Association between whole-grain consumption, tryptophan metabolism and psychological distress: a secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial.

This study aimed to investigate whether psychological distress, whole-grain consumption and tryptophan metabolism are associated with participants undergoing weight management intervention. Seventy-nine women and men (mean age 49·7 (sd 9·0) years; BMI 34·2(sd 2·5) kg/m) participated in a 7-week weight-loss (WL) period and in a 24-week weight maintenance (WM) intervention period. Whole-grain consumption was measured using 4 d food diaries.

Validating nutrient selection for product-group-specific nutrient indices for use as functional units in life cycle assessment of foods.

The ability to provide adequate nutrition is considered a key factor in evaluating the sustainability of foods and diets. Nutrient indices are used as functional units (FU) in life cycle assessment of foods to include nutritional performance in the environmental assessment of a product. Several general and food-group-specific nutrient indices exist but many lack validation, particularly when used as FU.

Associations of low levels of air pollution with cardiometabolic outcomes and the role of diet quality in individuals with obesity.

Background: Exposure to air pollution is associated with adverse cardiometabolic health effects and increased mortality, even at low concentrations. Some of the biological mechanisms through which air pollution can affect cardiometabolic health overlap with health outcomes associated with diet quality and changes in diet.

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate associations of air pollutants at average concentrations below the World Health Organization, 2021 air quality guidelines with cardiometabolic outcomes.

Nutritional metabolomics: Recent developments and future needs.

Metabolomics has rapidly been adopted as one of the key methods in nutrition research. This review focuses on the recent developments and updates in the field, including the analytical methodologies that encompass improved instrument sensitivity, sampling techniques and data integration (multiomics). Metabolomics has advanced the discovery and validation of dietary biomarkers and their implementation in health research.

Metabolic profiles reflect weight loss maintenance and the composition of diet after very-low-energy diet.

Background & Aims: Diet and weight loss affect circulating metabolome. However, metabolite profiles induced by different weight loss maintenance diets and underlying longer term weight loss maintenance remain unknown. Herein, we investigated after-weight-loss metabolic signatures of two isocaloric 24-wk weight maintenance diets differing in satiety value due to dietary fibre, protein and fat contents and identified metabolite features that associated with successful weight loss maintenance.

Associations of altered hepatic gene expression in American lifestyle-induced obesity syndrome diet-fed mice with metabolic changes during NAFLD development and progression.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) pathogenesis remains poorly understood due to the complex metabolic and inflammatory changes in the liver. This study aimed to elucidate hepatic events related to inflammation and lipid metabolism and their linkage with metabolic alterations during NAFLD in American lifestyle-induced obesity syndrome (ALIOS) diet-fed mice. Forty-eight C57BL/6J male mice were fed with ALIOS diet (n=24) or control chow diet (n=24) for 8, 12, and 16 weeks.

Systematic design of cell membrane coating to improve tumor targeting of nanoparticles.

Cell membrane (CM) coating technology is increasingly being applied in nanomedicine, but the entire coating procedure including adsorption, rupture, and fusion is not completely understood. Previously, we showed that the majority of biomimetic nanoparticles (NPs) were only partially coated, but the mechanism underlying this partial coating remains unclear, which hinders the further improvement of the coating technique. Here, we show that partial coating is an intermediate state due to the adsorption of CM fragments or CM vesicles, the latter of which could eventually be ruptured under external force.

Grains - a major source of sustainable protein for health.

Cereal grains are the main dietary source of energy, carbohydrates, and plant proteins world-wide. Currently, only 41% of grains are used for human consumption, and up to 35% are used for animal feed. Cereals have been overlooked as a source of environmentally sustainable and healthy plant proteins and could play a major role in transitioning towards a more sustainable food system for healthy diets.

Intestinal Exposure to Food-Derived Protease Inhibitors: Digestion Physiology- and Gut Health-Related Effects.

Plant-derived protease inhibitors (PI), such as Bowman-Birk inhibitors and Kunitz-type inhibitors, have been suggested to negatively affect dietary protein digestion by blocking the activity of trypsin and chymotrypsin in the human gastrointestinal system. In addition, some PIs may possess proinflammatory activities. However, there is also scientific evidence on some beneficial effects of PIs, for example, gut-related anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive activities in vitro and in vivo.

Potential of Probiotic Frozen Blackcurrant Products: Consumer Preference, Physicochemical Characterization, and Cell Viability.

Blackcurrant is a healthy, affordable, and traditionally gardened berry that, thus far, has been underused in food applications. From the consumers' point of view, the acidic taste of blackcurrants is a challenge; therefore, these berries have mainly been utilized for sugary juice production. This research study aimed to develop a frozen vegan blackcurrant product with pleasant sensory properties and potential probiotic function.

Oxygen-18 and carbon-13 isotopes in eCOand erythrocytes carbonic anhydrase activity of Finnish prediabetic population.

Complex human physiological processes create the stable isotopic composition of exhaled carbon dioxide (eCO), measurable with noninvasive breath tests. Recently, isotope-selective breath tests utilizing natural fluctuation inO/O isotope ratio in eCOhave been proposed for screening prediabetic (PD) individuals. It has been suggested thatO/O fractionation patterns reflect shifts in the activity of carbonic anhydrase (CA), an enzyme involved in the metabolic changes in the PD state.

Blackcurrant () lowers sugar-induced postprandial glycaemia independently and in a product with fermented quinoa: a randomised crossover trial.

Berries rich in anthocyanins have beneficial effects on postprandial glycaemia. We investigated whether blackcurrant (75 g in a portion) independently and in a product with fermented quinoa induced similar effects on the sugar-induced postprandial glucose metabolism as observed before with 150 g of blackcurrant. Twenty-six healthy subjects (twenty-two females and four males) consumed four test products after fasting overnight in a randomised, controlled crossover design.

Harnessing Microbes for Sustainable Development: Food Fermentation as a Tool for Improving the Nutritional Quality of Alternative Protein Sources.

In order to support the multiple levels of sustainable development, the nutritional quality of plant-based protein sources needs to be improved by food technological means. Microbial fermentation is an ancient food technology, utilizing dynamic populations of microorganisms and possessing a high potential to modify chemical composition and cell structures of plants and thus to remove undesirable compounds and to increase bioavailability of nutrients. In addition, fermentation can be used to improve food safety.

Protein Supplements and Their Relation with Nutrition, Microbiota Composition and Health: Is More Protein Always Better for Sportspeople?

Sports nutrition products are developed and targeted mainly for athletes to improve their nutrient intake, performance, and muscle growth. The fastest growing consumer groups for these products are recreational sportspeople and lifestyle users. Although athletes may have elevated physiological protein requirements and they may benefit from dietary supplements, the evidence regarding the role of dietary protein and supplements in the nutrition of recreational sportspeople and sedentary populations is somewhat complex and contradictory.

Metabolic profiling discriminates between strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa Duch.) cultivars grown in Finland or Estonia.

Metabolic profiling analysis with LC-ESI-QTOF-MS was utilized to separate and identify 186 putative major metabolites demonstrating significantly different levels in 15 strawberry cultivars grown in Finland or Estonia. Principal component analysis showed close clustering of genetically related samples grown in Estonia, and hierarchical cluster analyses highlighted differences and similarities in their metabolic profiles driving separation between cultivars with specific metabolic phenotypes. Phenolic acids, flavonoids, flavan-3-ol derivatives, terpenes, and many types of glycosidically bound aroma and flavor precursors showed clear variation between strawberry cultivars.

Non-targeted metabolite profiling highlights the potential of strawberry leaves as a resource for specific bioactive compounds.

Background: The non-edible parts of horticultural crops, such as leaves, contain substantial amounts of valuable bioactive compounds which are currently only little exploited. For example, strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) leaves may be a promising bioresource for diverse health-related applications. However, product standardization sets a real challenge, especially when the leaf material comes from varying cultivars.

Roles of Group 2 Sigma Factors in Acclimation of the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to Nitrogen Deficiency.

Acclimation of cyanobacteria to environmental conditions is mainly controlled at the transcriptional level, and σ factors of the RNA polymerase have a central role in this process. The model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 has four non-essential group 2 σ factors (SigB, SigC, SigD and SigE) that regulate global metabolic responses to various adverse environmental conditions.

Polyphenol Stilbenes: Molecular Mechanisms of Defence against Oxidative Stress and Aging-Related Diseases.

Numerous studies have highlighted the key roles of oxidative stress and inflammation in aging-related diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and Alzheimer's disease (AD). In aging cells, the natural antioxidant capacity decreases and the overall efficiency of reparative systems against cell damage becomes impaired. There is convincing data that stilbene compounds, a diverse group of natural defence phenolics, abundant in grapes, berries, and conifer bark waste, may confer a protective effect against aging-related diseases.

Nontargeted metabolite profiles and sensory properties of strawberry cultivars grown both organically and conventionally.

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) contains many secondary metabolites potentially beneficial for human health, and several of these compounds contribute to strawberry sensory properties, as well. In this study, three strawberry cultivars grown both conventionally and organically were subjected to nontargeted metabolite profiling analysis with LC-qTOF-ESI-MS and to descriptive sensory evaluation by a trained panel.

Polyphenols in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) leaves induced by plant activators.

Strawberry leaves contain high amounts of diverse phenolic compounds potentially possessing defensive activities against microbial pathogens and beneficial properties for human health. In this work, young strawberry plants were treated with two plant activators, S-methylbenzo-1,2,3-thaidiazole-7-carbothiate (BTH) and birch wood distillate. Phenolic compounds from activator-treated and control leaves were subjected to quantitative analyses by HPLC-DAD, HPLC-ESI-MS, and microQTOF ESI-MS.