Comparing Diet and Exercise Monitoring Using Smartphone App and Paper Diary: A Two-Phase Intervention Study.

Background: There is increasing recognition that personalized approaches may be more effective in helping people establish healthier eating patterns and exercise more, and that this approach may be particularly effective in adolescents.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the use of a smartphone app (FoodWiz2) in supporting healthy lifestyle choices in adolescence.

Methods: Participants (N=34: 11 male, 23 female) aged 16-19 years in full- or part-time education were recruited from sixth form colleges, schools, and other further education establishments in Norfolk and Suffolk, United Kingdom, between February and May 2015.

Low-pH cola beverages do not affect women's iron absorption from a vegetarian meal.

Preliminary data in the literature indicate that iron absorption from a meal may be increased when consumed with low-pH beverages such as cola, and it is also possible that sugar iron complexes may alter iron availability. A randomized, crossover trial was conducted to compare the bioavailability of nonheme iron from a vegetarian pizza meal when consumed with 3 different beverages (cola, diet cola, and mineral water). Sixteen women with serum ferritin concentrations of 11-54 µg/L were recruited and completed the study.

Plasma hepcidin concentrations significantly predict interindividual variation in iron absorption in healthy men.

Background: Iron absorption is proposed to be regulated by circulating hepcidin, but, to date, little data are available to evaluate this relation in humans.

Objective: Stored samples from a human iron absorption study were used to test the hypothesis that differences in plasma hepcidin explain interindividual variation in iron absorption.

Design: Hepcidin-25 concentrations were measured in fasting samples from men aged > or = 40 y (n = 33) recruited to a study investigating the relation between the HFE genotype, iron absorption, and iron status.

Relative bioavailability of micronized, dispersible ferric pyrophosphate added to an apple juice drink.

Background: Food iron fortification is a sustainable and relatively simple strategy to reduce/prevent iron deficiency but is a challenge for the food industry because of possible adverse organoleptic changes caused by the added iron. A micronized dispersible ferric pyrophosphate, trademarked as SunActive Fe, has recently been developed. SunActive Fe has a small particle size, is water soluble and may be suitable for fortifying liquid products.

Blood loss is a stronger predictor of iron status in men than C282Y heterozygosity or diet.

Objective: To determine the relative importance of HFE gene, diet, lifestyle, and blood loss characteristics for predicting iron status in a sample of men aged 40 years or over.

Design: Iron status (serum ferritin, transferrin saturation, soluble transferrin receptor) was measured in 44 C282Y heterozygote and 85 age- and BMI-matched wildtype men aged 40 years or over. Dietary intake of iron (total, heme and non-heme), and components known to influence iron bioavailability, was determined using a validated Meal-Based Intake Assessment Tool.

Oily fish increases iron bioavailability of a phytate rich meal in young iron deficient women.

Background: Iron deficiency is a major health problem worldwide, and is associated with diets of low iron bioavailability. Non-heme iron absorption is modulated by dietary constituents, one of which is the so-called "meat factor", present in meat, fish (oily and lean) and poultry, which is an important enhancer of iron absorption in humans. Food processing also affects iron bioavailability.

Dietary patterns and heritability of food choice in a UK female twin cohort.

To examine the contribution of genetic factors to food choice, we determined dietary patterns from food frequency questionnaires in 3262 UK female twins aged 18 to 79 years. Five distinct dietary patterns were identified (fruit and vegetable, high alcohol, traditional English, dieting, low meat) that accounted for 22% of the total variance. These patterns are similar to those found in other singleton Western populations, and were related to body mass index, smoking status, physical activity and deprivation scores.

Serum prohepcidin concentration: no association with iron absorption in healthy men; and no relationship with iron status in men carrying HFE mutations, hereditary haemochromatosis patients undergoing phlebotomy treatment, or pregnant women.

Hepcidin plays a major role in iron homeostasis, but understanding its role has been hampered by the absence of analytical methods for quantification in blood. A commercial ELISA has been developed for serum prohepcidin, a hepcidin precursor, and there is interest in its potential use in the clinical and research arena. We investigated the association between serum prohepcidin concentration and iron absorption in healthy men, and its relationship with iron status in men carrying HFE mutations, hereditary haemochromatosis patients, and pregnant women.

The G277S transferrin mutation does not affect iron absorption in iron deficient women.

Background: Iron deficiency anaemia is one of the most important nutritional diseases, with high prevalence worldwide. The G277S transferrin mutation has been implicated as a risk factor for iron deficiency in menstruating women. However, the subject is controversial and there are no data concerning the possible influence of this polymorphism on iron absorption.

Meal-based intake assessment tool: relative validity when determining dietary intake of Fe and Zn and selected absorption modifiers in UK men.

A computer-based dietary assessment tool, the meal-based intake assessment tool (MBIAT), is described. In the current study, dietary intakes of Fe and Zn fractions (total Fe, non-haem Fe, haem Fe, meat Fe, total Zn) and dietary components that influence Fe and Zn absorption (vitamin C, phytate, Ca, grams of meat/fish/poultry, black tea equivalents, phytate:Zn molar ratio) were assessed. The relative validity of the MBIAT was determined in forty-eight UK men aged 40 years and over by comparing its results with those from weighed diet records collected over 12 d.

Iron absorption in male C282Y heterozygotes.

Background: The suggestion that carriers of the HFE C282Y mutation absorb nonheme iron more efficiently than do carriers of the wild type has public health implications for countries where the C282Y mutation is common and foods are fortified with iron.

Objective: We investigated the effect of C282Y heterozygosity on nonheme-iron absorption from a diet high in bioavailable iron and from iron-fortified cereals.

Design: The subjects were recruited from a parallel study investigating the relation between HFE mutations, habitual diet, and iron status.

Quantification of unlabelled non-haem iron absorption in human subjects: a pilot study.

A method for measuring unlabelled Fe absorption has been investigated in a pilot study using a simple mathematical model. The metabolism of newly absorbed Fe can be approximated as a single-compartment model with the sampled compartment being the plasma pool. Five female volunteers (aged 30-55 years) were recruited to participate in the pilot study.