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The prevalence of adolescent obesity in the United States has more than quadrupled in the past 30 years, growing from 5% to nearly 21% in 12-19 year olds. Although obesity has many interrelated causes, a lack of knowledge and practical skill to prepare healthy food from scratch is an important factor. Research indicates that nutrition and culinary interventions based on behavioral change theories may improve mediators of healthful eating in adolescents. Pink and Dude Chefs, Phase 2, an eight-week after-school nutrition and culinary intervention targeted towards middle school students in a predominantly low-income, Hispanic community, was developed and evaluated. The curriculum called “Around the World” was designed to enhance knowledge and cooking skills through a multicultural approach. Participants learned about the food culture and customs of a different country each week and then created a recipe of that country from scratch. Research assistants from California Polytechnic State University implemented the lessons. The program took place at Mesa Middle School in Arroyo Grande, CA over two consecutive academic quarters, Fall 2013 and Winter 2014. Participants were 16 seventh- and eighth-grade students aged 12-14. The program consisted of 8 lessons that were divided into a classroom-based learning portion and a kitchen-based cooking portion. A pre- and post-intervention survey was developed to assess change in self-efficacy for cooking, cooking skills, nutrition knowledge, outcome expectancies, and perceived social and family norms. Paired t-tests indicated that participants demonstrated a significant increase in nutrition knowledge (PP=0.02) after participation in Pink and Dude Chefs, Phase 2. Empowering youth by improving food-related knowledge and skills is an important step toward improving the health of our nation. Further research is needed to examine how nutrition and culinary interventions may impact long-term health promoting behaviors.

Effects of acute bouts of continuous versus accumulated exercise of isocaloric energy expenditure on blood lipids, lipoproteins and related enzyme activities. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if exercise, whether continuous (CE: completed all in one session) or intermittent (completed in either two (IE 2) or three (IE 3) exercise sessions) expending the same number of calories produced similar changes in the lipid/lipoprotein profile as well as transport enzymes. Methods: Sixteen healthy (22±2.1 year old) men (VO2 max = 37.0±3.3 mL∙kg∙min-1) randomly completed three exercise trials, CE, IE 2 and IE 3, expending 450 calories. Baseline data were collected in the evening and included anthropometric measurements, diet records and venous blood samples. The CE trial was done during one continuous time period and the intermittent trials were separated by 4-5 hrs all over the course of one day between the hours of 7 am and 9 pm. In addition to baseline blood samples were drawn immediately post exercise (IPE) and 24 and 48 hours following exercise. Each exercise trial sample was analyzed for total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and subfractions (HDL-C2, HDL-C3). Samples were also analyzed to determine LDL-C particle size, lecithin cholesterol acyl transferase activity (LCATa) and cholesterol ester transfer protein activity (CETPa). Results: While no significant alterations in HDL-C and LDL-C were observed HDL-C2 was shown to increase compared to baseline by 44% for CE 48 hours post exercise, 44% for IE 2 48 hours post exercise, 39% for IE 3 IPE and continued to rise for IE 3 48 hours post exercise by 66%. Furthermore, LCATa was significantly increased compared to baseline by 12% for CE 48 hours post exercise and 12% IE 3 48 hours post exercise. Furthermore, there was a 10% increase when comparing CE IPE to CE 48 hours post exercise, a 3% increase between IE 2 24 hours post exercise and IE 2 48 hours post exercise, a 2% increase between IE 3 IPE and IE 3 24 hours post exercise and an 11% increase when comparing IE 3 24 hours post exercise and IE 3 48 hours post exercise. No other significant differences were found. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that whether the exercise is continuous or intermittent, keeping calorie expenditure the same, causes significant changes in the HDL-C2 subfraction, which was augmented by an increase in LCATa. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2007. / February 26, 2007. / Lipoproteins, Lipids, Acute Exercise, Lipid Enzymes / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert J. Moffatt, Professor Directing Dissertation; David M. Quadagno, Outside Committee Member; Lynn B. Panton, Committee Member; Robert Brooks, Committee Member.

Meat species adulteration is a worldwide problem, which violates food labeling laws, constitutes economic fraud, and raises ethical, religious and food safety concerns. In the US retail market, sheep is a major substituting species in other ground meats with a higher violation rate in cooked meats than in raw meats. Mixing of different species followed by grinding and/or heat-processing adds to the difficulties of discrimination of meat origin and limits the detectability of many analytical techniques such as electrophoresis and chromatography. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a useful tool in meat species identification. Although several commercial ELISA kits using polyclonal antibodies (PAbs) are currently available for the qualitative detection of cooked sheep meat, immunoassays using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) would offer advantages over PAb-based immunoassay for meat speciation. This study aimed to develop a rapid MAb-based sandwich ELISA for the detection of undeclared sheep content in heat-processed meats. A pair of MAbs was previously produced using hybridoma technology by cell fusion after immunizing mice with soluble myofibril proteins extracted from heat-treated ovine muscle. MAb 7F6 (IgG1) was used as the capture antibody and MAb 6F11 (IgG2a) conjugated to biotin was used as the detection antibody. The sandwich ELISA constructed with these two MAbs displayed strong reactivity to cooked (100oC, 30 min) ovine muscle proteins. There was no observed cross-reactivity to any of the protein extracts from non-ovine meats (beef, pork, horse, deer, and poultry) and some non-flesh proteins (milk, egg albumin, and gelatin) that are commonly used as food additives in processed meat products. Only soy proteins showed a slight cross-reaction. Laboratory-adulterated cooked meat mixtures including sheep-in-pork, sheep-in-beef, and sheep-in-chicken were prepared at various adulteration levels (0% – 10%, wt/wt) in order to evaluate the sensitivity of the assay. The detection limits for cooked sheep muscle spiked in pork, beef, and chicken were 0.5%, 0.5%, and 0.25% (wt/wt), respectively. The average intra- and inter-assay coefficient of variation was 3.4% and 6.0% for lamb-in-pork, 3.5% and 4.7% for lamb-in-beef, and 3.2% and 5.9% for lamb-in-chicken, respectively. This is the first report of a MAb-based sandwich ELISA that has demonstrated utility in the authentication and/or detection of trace amounts of ovine muscle in heat-processed meat products. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2006. / June 29, 2006. / Cooked, Ovine, Meat, Monoclonal Antibody, ELISA / Includes bibliographical references. / Yun-Hwa Peggy Hsieh, Professor Directing Thesis; Laura R. Keller, Outside Committee Member; Jodee Dorsey, Committee Member.

HMB intake during Resistance Training (RT) is known to be an effective strategy to improve muscle mass & function and decrease FM. PURPOSE: To determine whether HMB administration during 10-wk RT would facilitate RT-induced improvement in neuromuscular functions, body composition, myofiber dimension and regenerative capacity in aged female rats. METHODS: After four animals were sacrificed for baseline muscle samples, twelve 19-month old female Sprague-Dawley rats (N=16) were randomly divided into two groups, HMB (0.46 g/kg/d, similar to 6 g/d in humans) and non-HMB. Both groups were trained every 3 day for 10 wks on ladder climbing exercise with weights attached to the tail. The MW, GS, inclined plane test were used to measure neuromuscular functions. Body composition was assessed by DXA before and after RT. DTI determined water diffusion in myofibers by calculating FA and eigenvalues. Muscle mRNA expressions of the regulators of myogenesis, mitogenesis, and cell cycle inhibition were analyzed using RT-PCR. The number of satellite cells and myonuclei associated with muscle regeneration capacity were analyzed using Pax7-stained stem-cell immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: There were significant (p 0.05). Although a main group effect for soleus myogenin mRNA approached significance (p=0.07), post hoc analysis showed significant increases in both HMB (+32%) and non-HMB (+40%) (p < 0.05). Soleus SC significantly increased in both HMB (+108%) and non-HMB (+100%) (p < 0.05) with no significant between group differences. Soleus MN also increased in both HMB (+32.2%) and non-HMB (+31.8%) (p < 0.05) with no significant between group differences. RSC for soleus muscle significantly increased in both HMB (+51.5%) and non-HMB (+46.4%) (p < 0.05) with no significant between group differences. CONCLUSION: HMB did not to exert any additive improvements in all parameters during 10 wks of intensive RT in aged female rats. The excessive effects resulting from this intense RT protocol maybe far exceeded our expectations. Intriguingly, however, our findings indicated that HMB administration during RT can facilitate a reduction in fat mass. Thus, intense RT alone might serve as an effective strategy to promote body composition, functionality, and myofiber hypertrophy in aged skeletal muscle. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2010. / July 23, 2010. / HMB, Skeletal Muscle, Aging, Resistance Exercise / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeong-Su Kim, Professor Directing Thesis; Robert J. Contreras, Committee Member; Bahram H. Arjmandi, Committee Member.

Almonds (Prunus dulcis L.) are the most widely consumed tree nuts in the USA besides USA also being the number one global producer of almonds. Although almonds can be consumed without any adverse effects by the majority of the population, a few susceptible individuals develop allergic symptoms following the ingestion of almonds. Almond allergies are the third most common of all tree nut allergies, affecting ~15% of the tree nut allergic population in the USA. Several proteins of almonds have been identified as being allergenic, including almond major protein (AMP) or amandin which is a major allergen of almonds. However, although several glycoproteins of almonds have been biochemically characterized, the potential allergenicity of most almond glycoproteins are yet to be elucidated. In the present study select almond glycoproteins were partially purified and characterized. Glycoproteins which comprise less than 2% of the total soluble proteins of almonds were purified and separated from the non-glycoprotein fraction using affinity chromatography and were further resolved in to 3 peaks when passed through a gel filtration column. The 3 glycoprotein peaks (glycoproteins A, B and C) were partially characterized biochemically and immunologically in this study. SDS- PAGE analysis under reducing conditions showed that both glycoproteins A and B had 3 major peptide bands in addition to several minor peptides. The 3 major bands of glycoprotein A had molecular masses of ~13 kDa, ~22 kDa and ~44 kDa. The major peptides of glycoprotein B were found to have molecular weights of ~12 kDa, ~34 kDa and ~62 kDa. Glycoprotein C was composed of a single major peptide of ~62 kDa and also of several minor peptides ranging from ~11 kda to ~55 kDa. The major peptides at ~62 kDa of glycoproteins B and C were identified as prunasin hydrolase and hydroxynitrile lyase, respectively by N-terminal amino acid sequencing. All three glycoproteins A, B and C were immunoreactive with polyclonal antibodies raised against whole almonds in rabbit. However, none of the 3 glycoproteins were recognized by the monoclonal antibodies 4C10 and 4F10 raised against AMP of almonds. Dot blot analysis of glycoproteins with human IgE from almond allergic patients resulted in the recognition of glycoprotein B by 6 of the 11 (53%) patient sera tested. 3 of the 11 samples (27%) reacted with glycoprotein A while most patient sera did not show any reactivity with glycoprotein C. Deglycosylation resulted in a significant loss of immunoreactivity of all 3 glycoproteins indicating the possibility of carbohydrate moieties playing a role in their immunoreactivity. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2011. / June 27, 2011. / Immunoreactivity, Characterization, Hydroxynitrile lyase, Prunasin hydrolase, Glycoproteins, Almonds / Includes bibliographical references. / Shridhar K. Sathe, Professor Directing Thesis; Yun-Hwa Peggy Hsieh, Committee Member; Kenneth H. Roux, Committee Member.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a chronic mood disorder. It is commonly characterized by persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, but depression does not present the same in everyone. There are many pharmacological treatments such as antidepressants that are used to treat depression. Increasing research shows evidence to support non-pharmacological treatments for depression such as physical activity. OBJECTIVE: The overall goal of the current study is to evaluate the association of physical activity with prevalent depression and to determine whether these associations are different according to sex, BMI, percent protein intake, occupation status and transitional occupation status. METHODS: In this study, we utilized publicly available data from Framingham Offspring study participants who attended exams 5 (n=3181). Our primary analysis included 2,327 participants who completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale and self-reported physical activity. Our secondary analysis included only participants who also attended exam 5. Physical activity was categorized dichotomously; walking 0-4 blocks was considered inactive, while 5-100 blocks was considered active. Adjusted mean depression scores and odds ratios were calculated for physical activity categories adjusted for age, sex, and BMI. RESULTS: We reported that inactive individuals were relatively older, had a slightly higher median BMI, and were more often female. Inactive individuals exhibited a lower mean depression score than those individuals who are active after adjustments (15.6 ± 0.2 versus 14.8 ± 0.1). Being active, was associated with a 27% lower odds of depression compared to being inactive (OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.60-0.88; p=0.0009). Among participants transitioning to retirement (at exam 6) from employment (at exam 5), active individuals had a 64% lower odds of depression than those inactive individuals (OR: 0.36; CI: 0.19-0.70; p=0.002). In contrast, among participants who remained employed from exam 5 to exam 6, the association of physical activity with depression was attenuated and not statistically significant (OR: 0.82 ; CI:0.63-1.06; p=0.134) CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that being active is associated with decreased depression scores and lower odds of depression. This relationship appears to be especially strong in individuals transitioning to retirement. Future longitudinal studies are needed to further assess the association between physical activity and depression status.

Introduction International as well as South African research indicates that first year female students at tertiary institutions may be specifically prone to weight gain and that these students should be targeted for weight management interventions. To contribute to this field of research a self-help weight management manual was developed for South African first year female students and tested in a controlled trial. The manual was found to result significant lower weight gain in the intervention group. The research group followed on and posited that development of further elements to combine with the self-help manual should consider beliefs students hold regarding weight gain prevention behaviours and weight related constructs. This research aimed to investigate the beliefs of first year female students from three universities in the Western Cape, South Africa regarding weight gain prevention behaviours and weight related constructs. The first objective was to elicit salient beliefs held by first year female students regarding weight gain prevention behaviours (dietary patterns, physical activity alcohol intake and sleep time) and weight related constructs (eating behaviour, body shape dissatisfaction, stress, selfesteem and depression/anxiety) using a qualitative research design (Phase 1). The second objective was to identify weight gain prevention belief patterns of first year female students, to investigate the association thereof with actual weight gain prevention behaviours and weight related constructs and identify significant predictors of the belief patterns using a quantitative cross-sectional research design (Phase 2). Methods and results The target population for both Phases was English speaking 18-20-year old first year female students who were registered for the first time for a qualification at University of Cape Town (UCT), Stellenbosch University (SU) or the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa. Students who were pregnant, breastfeeding, elite athletes, following dietary restrictions for a medical condition, or had a disease that may influence their weight, were not eligible for participation. For Phase 1 total of 28 in-depth interviews were conducted with participants with representation of living situation (university residence or private accommodation, those living at home were excluded) and race (black African, mixed ancestry or white) ensured in recruitment. Eighteen of the interviews were fully coded until data saturation was apparent. The additional 10 interviews were coded for new information only. Data analysis was conducted using the audio coding option on Nvivo Version 12. Core belief themes that emerged reflect awareness of recommendations of behaviours of weight gain prevention, awareness of benefits of performance of these behaviours, awareness of consequences of not meeting the requirements as well as non-concern relating to not performing the behaviours. Further beliefs focused mainly on barriers to and facilitators these behaviours. Phase 2 comprised completion of a questionnaire that covered socio-demographics, self-reported weight and height, dietary (including alcohol intake), physical activity, sleep time, body shape satisfaction, eating behaviour, self-esteem, presence of depression/anxiety symptoms and belief statements (derived from Phase 1) by a convenience sample of 168 first year female students from the same three universities to identify weight gain prevention (WGP) belief patterns, associated factors and predictors thereof. Four weight gain belief patterns (WGP Belief Patterns) were extracted using principal component analysis: WGP Belief Pattern 1: Barriers to weight management; WGP Belief Pattern 2: Facilitators for healthy eating and exercise; WGP Belief Pattern 3: Barriers to exercise; WGP Belief Pattern 4: Social barriers to healthy eating. Numerous associations between these belief patterns and dietary patterns including snacking after dinner, problematic eating behaviours (including a higher emotional eating, cognitive restraint and uncontrolled eating), body shape dissatisfaction, attempts to prevent weight gain during the study year, a higher or lower BMI, perception of overweight/obesity as a child/adolescent, higher stress and lower self- esteem were evident. Regression analysis identified identified snacking after dinner, emotional eating, body shape dissatisfaction and attempts to prevent weight gain during the study year as predictors of a higher score, whereas a higher BMI and perception to have been thin as an adolescent as predictors of a lower score on WGB Belief Pattern 1; for WGP Belief Pattern 2: a higher BMI and a higher score for Dietary Pattern 2 (fruits, vegetables and legumes) were identified as predictors of a higher score, and a higher MET-minutes and a higher score for Dietary Pattern 1 (sugary foods/drinks, slap chips, take-outs) as predictors of a lower score; for WGP Belief Pattern 3: a higher BMI and uncontrolled eating were identified as being predictors of a higher score, and a higher self-esteem and weight gain prevention attempts in the study year as predictors of a lower score; and a higher level of body shape dissatisfaction and a higher level of cognitive restraint were identified as being predictors of a higher score, and a higher BMI, perception of being thin as a child, lower stress and a higher self-esteem as predictors of a lower score on WGP belief pattern 4. Overarching conclusions Results and conclusions of the in depth interviews conducted to assess the beliefs of first year female students from three universities in the Western Cape, South Africa, regarding weight gain prevention behaviours and weight related constructs show that a multicultural sample of students held numerous beliefs regarding potential barriers and facilitators to weight gain prevention. Results of the quantitative assessment of these beliefs in a cross-sectional survey conducted amongst the same target group resulted in the extraction of three barrier WGP Belief Patterns, including barriers to weight management per se (feeling stressed/anxious or sad/depressed, mindless eating, being awake at night, experiencing lack of health food options at university, preparing one's own meals, feeling fat, having people around you who do not eat healthy and the difficulty of not overeating were barriers to weight management), barriers to exercise (feeling sad/depressed, feeling stressed/anxious, having poor body shape satisfaction and feeling fat were barriers to exercise) and social barriers to healthy eating (socialising, judgement from peers when making healthy food choices and drinking alcohol were barriers to weight management). Specific predictors of these patterns, namely snacking patterns, cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, problematic eating behaviours, body shape dissatisfaction, overweight/obesity as a child/adolescent, higher stress levels and lower self-esteem have typically been reported to be associated with challenges to healthy weight management. A concern is that students who participated in the cross sectional survey were characterized by many of these predictors. Predictors of the single facilitator WGP Belief Pattern (facilitators of healthy eating and exercise: complying with a healthy diet plan, finding enjoyment in healthy eating, preparing vegetables in a tasty way, finding affordable ways to eat healthy, making time in the day for exercise, knowing how to prepare one's own meals, planning meals and snacks ahead and exercising) that was extracted from the quantitative data reflect factors that have typically been reported to be associated with improved weight management (healthy eating and higher physical activity levels), as well as factors that have typically been reported to be associated with weight management challenges (unhealthy eating and a higher BMI). Overarching recommendations Although the associations between the four weight gain prevention belief patterns and weight status of first year female students were not investigated in this study, factors found to be associated with and predictors of the three barrier patterns point to potential risk for the experience of weight gain prevention challenges by first year female students. Although this notion should ideally be confirmed in further research, addressing the focus of the beliefs included in the barrier belief patterns, as well as the characteristics of the students that have been reported to be associated with weight management challenges in the literature in weight gain prevention interventions for first year female students at tertiary institutions is recommended.

The effect of pectin on copper bioavalilability was examined in copper deficient rats. Male weanling, 21 day old Sprague Dawley rats were fed either the control diet (diet 1, 6 mg Cu/Kg diet) or the deficient diet ($<$0.5 mg Cu/Kg diet). After 4 weeks of depletion, the rats were divided into groups of 6 rats each. One control and one depleted group were sacrificed to determine baseline levels. The remaining groups were repleted for 5 days by feeding the following diets ad libitum: Control diet 1; diet 1 with 8% pectin (4 preparations differing in molecular weight (MW), and degree of esterification (DE)). Four groups of rats were pair fed to the pectin groups with control diet 1. Serum ceruloplasmin oxidase, serum copper, liver copper and liver Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase were used as indicators of copper bioavailability. Results showed that the biochemical parameters had normalized and there were no significant differences in the levels between the experimental groups. Liver copper concentration was lowest in the group repleted with the diet containing pectin with LowMW:HighDE, suggesting that this pectin may have an effect on copper bioavailability. It therefore became apparent that to detect differences between dietary treatments, it was imperative to prevent complete recovery from copper deficiency. The aim of the second in vivo study was to replete copper deficient rats with diets containing 3 mg Cu/Kg diet in order to reveal differences, if any, between the experimental groups. Copper deficient rats were repleted for 5 days with either control diet 1, control diet 2 (3 mg Cu/Kg diet); or diet 2 with 8% pectin (2 HighDE pectin preparations differing in molecular weights). Two groups of rats were pair fed to the pectin groups with control diet 2. The results of this study showed that the parameters used as indices of copper bioavailability had not normalized and that there were no differences between the experimental groups. Therefore, one can conclude that pectin does not have an effect on copper bioavailability.

Background: Until recently, consuming nutrients close to sleep was believed to have negative impacts on body composition and overall health. However, recent work from our laboratory and others has demonstrated that a low calorie snack, high in protein may be beneficial for facilitating weight loss in overweight and obese adults, increasing overnight muscle protein synthesis in both young and old men, increasing morning metabolism in young men and decreasing morning hunger in overweight and obese women. To date, no studies have investigated the impact of casein intake before sleep on appetite the following morning in overweight and obese men. Purpose: The present study investigated whether casein (CAS) protein consumed within 30 min of sleep could acutely alter morning appetite in overweight or obese men the next morning when compared to a non-caloric placebo (PLA). Methods: Twelve overweight and obese men completed this randomized, crossover, double blind and placebo-controlled study. Subjects came to the laboratory on three occasions: baseline, and in the morning following CAS and placebo (PLA). Within 30 min of sleep, CAS or PLA was consumed. The next morning (6-8 hours later), subjective appetite (visual analog scales for hunger, satiety, and desire to eat) and ghrelin levels (blood samples) were measured. Results: There were no significant differences in next morning hunger (BAS, 35 ± 6; CAS, 49 ± 6; PLA, 47 ± 6 mm, p = 0.21), satiety (BAS, 36 ± 6; CAS, 36 ± 4, PLA, 39 ± 5 mm; p = 0.89), or desire to eat (BAS, 38 ± 6; CAS, 62 ± 8; PLA, 55 ± 5 mm; p = 0.06). Additionally, there were no significant differences in next morning acyl ghrelin (BAS, 54.8 ± 15.7; CAS, 54.3 ± 10; PLA, 61.3 ± 15 pg/ml, p = 0.93), desacyl ghrelin (BAS, 46.4 ± 9; CAS, 43.4 ± 6.9; PLA, 45 ± 9.9 pg/ml; p = 0.97) or ghrelin ratio (BAS, 1.3 ± 0.4; CAS, 1.6 ± 0.4; PLA, 2.3 ± 1.0, p = 0.63). Conclusion: The results of the present study reveal that CAS can be consumed within 30 minutes of sleep without negatively affecting next morning appetite or insulin levels in overweight and obese men. Long-term studies are needed to evaluate the effects of chronic protein consumption before sleep on body composition and appetite. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2016. / March 22, 2016. / Men, Nighttime, Obese, Protein / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael J. Ormsbee, Professor Directing Thesis; Lynn B. Panton, Committee Member; Ming Cui, Committee Member.