female college students’ hunger and satiety ratings before and after their consumption of a 420 calorie portion of Entemann’s Butter French Crumb Cake and a 9oz cup of water. Dieter status was assigned by questionnaire responses to Lowes’ Diet and Weight History Questionnaire (Lowe, Kissileff, 2005) yielding 96 Dieters and 63 Non-dieters. Methods: The primary assumption was that of our 159 participants, the 96 Dieters, because of their lack of familiarity in using hunger and satiation as a behavioral strategy to initiate or stop eating, would demonstrate less of a difference between their fasted and fed ratings than the 63 Non-dieters. We studied whether the participants’ BMI was a factor associated with their hunger and satiety ratings and whether their ‘restraint’ level was correlated with their status as a Dieter or Non-dieter and BMI by group and the number of times participants lost weight [a component of the Early Family Eating Behavior construct. Analyses by diet group status, Restraint level and BMI were performed for the difference in hunger to fullness ratings, Race, SES, Early Family Eating Behavior and for Taste, both Prop {bitter taste} sweet taste and the sweetness of coke. Two constructs, one focused on hunger utilization and one focused on Compensation assessed the 159 participants’ implementation of these concepts. Results: Contrary to expectation, all 159 female college participants rated their fed scores higher than their fasted scores on the Visual Analogue Scale [VAS] question that asked “How Physically Full Do You Feel”. This yielded a significant result with a t of -12.0558 and a p-value of 0.000. We found that there were no significant hunger and fullness rating differences between the Dieters and Non-dieters in this study. BMI varied by group [t of 5.2467 and a p of 0.000] with a [mean of 26.72343 ± .605001] for the 96 dieters compared with a [mean BMI of 22.8090 ±.437262] for the 63 Non-dieters and this was a significant finding. The Dieters’ Restraint scores were higher [mean of 11.14583 ±- .4125177] than the Non-dieters Restraint scores [mean of 6.047619 ± .5016249] and this was a significant finding [t of 7.8499 and a p-value of 0.000]. This finding illustrated the Dieters’ engagement in ‘Restrained Diet Behavior’ and was statistically significant. There were significant differences between the Dieters and Non-dieters in their Early Family Eating Behavior Construct scores (with a mean of 3.052083 ± 1.45363 for the Dieters) and for the Non-dieters, a mean of (1.555556 ± .9466031) and a [t of 7.8619 and a p-value of 0.0000] for the differences between the two groups. A Multiple Regression with Compensation as the dependent variable and Restraint, BMI and group as the independent variables was a significant finding for the use of compensation behaviors as measured by the compensation construct and differential use by the two groups [t of -1.97 and p-value of 0.000]. A Multiple Regression with BMI scores as the dependent variable and group, Restraint, Hunger for the Next meal, Sweet taste ratings, Compensator scores, Early family Eating Behaviors, Diet to Avoid Gaining Weight and ‘I wish I weighed less’ as the independent variables showed significance for the EFEB construct [t of 6.18 p-value of 0.00] and ‘I wish I weighed less’ [t of 3.44 and p-value of 0.0001]. BMI was significantly associated with our participants’ class in college [f of 25.03 and p-value of 0.000] their current Age [f of 14.94 and p-value of 0.0002] and BMI was significant for the number of times our participants lost weight, a dichotomous component on the Early Family Eating Behavior Construct where a score of three weight loss attempts or more scored a 1 and two or fewer weight loss attempts was scored a 0 [f of 16.93 and a p-value of 0.0001]. Implications: It was an important finding that a healthy BMI was achieved and maintained by 101 of the 159 {50 were Dieters and 51 were Non-dieters} students in our study. We also found that eating behavior on the college campus today included a focus on ‘watching what they ate in order not to gain weight’ (Nichter, Ritenbaugh, Nichter, Vuckovic, Aicken, 1995) as well as dieting and non-dieting behaviors. Dieting, historically, was believed to be equivalent to Restrained Eating by Polivy and Herman (Herman, Polivy, 1975; Lowe, Foster, Kerzhnerman, Swain, Wadden, 2001 p254)) but there is now debate as to whether Dieting and Restrained Dieting do not reflect the same eating behaviors in those Non-obese, with BMI’s below 30 (Lowe, Doshi, Katteran, Feig, 2013, p1). It is a positive outcome, we believe, that the 63 {Non-dieters} do not to ‘diet’ for weight loss, but our results also indicate that an educational intervention teaching the utilization of hunger and satiety sensations to those ‘chronically dieting’ (46) students with BMI’s outside the normal range is still necessary on the University campus.

With ageing comes a deterioration of metabolic and physiological changes that often manifest themselves as age-related comorbidities. Calorie restriction (CR) is a robust intervention that can prevent and reverse such changes, resulting in reduced ageassociated disease and increased lifespan across a wide range of species. Moreover, a link between the extent of restriction and increased lifespan has also been established. Though widely studied, the mechanisms behind the beneficial effects of CR have yet to be fully understood. Consequently, I investigated metabolomic changes in the liver, plasma, brown adipose tissue (BAT) and cerebellum in five month old male C57BL/6 mice undergoing three months of either 10, 20, 30 or 40% CR, in addition to 12 hour and 24 hour ad libitum fed groups. Behavioural, physiological and molecular data was collected on each individual mouse and I used this information, in addition to my own metabolomic data to determine associations between phenotypic changes with graded CR. My results indicate that increasing CR resulted in greater numbers of significantly differentiated metabolites across all four tissues, and these were related to changes across sphingolipids, carnitines, bile acids, vitamins and amino acids. Metabolic remodelling in the liver indicated a shift from lipogenesis to lipolysis and changes in the plasma indicated an increase in absorption of vitamins from the stomach and colon. Changes in neurotransmitters and their precursors suggested activity and temperature driven BAT activation, in addition to an increase in antioxidant power, this was also seen in the cerebellum where metabolites associated with signalling in the hypothalamus were increased in a graded fashion with CR. In all tissues changes were linked with behaviours that accompany hunger signalling such as increased food anticipatory activity and reduced body temperature. Together, these changes reflect multi-tissue beneficial effects of CR, which may function to alleviate age-related comorbidities.

The protein Poly was first discovered in Drosophila melanogaster, during a screening for third chromosome lethal mutations. Drosophila poly mutant larvae exhibit a slower rate of development. However, they reach the third instar larval stage and remain at that stage for 21 days before they die without reaching pupation. This phenotype is attributed to developmental impairment of the imaginal discs, therefore suggesting defects in cell growth and/or proliferation. During that stage, the mutant larvae develop melanotic masses. Poly is conserved and its homolog, Elp6, is one of the small subunits of the Elongator Complex, a complex involved in many cellular functions including transcription and translation. Drosophila larvae mutated at the Elp3 gene, the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of the Elongator complex, develop melanotic masses, a phenotype very similar to that of poly. The Heck laboratory published that Poly is a positive mediator of the Insulin Receptor/TOR (InR/TOR) pathway, which leads to protein, glycogen and fatty acid synthesis, regulates cell growth and apoptosis. It was shown that Poly interacts with InR, at least in some cases, therefore promoting cell growth and metabolism (Bolukbasi et al., 2012). The Drosophila genome shares 60% similarity to the human, with 77% of the genes attributed to a human disease having a Drosophila counterpart (Chien et al., 2002). In 2011, an intriguing study by Musselman et al. reported that feeding wild type Drosophila larvae with excessive amounts of sucrose led to the development of an insulin resistance phenotype similar to that of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), thus rendering Drosophila an easily accessible T2D model. The phenotype included impaired metabolism, slower rate of development, and excessive accumulation of triglycerides (TAG) in the larval fat body. In my thesis research, I examined the involvement of Poly in insulin resistance - T2D using Drosophila as a model. The understanding of the connection between the protein and the disease came upon the discovery of a new form of Poly, Poly14. Poly14 is enriched in the Drosophila fat body, the equivalent of the human fat tissue and liver and its protein levels are significantly decreased when larvae are fed a high sucrose diet, compared to other types of diets – potentially linking the protein to the onset of T2D. Poly mRNA levels were also lower. To examine whether the overexpression of poly might be able to rescue the insulin resistance phenotype, two new Drosophila transgenes were generated with the ability to express the gene in a tissue of interest. In these two new transgenes, Poly is tagged with tRFP (Red Fluorescence Protein) at the N’- (UAS_N’RFPpoly) or the C’-terminus (UAS_polyC’RFP). Overexpression of Poly rescued the insulin resistance phenotype, therefore implicating Poly as a possible important regulator in the development of the insulin resistance phenotype. All of the above findings suggest a vital role of Poly in metabolism and the development of the insulin resistance/diabetic phenotype in Drosophila, providing us the opportunity for new tools in this very medically-relevant field of research.

abstract: Introduction: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-shortening autosomal recessive genetic disease affecting Caucasians. The disease is characterized by a dysfunctional cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) protein and aberrant mucus accumulation that subsequently alters the physicochemical environment in numerous organ systems. These mucosal perturbations have been associated with inflammation and microbial dysbiosis, most notably in the lungs and gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Genistein, a soy isoflavone and dietary polyphenol, has been shown to modulate CFTR function in cell cultures and murine models, as well exert sex-dependent improvement of survival rates in a CF mouse model. However, it is unknown whether dietary genistein affects gut microbiome diversity and community structure in cystic fibrosis. This study sought to examine associations between dietary genistein treatment and gut microbiome diversity and community structure in a murine model of CF. Methods: Twenty-four male and female mice homozygous for the DF508 CFTR gene mutation were maintained on one of three diet regimens for a 45-day period (n=11, standard chow; n=7, Colyte-treated water and standard chow; n=6, 600 mg dietary genistein per kg body weight). One fecal pellet was collected per mouse post-treatment, and microbial genomic DNA was extracted from the fecal samples, quantified, amplified, and sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform. QIIME 2 was used to conduct alpha- and beta-diversity analyses on all samples. Results: Measures of alpha-diversity were significantly decreased in the dietary genistein group as compared to either standard chow or Colyte groups. Measures of beta-diversity showed that community structure differed significantly between dietary treatment groups; these differences were further illustrated by distinct clustering of taxa as shown by principal coordinates analysis plots. Conclusion: This 3-arm parallel experimental study showed that dietary genistein treatment was associated with decreased microbial diversity and differences in microbial community structure in DF508 mice. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Nutrition 2019

abstract: Objective: Parents play a critical role in their child's diets, yet there is lack of research in the US comparing parental perception of their child’s diet with quantitatively assessed diet quality. We examined the association between parent perception of their child’s overall diet and the child’s diet quality, as measured by frequency of consumption of key food categories. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted using data from two independent cross- sectional panels of surveys with parents of a 3-18 year old child. Data collection took place in 2009-2010 and 2014, the random sample was drawn from low-income cities. Well-established survey questions assessed parental perception of their child’s diet and frequency of consumption of fruits, vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), fast food and unhealthy snacks. Diet quality scores were calculated for each child, with higher scores reflective of healthier diets (max score= 40). Ordered logistic regressions examined associations between parental perception and consumption of food categories. Multinomial logistic regressions examined associations between levels of concordance in parent perception and diet scores by demographic sub-groups. Results: Almost half of children were non-Hispanic black (46%) and 40% were Hispanic. Overall 52% of parents strongly agreed, 33% somewhat agreed, 10% somewhat disagreed, and 4% strongly disagreed that their child eats a healthy diet. The mean diet quality score for the sample was 20.58 ± 6.7. Children from our sample with the unhealthiest diet had a mean frequency of fruit intake = 0.8 times/day and SSBs = 2.2 times/day. Children with the healthiest diet had a mean consumption of fruit=1.7/day and SSBs= 0.4/day. Parental perception of their child’s diet was significantly higher when their child consumed more fruit (p<0.001) and vegetables (p<0.001) and lower when their child consumed more fast food (p<0.001), SSBs (p=0.01) and unhealthy snacks (p=0.02). Over half of parents overestimated the healthfulness of their child’s diet (61%). Parent, child and household demographics did not moderate this association. Conclusions: Although parental perceptions that their child eats healthy are associated when their child eats more healthy foods and less unhealthy foods, parents’ perceptions still do not align with their child’s diet. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Obesity Prevention and Management 2019

Breakfast intake is associated with numerous positive physical and mental health outcomes, yet breakfast skipping remains common in adults. Chronotype and sleep show potential as predictors of breakfast intake; however the existing literature has methodological limitations and fails to examine how psychological mechanisms might explain the relation between sleep and breakfast. The current investigation explored the association of means and variability of sleep behaviors (bedtime, midsleep, sleep duration) as predictors of breakfast intake frequency and high-protein breakfast intake frequency. Additionally, the role of positive and negative affect as mediators in the sleep—breakfast association was examined. Hierarchical regressions and PROCESS parallel mediation models were conducted to assess direct and indirect associations. Variability in bedtime was a significant predictor of breakfast intake frequency, with greater variability associated with less frequent intake. Future work is necessary to examine further the association of sleep and breakfast behaviors, and psychological mechanisms in this relation.

Epidemiological and observational evidence suggests that obesity is related to poor Fe status. To determine interactions between obesity, dietary Fe intake and Fe status; male, weanling C57BL/6J mice were fed either high fat diets to induce obesity or a standard diet for 16 weeks. Fe concentrations of both the high fat or control diet (4.5 vs 3.8 kcal/g) were set at: 5, 50 or 500 mg Fe/kg diet. Mice fed the high fat diets had significantly higher percentage body fat (17.9%) compared to mice fed control diets (5.3%, P<0.001). Among obese mice, dietary Fe levels did not significantly influence body composition. Conversely among lean mice, mice fed the iron excessive diet had significantly less fat mass when compared to mice fed the iron deficient diet (P<0.05). Obesity and/or dietary Fe concentration did not significantly affect plasma Fe levels. ANOVA analysis showed significant effects of diet-induced obesity, dietary Fe and an interaction between both factors on liver Fe levels (P< 0.05). Obese mice had significantly lowered liver Fe levels compared to lean cohorts fed the same amount of dietary Fe (P<0.05 for all comparisons). Moreover, lean mice fed the Fe deficient diet (5 mg Fe/kg diet) had similar liver Fe levels (127 mg Fe/kg ± 0.04) compared to obese mice fed the 50 mg Fe/kg diet (132 mg Fe/kg ± 0.05). These data suggest that obesity, independent of dietary Fe intake, influences liver Fe stores.

Com objetivo de descrever a qualidade da alimentação em mulheres de diferentes estratos sociais moradoras de Vila Formosa, cidade de São Paulo, foi realizado um inquérito domiciliar com 295 mulheres abrangendo dados dietéticos e socioeconômicos. Como medida da qualidade da alimentação utilizou-se o \"Índice de Alimentação Saudável\" (IAS), com dez componentes medindo: os seis primeiros a adequação do consumo dos grupos de alimentos; o sétimo e o oitavo a porcentagem de gordura total e saturada; o nono o consumo de colesterol dietético e o décimo avalia a variedade alimentar. Todos os componentes são pontuados de zero a dez, totalizando 100 pontos. Das mulheres estudadas 12% apresentaram alimentação saudável e 69,2% alimentação pouco saudável. Evidenciou-se que o IAS não apresentou diferenças entre os diferentes estratos sociais. Entretanto, encontrou-se uma variação no consumo, com diferenças significativas (p<0,05), caracterizada pelos diferentes componentes do IAS. As mulheres mais pobres consumiram mais cereais e feijões e as mais ricas verduras e legumes, frutas e leite e produtos lácteos; as mulheres de menor escolaridade obtiveram melhores pontuações no consumo de gordura saturada. Quando o efeito da renda foi controlado pela escolaridade, apenas o consumo das frutas foi confirmado. Ainda observou-se que a qualidade da alimentação melhorava quando as mulheres realizavam um maior número de refeições ao dia (p<0,01). / In order to describe the quality of eating consumed by women from different socioeconomic levels who live in Vila Formosa, São Paulo, 295 women were interviewed in their homes. The questionnaire included dietetics and socioeconomic data. Eating quality was measured by using the \"Healthy Eating Index\" (HEI). Ten components were assessed: the first six measured the adequacy of the consumption of food groups; the seventh and eighth, the percentage of total and saturated fat; the ninth, the consumptiom of dietary cholesterol, and the tenth, food variety. The score for each component was proportionally calculated, ranging from zero to ten. The maximum possible score is one hundred. Twelve percent of the sample follow a \"good diet\", and 69.2 % need to \"improve\" their diets. Results shows that HEI does not differ for different socioeconomic levels. However, a variation in the consumption with significant differences (p<0.05) was found, and it was marked by different HEI components. Poorer women consumed more cereais and beans than the rich ones whereas these consumed more vegetables, fruits, milk and dairy products than those poorer. Women with a low levei of education presented betler scores regarding consumption of saturated fat. When the income effect was controlled by education levei, only the consumption .of fruits was confirmed. It was also observed that eating quality is betler when women have more meals per day (p<0.01).

A procedure for preparing an enteral formula was developed, using Pakistani indigenous food items. The basis of development was that it would be nutritionally effective, easy to prepare and relatively cheap. 100 indigenous enteral diets were formulated using a computer aided master sheet in which various combinations were analysed. In order to prove the efficacy of these diets, a modified PER was carried out on 6 diets and results indicated a higher PER for the experimental diet. 29 formulations were shortlisted for preparation trials, and 2 main techniques were applied: incubation and cooking techniques. Physical and chemical analyses were carried out to assess the effect of preparation, the cooking methodologies were tried on various diets and 2 diets were shortlisted for human trials. To compare the efficacy of the indigenous enteral formula versus commercial formulae, a pilot study was carried out. Patient nutritional outcomes were assessed using biochemical parameters, and preliminary findings indicated that the experimental diet performed as well as the control diet. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis involves an investigation in three areas; first, a study of an enzymatic-gravimetric method for the analysis of dietary fibre; second, a survey of dietary fibre intake in an area of a developing country, and finally, some observations on the functional aspects of gel-forming dietary fibre in the rat. A simple and rapid enzymatic-gravimetric assay for both soluble and insoluble dietary fibre has been critically investigated. Reference samples were also analysed by a more comprehensive, enzymatic gas chromatographic method to allow testing of the relative accuracy of the enzymatic-gravimetric method. The enzymatic-gravimetric method was found to be highly reproducible but gave a slightly higher value for total dietary fibre than the more comprehensive method. This discrepancy is probably due to the presence of small quantities of resistant starch and protein residue which are recovered in the enzymatic-gravimetric method. In the enzymatic-gas chromatographic method, protein residue is not measured, and resistant starch is estimated, but not counted as dietary fibre. The enzymatic-gravimetric method was applied to the analysis of foods commonly consumed in the Padang region of West Sumatra in Indonesia, in order to estimate dietary fibre intake in the region. Daily intakes of usual foods were estimated by use of a 24-hour recall procedure aided by food photographs to assist in the estimation of portion size. Samples of approximately 60 of the most commonly consumed foods were collected and analysed for dietary fibre. These appear to be the first data which report values for dietary fibre in Indonesion foods and they represent a significant improvement upon the existing data on crude fibre content. Knowledge of the amounts of foods usually consumed and their dietary fibre content allowed an estimation of usual intakes of dietary fibre. Fibre intake was found to be lower than in the developing countries of Africa and was comparable to intakes measured in the U.K. This is the first study to show that in this part of South East Asia, a developing country area using polished rice as a staple food, dietary fibre intakes are as low as in Western countries. Low intakes of fibre are believed to be related to the prevalence of a range of diseases and, in this study, preliminary data on the rates of non-infective, chronic diseases were collected from the two main hospitals in West Sumatra. Chronic, non-infectious diseases such as inguinal hernia, appendicitis, haemorrhoids, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and malignant neoplasms of the rectum are relatively frequent in West Sumatra. While no firm conclusions can be drawn from these data, they do show the possibility of a relationship between low intakes of dietary fibre and the prevalence of these diseases, and suggest that further investigation is necessary. Some observations were made of the effect of gel-forming dietary fibre on stomach emptying and intestinal transit rate in the rat. Xanthan gum was added to iso-osmotic solutions to produce increased viscosity and phenol sulphonphthalein (phenol red) was used as a non-absorbable marker. Gavage feeding of solutions with a range of viscosities was used to study the effect of viscosity on the rate of stomach emptying and intestinal transit. Increased viscosity was observed to slow gastro-intestinal transit and this provides one mechanism by which dietary fibre of the gel-forming type ray improve glucose tolerance.