ABSTRACT Background: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are found in nuts and seeds, salad dressings and vegetable oil and are prone to oxidation during storage and food preparation. Evidence supports that consumption of oxidized lipids promotes atherosclerosis and glucose intolerance in animal models. However there is a dearth of evidence with regard to the amount of oxidized lipids consumed and its association with parameters of adiposity and glucose homeostasis in humans. Objective: The objective of this study is to estimate the amount of oxidized lipids in common foods and the oxidized lipid consumption in the US population using the data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-06. The second objective of this study is to investigate if there is an association between consumption of oxidized lipids with markers of adiposity and glucose tolerance. Methods- Foods with possible high oxidized lipid content were selected from the NHANES food frequency questionnaire. Oxidized lipid content /Peroxide Values (PV) of these foods were determined from published values in the literature. Oxidized lipid consumption was stratified into tertiles to determine the relationship between consumption of oxidized lipids and markers of adiposity. Regression analysis was used to explore to the extent to which body fat % and HOMA- IR scores could be attributed to oxidized lipid intake. Results- The estimated mean daily consumption of oxidized lipids was 0.625 meq/kg of fat for the US population. Estimated mean consumption of oxidized lipids was significantly greater in men compared to women, in children compared to adults and among African Americans compared to other races. In both men and women it was observed that the markers of adiposity like body fat%, waist circumference, triceps skinfold decreased significantly with increased consumption of oxidized lipids. However in women (below 18 years) there was a significant increase in HOMA-IR with increased consumption of oxidized lipids. Conclusion- Increased consumption of oxidized lipids is associated with decreased fat mass but increased glucose intolerance in women, but not in men.

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The desire to enhance and make ourselves better is not a new one and it has continued to intrigue throughout the ages. Individuals have continued to seek ways to improve and enhance their well-being for example through nutrition, physical exercise, education and so on. Crucial to this improvement of their well-being is improving their ability to remember. Hence, people interested in improving their well-being, are often interested in memory as well. The rationale being that memory is crucial to our well-being. The desire to improve one’s memory then is almost certainly as old as the desire to improve one’s well-being. Traditionally, people have used different means in an attempt to enhance their memories: for example in learning through storytelling, studying, and apprenticeship. In remembering through practices like mnemonics, repetition, singing, and drumming. In retaining, storing and consolidating memories through nutrition and stimulants like coffee to help keep awake; and by external aids like notepads and computers. In forgetting through rituals and rites. Recent scientific advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology, molecular biology, neuroscience, and information technologies, present a wide variety of technologies to enhance many different aspects of human functioning. Thus, some commentators have identified human enhancement as central and one of the most fascinating subject in bioethics in the last two decades. Within, this period, most of the commentators have addressed the Ethical, Social, Legal and Policy (ESLP) issues in human enhancements as a whole as opposed to specific enhancements. However, this is problematic and recently various commentators have found this to be deficient and called for a contextualized case-by-case analysis to human enhancements for example genetic enhancement, moral enhancement, and in my case memory enhancement (ME). The rationale being that the reasons for accepting/rejecting a particular enhancement vary depending on the enhancement itself. Given this enormous variation, moral and legal generalizations about all enhancement processes and technologies are unwise and they should instead be evaluated individually. Taking this as a point of departure, this research will focus specifically on making a case for ME and in doing so assessing the ESLP implications arising from ME. My analysis will draw on the already existing literature for and against enhancement, especially in part two of this thesis; but it will be novel in providing a much more in-depth analysis of ME. From this perspective, I will contribute to the ME debate through two reviews that address the question how we enhance the memory, and through four original papers discussed in part three of this thesis, where I examine and evaluate critically specific ESLP issues that arise with the use of ME. In the conclusion, I will amalgamate all my contribution to the ME debate and suggest the future direction for the ME debate.