8 pp. / Originally published: 1998 / Animal learning has been shown to play a major role in the development of diet selection by domestic herbivores. Dr. Frederick Provenza and his associates at Utah State University have conducted a series of studies over the past 30 years to learn how physiological and behavioral mechanisms govern diet selection. In this paper, we synthesize several key diet selection concepts presented in 4 articles (i.e., Provenza et al. 1992; Provenza 1995, 1996, 1997). Reviewed 12/2014; originally published 05/1998.

Physically active men and woman may be less likely than their inactive peers to become overweight. Exercise has a favourable effect on body fat distribution, with a reduction in waist-to-hip ratio with increased exercise. Exercise is especially important in maintaining weight loss in overweight individuals. Physical activity can directly affect both total energy intake and total energy expenditure. Physical activity can also affect fat balance and it is becoming clear that imbalances in total energy are largely due to imbalances in the distribution of fat. Exercise also has additional, beneficial effects on most of the metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Exercise testing provides a basis for the design of training programs and allows for monitoring progress throughout the training program. Used properly, testing and monitoring is useful to both trainers and subjects. Therefore, exercise in conjunction with an appropriate diet is beneficial to overweight individuals and provided that feasible methods and motivation are available, we recommend exercise as an important part of a weight control program. The aim of this study was to determine whether HMB supplementation will increase the Lean Body Mass (LBM) and muscle power output (measured as the load a subject can bench press) of males who gym for recreational purposes, after a combination of resistance weight training, eating a balanced set diet and supplementation with HMB for 8 weeks. Two homogenous groups of 20 males were evaluated for initial strength capabilities and body composition. For 8 weeks the subjects lifted weights three times a week and followed a balanced diet. Creatinekinase activity decreased with HMB supplementation. Gains in muscle power output were greater in the experimental group, and fat percentage decreases were recorded with HMB supplementation. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Physiology / unrestricted

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Over the past decades there has been a global increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. The increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity leads to surging of associated co-morbidities of overweight and obesity in low/medium income countries which eventually overburdens the vulnerable health systems threatens by malnutrition and communicable diseases in low/medium income countries. The designed interventions to curb overweight/obesity in high income countries might be inappropriate to apply in low income countries, such as Nigeria, due to the different cultural norms and values regarding types of food, and physical activity. The overall aim of this study is to design an intervention that will be culturally appropriate for overweight and obesity management among Nigerians. The convergent parallel mixed method design specifically was used in this study. This involves simultaneous timing of carrying out both quantitative and qualitative strands of mixed methods during the same phase of the research process, prioritizes the methods equally, and keeps the strands autonomous during analysis and then mixes the results during overall implementation/execution. The population for the quantitative part was Nigerians residing within sixteen enumeration areas of Alimosho Local Government area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Overweight and obese Nigerians as well as traditional healers and healthcare professionals were purposely selected for the qualitative phase. Delphi study was the last phase of study which involved recruitment of healthcare professionals in the management of overweight and obesity. A sample size of 2250 was projected and approached for this while 1571 consented and participated in the study. This gave a response rate of 69.82%. About 51.2% of the sample population was male and 48.8% female. The mean age of the total sample was 35.36(SD =11.66). Using BMI, the prevalence of overweight/obesity was 42.3% using BF%, the prevalence of body fatness was 39.2% of which 62.5% were females. Data analysis shows strong positive correlation between other measures of body fatness (.694 to .872) except WHR with low but positive relationships between BF% (184), BMI (.280), WC (.495), and negative relationships with HC (-.077) and BAI (-.076). Gender, marital status and age are predictors of overweight and obesity among Nigerians. Type of diet, meal timing, reduced physical activity and genetic factor were perceived as the causes of overweight and obesity. Diet therapy, an increase in physical activity and the use of herbs were various ways perceived to assist in reducing excess body weight. Among the challenges faced by overweight and obese Nigerians were lack of time for exercise because of the nature of their jobs, lack of recreational facilities, lack of motivations and support from family members to reduce weight, lack of money and poor/lack of knowledge to reduce weight. Experts unanimously agreed that the content of a culturally appropriate intervention should be individualised and to include physical activity/exercise, diet therapy, education and self-monitoring. There was a unanimous decision that the intervention should be done for a duration of 12 weeks at health facility and should be held for between 1-2 times per week if holding at community (excluding community/ public health facility) for 12 weeks in total. In addition, experts agreed that the use of media such as television, radio, weekly newspapers and magazines should be used for preventive campaigns.

Inflammation status has been associated with chronic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Previous studies suggested that healthful dietary patterns and dietary scores may have been associated with reduced concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers. However, studies have been usually conducted among middle- aged and older adults by examining commonly used biomarkers such as C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and Interleukin 6 (IL-6). For the current study, diet quality was measured by applying food frequency data to create the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Adherence Index (DGAI-2010). Concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers were obtained from fasting blood samples collected at the late-luteal phase of paticipants’ menstrual cycle. We used linear regression to analyze the association between each natural log-transformed inflammatory biomarker concentration and the continuous DGAI-2010 Score among 142 young, healthy women (aged 18-30 years) from the UMass Vitamin D Status Study. We found that as diet quality increased, concentrations of IL-7, IL-12p70, IL-13 and IFN- were significantly lower after adjustment for BMI, age, physical activity, smoking, race/ethnicity, multivitamin use, oral contraceptive use, and total energy intake per day. Following a diet that adheres to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as a measure of dietary quality is associated with lower inflammation in healthy, normal weight and overweight young women.

No description available.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Previous studies have suggested a positive relationship between the amount of readily fermentable carbohydrate and the dental caries experience. The frequency of eating and the amount of carbohydrate consumed between meals have also been considered in previous studies but the results have been controversial and contradictory. From 7 day diet records of 200 children the frequency of eating was determined, and the total sugar intake and the between meal sugar was calculated as to its carbohydrate equivalent of teaspoons of sugar. The dental caries experience of these children was determined from the clinical examination records and periapical and bite wing radiographs and recorded as DMFS. The average total sugar intake of these children was 164 teaspoons while the average between meal sugar was 55 teaspoons. A correlation between the total sugar consumed and the DMFS showed that the relationship was not statistically significant. The total between meal sugar intake showed the highest correlation with the DMFS. The frequency of between meal eating did not show a statistically significant effect on the dental caries experience. A slight negative relationship was obtained between the total sugar intake and the milk intake, indicating that as the milk intake tends to increase, the sugar tends to decrease and vice versa. A multiple correlation between DMFS and the total sugar and total milk intake showed a negative correlation coefficient. The children residing in the city had a higher DMFS than the rural children of comparable ages.

The stable isotopes carbon and nitrogen from 18 skeletal and 51 dental samples from various burial contexts at the Bronze and Iron Age sites of Mitrou and Tragana Agia Triada are examined to understand diet in prehistoric central Greece. The samples are compared by cultural period, site, and burial type in order to determine if diet was affected by changes in society or by social status as determined by burial form. In addition, isotopic data from across Greece is compared to understand diet from the Neolithic to Iron Age and in different regions of the country. The results of the Mitrou-TAT study indicate no change in diet through time or between the two sites. No significant differences were found between diet and burial types as well. When applied to the broader aspect of societal change, these results suggest that, even with a significant societal change, diet is not significantly influenced.

Background: Diet therapies may be recommended for pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). However, little is known about the frequency with which diet therapy is recommended in FGIDs. Our aims were to determine and contrast the frequency and types of diet recommendations provided to children with FGIDs by pediatric gastroenterologists (PGIs) versus primary care pediatricians (PCPs). Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed using data from a large, metropolitan children's academic healthcare system to identify subjects meeting Rome IV criteria for functional abdominal pain, functional dyspepsia, irritable-bowel syndrome (IBS), and/or abdominal migraine over a period of 23 months. Results: Of 1929 patient charts reviewed, 268 were included for further analyses. Of these, 186 patients (69%) were seen by a PGI and 82 (31%) by a PCP. The most common diagnosis was IBS (49% for PGIs and 71% for PCPs). Diet recommendations were provided to 115 (43%) patients (PGI group: 86 [75%] vs PCP group: 29 [25%]; P <.1). The most frequent recommendations were high fiber (PGI: 15%; PCP: 14%) and low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs) diet (PGI: 12%; PCP: 4%). Of those provided with diet recommendations, only 20% (n = 23) received an educational consult by a dietitian. Provision of diet recommendations was not affected by years in practice. Conclusion: Despite increasing awareness of the role of diet in the treatment of childhood FGIDs, a minority of patients receive diet recommendations in tertiary care or primary care settings. When diet recommendations were given, there was great variability in the guidance provided.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Ataxia telangiectasia mutated kinase (ATM) is a checkpoint protein involved in cell cycle regulation. It is activated in response to genotoxic mediators such as double-stranded DNA damage or oxidative damage. Mutations in the ATM gene result in a multisystemic disease called ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). Independently, a Western-type Diet (WD) and ATM protein deficiency are linked with heart disease, exacerbated cardiac remodeling, and myocardial infarction (MI). Our laboratory has previously shown that in male mice, the consumption of a WD during ATM deficiency is associated with the exacerbation of cardiac remodeling. This study investigated the effect of ATM deficiency on WD-induced cardiac remodeling parameters before and 1-day post-MI in a sex-specific manner using female and male mice. Age-matched wild-type (WT) and ATM heterozygous knockout (hKO) mice were fed with normal-chow (NC) or WD for 14 weeks. MI was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) with a 7-0 polypropylene suture. After the study period, 14 weeks post-WD feeding and 1-day post-MI, the heart was removed through an opening in the diaphragm region. Heart sections were stained with Masson's trichrome to quantify fibrosis, TUNEL-stained to quantify apoptosis, infarct size, and infarct thickness, and wheat germ agglutinin-stained to quantify myocyte hypertrophy. In WT female mice, WD increased myocardial fibrosis, myocyte hypertrophy, and apoptosis at baseline compared to NC. However, in hKO-WD female mice, apoptosis was significantly lower, and hypertrophy was significantly higher than in WT-NC female mice at baseline. Intriguingly, no significant difference in apoptosis, infarct size, and infarct thickness was observed in both genotypes and genders 1-day post-MI. Thus, our data suggest that 1) ATM deficiency plays a cardioprotective role in female mice responding to WD, as it reduces apoptosis and increases hypertrophy at baseline, and 2) sex-specific cardioprotective effects of ATM deficiency in female mice were not observed 1-day post-MI in response to WD.

No description available.