Primary School Educators' Perspectives and Experiences of Nature-Based Play and Learning and Its Benefits, Barriers, and Enablers: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

Nature-based play and learning is of increasing interest to primary schools and research suggests that it has many potential benefits for children's health and development. However, little is known about educators' perspectives and experiences of nature-based play and learning, particularly the barriers, benefits and enablers, despite their direct relevance to the uptake of nature-based play and learning in schools. A qualitative descriptive methodology was employed to uncover these.

The Effect of Macronutrients on Reproductive Hormones in Overweight and Obese Men: A Pilot Study.

Hypogonadal obese men find it difficult to lose weight. We investigated whether the modification of macronutrient intake can alter testosterone levels independently of the body mass index. Fasted overweight or obese fertile men were asked to consume meals of polyunsaturated fats (PUFA), monounsaturated fats (MUFA), refined carbohydrates (CHO, orange juice, OJ), whey and egg albumin and mixed meals of PUFA and CHO, PUFA and egg albumin, and CHO and egg albumin.

Obesity related metabolic endotoxemia is associated with oxidative stress and impaired sperm DNA integrity.

Background: Obesity is known to be associated with inflammation, oxidative stress and a resulting reduction in sperm DNA integrity. Importantly, obesity is also reported to be associated with an increase in intestinal permeability with the passage of intestinal bacteria into the circulation (metabolic endotoxemia) that triggers a systemic state of inflammation and resultant oxidative stress. Therefore, we hypothesised that this obesity related increase in intestinal permeability and resultant metabolic endotoxemia (ME) may activate inflammation within the male reproductive tract, leading to increased reactive oxygen species production, sperm oxidative stress and a decline in DNA integrity.

A 4-week nutrition and therapeutics course in an undergraduate pharmacy program.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of an intensive 4-week nutrition course in increasing the knowledge of undergraduate pharmacy students.

Design: A Nutrition and Therapeutics elective course was developed that covered the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, as well as nutrition labeling, food composition, functional foods, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, nutrition and cancer, osteoporosis, nutrient-drug interactions, nutritional supplements, weight management, and infant feeding. The course was taught using lectures, student-focused tutorials featuring evidence-based practice, problem-based learning exercises, case-based scenarios, media examples, video clips from the lay press, and articles from the professional/scientific literature.

Continuous glucose monitoring and cognitive performance in type 2 diabetes.

Background: Type 2 diabetes is associated with reductions in cognitive function that are associated with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, but there is no information on whether cognition is related to postmeal glucose spikes. We explored the relationship of cognition to glucose levels measured by a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) both before and after a weight loss diet.

Subjects And Methods: Forty-four white subjects with type 2 diabetes (59.

Egg consumption as part of an energy-restricted high-protein diet improves blood lipid and blood glucose profiles in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

The role of dietary cholesterol in people with diabetes has been little studied. We investigated the effect of a hypoenergetic high-protein high-cholesterol (HPHchol) diet compared to a similar amount of animal protein (high-protein low-cholesterol, HPLchol) on plasma lipids, glycaemic control and cardiovascular risk markers in individuals with type 2 diabetes. A total of sixty-five participants with type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (age 54·4 (sd 8·2) years; BMI 34·1 (sd 4·8) kg/m2; LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) 2·67 (sd 0·10) mmol/l) were randomised to either HPHchol or HPLchol.

Effect of carbohydrate distribution on postprandial glucose peaks with the use of continuous glucose monitoring in type 2 diabetes.

Background: Large postprandial glucose peaks are associated with increased risk of diabetic complications and cardiovascular disease.

Objective: We investigated the effect of carbohydrate distribution on postprandial glucose peaks with continuous blood glucose monitoring (CGMS), when consuming a moderate carbohydrate diet in energy balance in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

Design: Twenty-three subjects with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to each of four 3-d interventions in a crossover design with a 4-d washout period.