Current Issue : April - June Volume : 2016 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 4 Articles
Foods currently eaten by Americans have abundant amounts of essential omega-6 (n-6) nutrients\nand relatively few omega-3 (n-3) nutrients. The average omega 3 - 6 balance score of typical US\nfoods is about 6. This imbalance causes the average American to accumulate tissue proportions\nof n-3 and n-6 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) with about 77% n-6 in HUFA. This HUFA balance\nlinks to many chronic health conditions that are made worse by overabundant actions of\nfood-based omega-6 HUFA. Americans currently spend more on treating food-based health conditions\nthan they spend on food. Less medication is needed to treat signs and symptoms when a key\ndietary cause of the signs and symptoms is prevented. Informed food producers can readily prepare\nand market new food products with more n-3 and less n-6 nutrients to reverse the current\nnational nutrient imbalance and help people attain and maintain a healthy HUFA balance. New\nfunctional foods and nutraceuticals will help consumers shift their financial resources from treating\nsigns and symptoms caused by HUFA imbalance to preventing the nutrient imbalance that\ncauses the need to treat....
Different drying methods were used to obtain flour from two Mexican cactus\ncladodes (nopal) (Opuntia spp.), one wild and one commercially cultivated (Verde Valtierrilla),\nin terms of nutraceutical compounds. Total dietary fiber, phenolic compounds\nand flavonoids, antioxidant capacity, in vitro fermentability and production of shortchain\nfatty acids were analyzed by fluid bed, tunnel, spray and freeze drying methods.\nOur results indicate that nopal flour obtained under hot air and freeze drying\nis an excellent source of dietary fiber; wild material showed the highest values\n(54.2% dry weight). Phenolic compounds and flavonoids were also higher (p\n< 0.05) in the wild than in the commercial cladodes powder, as well as the production\nof short-chain fatty acids. Acetic, propionic and butyric acids were found\nin high amounts in both flours, being acetic the most abundant fatty acid. Antioxidant\ncapacity was not significantly affected by the drying temperatures of the\nevaluated methods. Flour from wild nopal exhibited higher levels of health promoting\nsubstances than Verde Valtierrilla. In brief, this study demonstrates that\nflour from Opuntia cladodes could be considered an excellent food with nutraceutical\npotential for human nutrition and outstanding potential features for the\nindustries of health, food and pharmaceuticals, due to its functional components....
A specific group of plant and animal oligosaccharides does not suffer enzymatic digestion in the human upper intestinal tract, achieving the colon microbial ecosystem in intact form. The reason for that is their diverse glycosidic bond structure, in comparison with common energetic polysaccharides as starch or glycogen. In this complex ecosystem, these molecules serve as energy sources, via fermentation, of distinctive beneficial bacterial groups, mainly belonging to the Anaerostipes, Bifidobacterium, Coprococcus, Faecalibacterium, Lactobacillus, Roseburia and other genera. The main catabolic products of these fermentations are short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) as acetate, propionate and butyrate, which appear in high concentrations in the lumen around the colon mucosa. Acetate and propionate are associated to energetic purposes for enterocytes, hepatocytes and other cells. Butyrate is the preferred energy source for colonocytes where it controls their cell cycle; butyrate is able to induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in tumor colonocytes. These oligosaccharides that increase beneficial colon bacterial populations and induce SCFA production in this ecosystem are called prebiotics. Here, different sources and chemical structures for prebiotics are described, as well as their modulatory effect on the growth of specific probiotic bacterial groups in the colon, and how their fermentation renders diverse SCFA, with beneficial effects in gut health....
Background: Although several studies have found probiotics encouraging in prevention of gestational diabetes\nmellitus (GDM), the evidence for the use of probiotics in diagnosed GDM is largely limited. The aim of this study\nwas to assess the effect of a probiotic supplement capsule containing four bacterial strains on glucose metabolism\nindices and weight changes in women with newly diagnosed GDM.\nMethods: Sixty-four pregnant women with GDM were enrolled into a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized\nclinical trial. They were randomly assigned to receive either a probiotic or placebo capsule along with dietary\nadvice for eight consecutive weeks. The trend of weight gain along with glucose metabolism indices was assayed.\nResults: During the first 6 weeks of the study, the weight gain trend was similar between the groups. However, in\nthe last 2 weeks of the study, the weight gain in the probiotic group was significantly lower than in the placebo\ngroup (p < 0.05). Fasting blood sugar (FBS) decreased in both intervention (from 103.7 to 88.4 mg/dl) and control\n(from 100.9 to 93.6 mg/dl) groups significantly, and the decrease in the probiotic group was significantly higher\nthan in the placebo group (p < 0.05). Insulin resistance index in the probiotic group had 6.74 % reduction over the\nstudy period (p < 0.05). In the placebo group, however, there was an increase in insulin resistance index (6.45 %),\nbut the observed change in insulin resistance was not statistically significant. Insulin sensitivity index was increased\nin both groups. The post-intervention insulin sensitivity index in the probiotic group was not significantly different\nfrom placebo when adjusted for the baseline levels.\nConclusions: The probiotic supplement appeared to affect glucose metabolism and weight gain among pregnant\nwomen with GDM. This needs to be confirmed in other settings before a therapeutic value could be approved....
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