The effect of Bifidobacterium lactis on the growth of infants: a pooled analysis of randomized controlled studies.

Background/aims: Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for the growth of the newborn infant. It is therefore essential that mothers who cannot breastfeed or choose not to are provided with alternatives that closely match the composition and functionality of breast milk. This study aimed to investigate the growth effects of probiotic-supplemented formulas on both healthy and vulnerable populations of infants.

Effect of a nutritional supplementation on bone health in Chilean elderly subjects with femoral osteoporosis.

Objective: To study the effects of a special nutritional supplement on bone mineral density and bone turnover markers in Chilean elderly subjects with femoral osteoporosis.

Setting: Public primary health care clinics in Chile.

Subjects: Free living elderly subjects with femoral osteoporosis.

Effects of a nutritional supplement on the immune response and cytokine production in free-living Chilean elderly.

Background: Immune response is impaired in the elderly. Our aim was to study the effects of a special nutritional formula on the immune response and response to influenza and pneumococcal vaccination in elderly subjects.

Methods: Sixty healthy subjects aged > or = 70 years, with a Mini Mental score > or = 22 were studied.

Both free and esterified plant sterols reduce cholesterol absorption and the bioavailability of beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol in normocholesterolemic humans.

Background: Plant sterols reduce cholesterol absorption, which leads to a decrease in plasma and LDL-cholesterol concentrations. Plant sterols also lower plasma concentrations of carotenoids and alpha-tocopherol, but the mechanism of action is not yet understood.

Objectives: The aims of this clinical study were to determine whether plant sterols affect the bioavailability of beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol in normocholesterolemic men and to compare the effects of plant sterol esters and plant free sterols on cholesterol absorption.

A food-based formulation provides lycopene with the same bioavailability to humans as that from tomato paste.

Lycopene from fresh and unprocessed tomatoes is poorly absorbed by humans. Absorption of lycopene is higher from processed foods such as tomato paste and tomato juice heated in oil. The aim of the present study was to develop a food-grade lycopene formulation that is bioavailable in humans.