Many dietary guidelines recommend restricting the consumption of processed red meat (PRM) in favour of healthier foods such as fish, to reduce the risk of chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. The objective of this study was to estimate the potential effect of replacing PRM for fatty fish, lean fish, red meat, eggs, pulses, or vegetables, on the risk of incident hypertension and diabetes. This was a prospective study of women in the E3N cohort study. Cases of diabetes and hypertension were based on self-report, specific questionnaires, and drug reimbursements. In the main analysis, information on regular dietary intake was assessed with a single food history questionaire, and food substitutions were modelled using cox proportional hazard models. 95 % confidence intervals were generated via bootstrapping. 71 081 women free of diabetes and 45 771 women free of hypertension were followed for an average of 18·7 and 18·3 years, respectively. 2681 incident cases of diabetes and 12 327 incident cases of hypertension were identified. Relative to PRM, fatty fish was associated with a 15 % lower risk of diabetes (HR = 0·85, 95 CI (0·73, 0·97)) and hypertension (HR = 0 85 (0·79, 0·91)). Between 3 and 10 % lower risk of hypertension or diabetes was also observed when comparing PRM with vegetables, unprocessed red meat or pulses. Relative to PRM, alternative protein sources such as fatty fish, unprocessed red meat, vegetables or pulses was associated with a lower risk of hypertension and diabetes.

1. Q-strain mice selected for high (QLF) or low (QSC) body-weight at 6 weeks of age were compared with respect to their body-weight increases, gross body compositions and food intakes.

2. DNA, RNA, protein and hydroxyproline contents were measured.

3. QLF animals were larger at all stages of development but ate more food and gained more body-weight per unit food intake with an apparently improved efficiency of utilization compared with QSC mice.

4. The efficiency of deposition of dietary energy in Q-strain mice was found to be significantly lower than that of other growing mammals receiving similar energy intakes.

5. Body water, protein and fat of both strains were similar at birth and at 42 d of age but the contribution of fat to body-weight in the preweaning phase was greater for QLF while QSC accreted more fat per unit weight gain in the postweaning period.

6. An increase in cell number made a greater contribution to the growth post partum of the QLF mice, but by 42 d of age little difference between the number of cells per unit weight in the two strains was evident.

7. Despite increases in RNA concentrations at all stages of development, of QLF mice compared with QSC, measurements of body composition do not indicate any accompanying increases of protein concentration in these animals.

A severe reduction in insulin release in response to glucose is consistently noticed in protein-deprived rats and is attributed partly to the chronic exposure to elevated levels of NEFA. Since the pancreatic and duodenal transcription factor homeobox 1 (PDX-1) is important for the maintenance of β-cell physiology, and since PDX-1 expression is altered in the islets of rats fed a low protein (LP) diet and that rats show high NEFA levels, we assessed PDX-1 and insulin mRNA expression, as well as PDX-1 and p38/stress activated protein kinase 2 (SAPK2) protein expression, in islets from young rats fed low (6 %) or normal (17 %; control) protein diets and maintained for 48 h in culture medium containing 5·6 mmol/l glucose, with or without 0·6 mmol/l palmitic acid. We also measured glucose-induced insulin secretion and glucose metabolism. Insulin secretion by isolated islets in response to 16·7 mmol/l glucose was reduced in LP compared with control rats. In the presence of NEFA, there was an increase in insulin secretion in both groups. At 2·8 mmol/l glucose, the metabolism of this sugar was reduced in LP islets, regardless of the presence of this fatty acid. However, when challenged with 16·7 mmol/l glucose, LP and control islets showed a severe reduction in glucose oxidation in the presence of NEFA. The PDX-1 and insulin mRNA were significantly higher when NEFA was added to the culture medium in both groups of islets. The effect of palmitic acid on PDX-1 and p38/SAPK2 protein levels was similar in LP and control islets, but the increase was much more evident in LP islets. These results demonstrate the complex interrelationship between nutrients in the control of insulin release and support the view that fatty acids play an important role in glucose homeostasis by affecting molecular mechanisms and stimulus/secretion coupling pathways.

n-6 Fatty acids have been shown to exert pro-adipogenic effects, whereas n-3 fatty acids work in opposition. Increasing intakes of linoleic acid (LA; n-6) v. α-linolenic acid (ALA; n-3) in Western diets has led to the hypothesis that consumption of this diet during pregnancy may be contributing to adverse offspring health. This study investigated the effects of feeding a maternal dietary LA:ALA ratio similar to that of the Western diet (9:1) compared with a proposed ‘ideal’ ratio (about 1:1·5), at two total fat levels (18 v. 36 % fat, w/w), on growth and lipogenic gene expression in the offspring. Female Wistar rats were assigned to one of the four experimental groups throughout gestation and lactation. Offspring were culled at 1 and 2 weeks of age for sample collection. Offspring of dams consuming a 36 % fat diet were approximately 20 % lighter than those exposed to an 18 % fat diet (P < 0·001). Male, but not female, liver weight at 1 week was approximately 13 % heavier and had increased glycogen (P < 0·05), in offspring exposed to high LA (P < 0·01). Hepatic expression of lipogenic genes suggested an increase in lipogenesis in male offspring exposed to a 36 % fat maternal diet and in female offspring exposed to a low-LA diet, via increases in the expression of fatty acid synthase and sterol regulatory element-binding protein. Sexually dimorphic responses to altered maternal diet appeared to persist until 2 weeks of age. In conclusion, whilst maternal total fat content predominantly affected offspring growth, fatty acid ratio and total fat content had sexually dimorphic effects on offspring liver weight and composition.

1. In a double reversal experiment, diets containing either a normal or a large amount of lignin fibre were given to four patients with pruritus due to a liver disease.

2. Neither an improvement in symptoms nor a decrease in serum bile acid levels was found. The dose of fibre may have been insufficient, changes in intraluminal pH may have impaired adsorption of bile acids, or, less likely, the concentration of bile acids in the intestine may have been too low.

The remarkable increase over the past 40 years in some chronic diseases, including the metabolic syndrome, has increased the demand for government and international policies to encourage various approaches to decrease the risk of these diseases. There are some prerequisites for working out successful national food and nutrition policies. Firstly, it is necessary to have a clear picture of the dietary pattern in a country and its associated public health problems. Based on these data, nutrient recommendations and goals are formulated by international or national scientific committees. Governments should translate these nutrient goals into food goals and eventually into national dietary guidelines. The means by which the national authorities can implement a nutrition policy include fortification and supplementation. Equally important are educational and informative tools, such as labelling on the packed food products including information about ingredients and nutrient content. With respect to the metabolic syndrome, this implies nutrient recommendations regarding the intake of fat and carbohydrates (energy per cent) and dietary fibre; dietary guidelines regarding balance between energy intake and expenditure; decreased consumption of products rich in fat and increased consumption of cereals and other products rich in dietary fibre, etc.; recommendations from the authorities regarding nutrient labelling (content of fat and dietary fibre) on relevant products; and nutrient and health claims and other aids (symbols) as tools to make it easier for consumers to select the appropriate food products.

The knowledge base underpinning the setting of nutrient requirements for children and adolescents is not very secure. The advent of the concepts of optimal nutrition and functional foods has encouraged the possible use of functional effects as criteria for adequate nutrition in this age group. Target functions have been identified for growth development and differentiation and for behavioural and cognitive development. However, ideal markers or effects for these are not generally available. Additionally, nutrition in young people should avoid predisposing them to diet-related disease in later life. It is suggested that functional effects should include markers of reduction of risks of disease (nutritional safety) as well of benefits for health and well-being. Such markers of functional effects should be expected to arise from fundamental studies of nutrient–gene interactions and post-genomic metabolism.

The present study was designed to examine the effect of cellulose (CL) on postprandial glycaemia and insulinaemia when ingested with glucose (G), casein (CS) and maize oil (CO) in various combinations. The study was conducted on five healthy male volunteers, on each of whom five meal tolerance tests were performed. The meals were isoenergetic and consisted of G; G and CL; G, CS and CL; G, CO and CL; G, CS, CO and CL. The meals were administered after an overnight fast. In addition to a fasting venous blood sample, blood was collected 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 h after ingestion for measurement of serum glucose and insulin levels. The glycaemic response to G+CS+CL and G+CS+CO+CL was significantly lower, while the insulinaemic response to G+CL was significantly higher than that to G. Addition of CL to G did not alter the glycaemic response, but accentuated the insulinaemic response. Further addition of CS in isoenergetic meals attenuated the glycaemic response, which may be because of a reduction in the amount of G in the meals. Like CS, CL also seemed to have an insulinotropic effect. The mechanism of the insulinotropic effect of CL cannot be deduced from the present study, but it is possible that like G, CL also stimulates gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP) secretion from the duodenum, which in turn stimulates insulin secretion.

Responses of several folate-metabolizing pathways to dietary folic acid were studied in 2-week-old chicks. Oxidation of a histidine load to carbon dioxide was impaired in folate-deficient chicks. There was a curvilinear relation between oxidation and dietary folate, and maximum oxidation occurred with 2 mg supplemental folic acid/kg. Hepatic activities of glutamic acid formiminotransferase (EC 2.1.2.5) and glycine N-methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.20) were not affected significantly (P > 0.05) by dietary folic acid. The activity of dihydrofolate reductase (EC 1.5.1.3) in erythrocytes was elevated in folate-deficient chicks. These studies show that the activities of two folate-dependent pathways can be used as biochemical criteria of folate status in chicks.

This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of supplementing conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in breeder hens diet on development and hepatic lipid metabolism of chick offspring. Hy-Line Brown breeder hens were allocated into two groups, supplemented with 0 (control (CT)) or 0·5 % CLA for 8 weeks. Offspring chicks were grouped according to the mother generation and fed for 7 d. CLA treatment had no significant influence on development, egg quality and fertility of breeder hens but darkened the egg yolks in shade and increased yolk sac mass compared with the CT group. Addition of CLA resulted in increased body mass and liver mass and decreased deposition of subcutaneous adipose tissue in chick offspring. The serum TAG and total cholesterol levels of chick offspring were decreased in CLA group. CLA treatment increased the incorporation of both CLA isomers (c9t11 and t10c12) in the liver of chick offspring, accompanied by the decreased hepatic TAG levels, related to the significant reduction of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) enzyme activities and the increased carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT1) enzyme activity. Meanwhile, CLA treatment reduced the mRNA expression of genes related to fatty acid biosynthesis (FAS, ACC and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c) and induced the expression of genes related to β-oxidative (CPT1, AMP-activated protein kinase and PPARα) in chick offspring liver. In summary, the addition of CLA in breeder hens diet significantly increased the incorporation of CLA in the liver of chick offspring, which further regulate hepatic lipid metabolism.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of guarana supplementation on cognitive performance before and after a bout of maximal intensity cycling and to compare this to an equivalent caffeine dose. Twenty-five participants completed the randomised double-blind crossover trial by performing cognitive tests with one of three supplements, on three different days: guarana (125 mg/kg), caffeine (5 mg/kg) or placebo (65 mg/kg protein powder). After 30 min of rest, participants performed simple (SRT) and choice reaction time (CRT) tests, an immediate word recall test and Bond–Lader mood scale. This was followed by a cycling V̇O2max test, and cognitive tests were then immediately repeated. Guarana supplementation decreased CRT before exercise (407 (sd 45) ms) in comparison with placebo (421 (sd 46) ms, P = 0·030) but not caffeine (417 (sd 42) ms). SRT after exercise decreased following guarana supplementation (306 (sd 28) ms) in comparison with placebo (323 (sd 32) ms, P = 0·003) but not caffeine (315 (sd 32) ms). Intra-individual variability on CRT significantly improved from before (111·4 (sd 60·5) ms) to after exercise (81·85 (sd 43·1) ms) following guarana supplementation, and no differences were observed for caffeine and placebo (P > 0·05). Alertness scores significantly improved following guarana supplementation (63·3 (sd 13·8)) in comparison with placebo (57·4 (sd 13·4), P = 0·014) but not caffeine (61·2 (sd 12·8)). There were no changes to V̇O2max, immediate word recall or any other Bond–Lader mood scales. Guarana supplementation appears to impact several parameters of cognition. These results support the use of guarana supplementation to possibly maintain speed of attention immediately following a maximal intensity exercise test (V̇O2max).

Feeding whole prey to felids has shown to benefit their gastrointestinal health. Whether this effect is caused by the chemical or physical nature of whole prey is unknown. Fifteen domestic cats, as a model for strict carnivores, were either fed minced mice (MM) or whole mice (WM), to determine the effect of food structure on digestibility, mean urinary excretion time (MUET) of 15N, intestinal microbial activity and fermentation products. Faeces samples were collected after feeding all cats a commercially available extruded diet (EXT) for 10 d before feeding for 19 d the MM and WM diets with faeces and urine collected from day 11 to 15. Samples for microbiota composition and determination of MUET were obtained from day 16 to 19. The physical structure of the mice diet (minced or not) did not affect large intestinal fermentation as total SCFA and branched-chain fatty acid (BCFA), and most biogenic amine (BA) concentrations were not different (P > 0·10). When changing from EXT to the mice diets, the microbial community composition shifted from a carbolytic (Prevotellaceae) to proteolytic (Fusobacteriaceae) profile and led to a reduced faecal acetic to propionic acid ratio, SCFA, total BCFA (P < 0·001), NH3 (P = 0·04), total BA (P < 0·001) and para-cresol (P = 0·08). The results of this study indicate that food structure within a whole-prey diet is less important than the overall diet type, with major shifts in microbiome and decrease in potentially harmful fermentation products when diet changes from extruded to mice. This urges for careful consideration of the consequences of prey-based diets for gut health in cats.

Energy restriction (ER) has anti-ageing effects and probably protects from a range of chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Specifically, ER has a positive impact on experimental kidney ageing, CKD (diabetic nephropathy, polycystic kidney disease) and acute kidney injury (nephrotoxic, ischaemia–reperfusion injury) through such mechanisms as increased autophagy, mitochondrial biogenesis and DNA repair, and decreased inflammation and oxidative stress. Key molecules contributing to ER-mediated kidney protection include adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, sirtuin-1 and PPAR-γ coactivator 1α. However, CKD is a complex condition, and ER may potentially worsen CKD complications such as protein–energy wasting, bone–mineral disorders and impaired wound healing. ER mimetics are drugs, such as metformin and Na–glucose co-transporter-2 which mimic the action of ER. This review aims to provide comprehensive data regarding the effect of ER on CKD progression and outcomes.

The objective of this study was verify the best waist:height ratio (WHtR) cut-off points for the prediction of insulin resistance (IR) according to stage of sexual maturation in Brazilian adolescents. Data were analysed from 37 759 adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age, of both sexes, participating in the ERICA study on cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents (‘Estudo de Riscos Cardiovasculares em Adolescentes – ERICA’). The following variables were included sex, age and sexual maturity according to the Tanner stage, waist circumference, height, WHtR, fasting insulin and fasting blood sugar so as to obtain the homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). We constructed an Receiver Operating characteristic (ROC) curve for each group in order to determine the best WHtR cut-off points for the sample stratified by sex and stratified by sex and sexual maturation stage. The female sex corresponded to 60% of the sample, with a mean age of 14·7 years (sd ± 0·08 years) and 13·1 % had IR. The prediction of IR through the WHtR indicator was better for boys, where all the areas under the ROC curve were superior to 0·70. When stratifying by sex alone, the best WHtR cut-off points found were equal to 0·45 for girls and 0·44 for boys. When stratifying by Tanner maturation stages, the cut-off points were reduced with advancing sexual maturation in the male group, while the opposite occurred in the female group. Among Brazilian adolescents, WHtR is a good predictor of IR evaluated by HOMA-IR, but different cut-off points should be adopted according to sex and sexual maturation stage.

The European Food Safety Authority has suggested that EU countries implement the 2 × 24 h diet recall (2 × 24 h DR) method and physical activity (PA) measurements for national dietary surveys. Since 2000, Denmark has used 7 d food diaries (7 d FD) with PA questionnaires and measurements. The accuracy of the reported energy intakes (EI) from the two diet methods, pedometer-determined step counts and self-reported time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) were compared with total energy expenditure measured by the doubly labelled water (TEEDLW) technique and with PA energy expenditure (PAEE), respectively. The study involved fifty-two male and sixty-eight female volunteers aged 18–60 years who were randomly assigned to start with either the 24 h DR or the web-based 7 d FD, and wore a pedometer for the first 7 d and filled in a step diary. The mean TEEDLW (11·5 MJ/d) was greater than the mean reported EI for the 7 d FD (9·5 MJ/d (P < 0·01)) but the same as the 2 × 24 h DR (11·5 MJ/d). The proportion of under-reporters was 34 % (7 d FD) and 4 % (2 × 24 h DR). Most participants preferred the 7 d DR as it was more flexible, despite altering their eating habits. Pearson’s correlation between steps corrected for cycling and PAEE was r = 0·44, P < 0·01. Spearman’s correlation for self-reported hours spent in MVPA and PAEE was r = 0·58, P < 0·01. The 2 × 24 h DR performs better than the existing 7 d FD method. Pedometer-determined steps and self-reported MVPA are good predictors of PAEE in adult Danes.

Over the past 20 years, the popularity of soyafoods has increased in part because of research suggesting that these foods convey health benefits independent of their nutrient content. For example, in 1999, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a health-claim for soyafoods and CHD based on the hypocholesterolaemic effects of soya protein. However, soyafoods have become controversial in recent years because of concerns that their uniquely rich phyto-oestrogen (isoflavone) content may cause untoward effects in some individuals. Most notable in this regard is the concern that soyafoods are contraindicated for breast cancer patients and women at high risk of developing this disease. Furthermore, the hypocholesterolaemic effects of soya protein have been challenged. However, the results of recently published meta-analyses indicate that soya protein directly lowers circulating LDL-cholesterol levels by approximately 4 %. There is also intriguing evidence that soyafoods reduce CHD risk independent of their effects on lipid levels. In regard to the breast cancer controversy, recently published clinical and epidemiological data do not support observations in rodents that soyabean isoflavones increase breast cancer risk. In postmenopausal women, isoflavone exposure does not adversely affect breast tissue density or breast cell proliferation. Furthermore, both US and Chinese prospective epidemiological studies show that post-diagnosis soya consumption is associated with an improved prognosis. Therefore, soyafoods should be considered by women as healthy foods to include in diets aimed at reducing the risk of CHD regardless of their breast cancer status.