Switching Mediterranean Consumers to Mediterranean Sustainable Healthy Dietary Patterns (SWITCHtoHEALTHY): Study Protocol of a Multicentric and Multi-Cultural Family-Based Nutritional Intervention Study.

Background/objectives: Populations in Mediterranean countries are abandoning the traditional Mediterranean diet (MD) and lifestyle, shifting towards unhealthier habits due to profound cultural and socioeconomic changes. The SWITCHtoHEALTHY project aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of a multi-component nutritional intervention to improve the adherence of families to the MD in three Mediterranean countries, thus prompting a dietary behavior change.

Methods: A parallel, randomized, single-blinded, and controlled multicentric nutritional intervention study will be conducted over 3 months in 480 families with children and adolescents aged 3-17 years from Spain, Morocco, and Turkey.

Chronic consumption of a bergamot-based beverage does not affect glucose, lipid and inflammatory biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk in healthy subjects: a randomised controlled intervention study.

: Pure bergamot juice exerts lipid lowering effects in dyslipidemic subjects. It is unknown whether bergamot-based beverages exert similar effects in healthy subjects. : To assess the effects, if any, of a bergamot-based beverage (BBB, bergamot juice ≤25%) on lipid, metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers.

Nutritional, environmental and economic implications of children plate waste at school: a comparison between two Italian case studies.

Objective: This study aims at comparing two Italian case studies in relation to schoolchildren's plate waste and its implications, in terms of nutritional loss, economic cost and carbon footprint.

Design: Plate waste was collected through an aggregate selective weighting method for 39 d.

Setting: Children from the first to the fifth grade from four primary schools, two in each case study (Parma and Lucca), were involved.

Salt content of prepacked cereal-based products and their potential contribution to salt intake of the Italian adult population: Results from a simulation study.

Background And Aims: High sodium intake is one of the main risk factors for noncommunicable diseases, and its consumption should be reduced. This study aimed to simulate changes in the daily salt intake of the Italian adult population based on consumption scenarios of prepacked cereal-based foods sold in Italy.

Methods And Results: Information on food packages was retrieved from 2893 cereal-based products.

Association of dietary flavan-3-ol intakes with plasma phenyl-γ-valerolactones: analysis from the TUDA cohort of healthy older adults.

Background: Dietary polyphenols, including flavan-3-ols (F3O), are associated with better health outcomes. The relationship of plasma phenyl-γ-valerolactones (PVLs), the products of colonic bacterial metabolism of F3O, with dietary intakes is unclear.

Objectives: To investigate whether plasma PVLs are associated with self-reported intakes of total F3O and procyanidins+(epi)catechins.

Nutritional Composition and Environmental Impact of Meals Selected in Workplace Canteens before and after an Intervention Promoting the Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet.

Enhancing healthy and sustainable food systems is one of the key goals of the current European Commission policy. In this light, the creation of a food environment where people are properly informed about the healthiness and sustainability of food choices is essential. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional profile and the environmental impact of meals consumed in a workplace canteen in Italy in the presence of a nudge (i.

Acceptability of alternative ready-to-use therapeutic foods in acute malnutrition management-a systematic review.

"Commercial" Ready-To-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs) are used in acute malnutrition management, but they are not always appropriate being expensive and unfamiliar. Much research has tried to develop alternative RUTF formulations and this work systematically reviewed eight articles discussing the approaches used to assess the children's sensory satisfaction, families' acceptance, and the cultural appropriateness of 13 alternative RUTFs. Different approaches were used by the authors and much research to standardise methodologies and findings is urgent to ensure that food products are culturally appropriate, acceptable and appreciated, with the final aim of completing the development process of alternative RUTFs.

Association between chronotype, sleep pattern, and eating behaviours in a group of Italian adults.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the possible relationship between chronotype, sleeping, and eating patterns in 74 Italian adults (71.6% women). Based on Morningness-Eveningness Questionnare (MEQ) score, participants were classified as morning ( = 24), intermediate ( = 25), and evening ( = 25) chronotypes.

Animal-source foods as a suitable complementary food for improved physical growth in 6 to 24-month-old children in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Although animal-source foods are suitable complementary food for child growth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), their efficacy is still under discussion. This systematic review and meta-analysis was done to investigate the suitability of animal-source foods intake on child physical growth in LMICs. A systematic literature search was done using electronic databases and scanning the reference list of included studies, previous meta-analysis and systematic reviews.

Effect of different patterns of consumption of coffee and a cocoa-based product containing coffee on the nutrikinetics and urinary excretion of phenolic compounds.

Background: Coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of several chronic diseases in a dose-dependent manner. Chronic intake results in the transient appearance of bioactive phenolic metabolites in the circulatory system. However, there is a lack of information on the impact of different patterns of coffee consumption on plasma and urinary profiles of phenolic metabolites.

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in Association with Self-Perception of Diet Sustainability, Anthropometric and Sociodemographic Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study in Italian Adults.

The adoption of sustainable dietary models, such as the Mediterranean Diet (MD), can be a valuable strategy to preserve ecosystems and human health. This study aims to investigate in an Italian adult representative sample the adherence to the MD and to what extent it is associated with the self-perceived adoption of a sustainable diet, the consideration of the MD as a sustainable dietary model, and anthropometric and sociodemographic factors. By applying an online survey ( = 838, 18-65 years, 52% female), an intermediate level of MD adherence (median: 4.

Effect of Coffee and Cocoa-Based Confectionery Containing Coffee on Markers of DNA Damage and Lipid Peroxidation Products: Results from a Human Intervention Study.

The effect of coffee and cocoa on oxidative damage to macromolecules has been investigated in several studies, often with controversial results. This study aimed to investigate the effect of one-month consumption of different doses of coffee or cocoa-based products containing coffee on markers of DNA damage and lipid peroxidation in young healthy volunteers. Twenty-one volunteers were randomly assigned into a three-arm, crossover, randomized trial.

Reproducibility and validity of a food-frequency questionnaire (NFFQ) to assess food consumption based on the NOVA classification in adults.

NOVA is a classification that divides foods into four groups according to processing. Since no questionnaires have been validated to assess the consumption of foods with different levels of processing in the general adult population, we tested the reliability and validity of a 94-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (NFFQ) designed to estimate the intake (g/day) and the weight ratio (%) of the NOVA food groups in Italian adults. Time reliability and validity were tested by administrating the NFFQ to 110 subjects on two different occasions and comparing it with a weighed dietary record (WDR).

Analysis of Food Labels to Evaluate the Nutritional Quality of Bread Products and Substitutes Sold in Italy: Results from the Food Labelling of Italian Products (FLIP) Study.

Bread is one of the most common staple foods, despite the increasing consumption of the so-called "bread substitutes". The aim of the present work is to survey the nutritional quality intended as a nutrition declaration of 339 pre-packed bread products and 1020 bread substitutes sold in the major retailers present on the Italian market. Comparisons of energy, macronutrient, and salt content within product types, and between regular and gluten-free (GF) products and products with or without nutrition claim (NC) and health claim (HC) declarations, were performed.

The EnergyKids Pilot Study: Comparing Energy Balance of Primary School Children during School and Summer Camp.

Children's energy requirements may vary during school and summer camp days. To evaluate energy balance during these two periods, seventy-eight children (45% females, 8-10 years) living in Parma, Italy, were enrolled in this observational study. Participants completed a 3-day food diary and wore an activity tracker for three consecutive days during a school- and a summer camp-week to estimate energy intake (EI) and energy expenditure (TEE).

Metabolomic Changes after Coffee Consumption: New Paths on the Block.

Scope: Several studies suggest that regular coffee consumption may help preventing chronic diseases, but the impact of daily intake and the contribution of coffee metabolites in disease prevention are still unclear. The present study aims at evaluating whether and how different patterns of coffee intake (one cup of espresso coffee/day, three cups of espresso coffee/day, and one cup of espresso coffee/day and two cocoa-based products containing coffee two times per day) may impact endogenous molecular pathways.

Methods And Results: A three-arm, randomized, crossover trial is performed in 21 healthy volunteers who consumed each treatment for one month.