Food and nutrient intake in relation to mental wellbeing.

Background: We studied food consumption and nutrient intake in subjects with depressed mood, anxiety and insomnia as indices of compromised mental wellbeing.

Methods: The study population consisted of 29,133 male smokers aged 50 to 69 years who entered the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study in 1985-1988. This was a placebo-controlled trial to test whether supplementation with alpha-tocopherol or beta-carotene prevents lung cancer.

Association of dietary amino acids with low mood.

Diet may affect mood and cognitive functions. Tryptophan and serine augmentation strategies have been applied for patients with mood or psychotic disorders. We studied the association between dietary intake of amino acids and low mood.

Seasonal changes, sleep length and circadian preference among twins with bipolar disorder.

Background: We aimed at studying the seasonal changes in mood and behaviour, the distribution of hospital admissions by season, and the persistence of the circadian type in twins with bipolar disorder and their healthy co-twins.

Methods: All Finnish like-sex twins born from 1940 to 1969 were screened for a diagnosis of bipolar type I disorder. The diagnosis was assessed with a structured research interview, and the study subjects (n = 67) filled in the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) and the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ).

Utilization of dietary sodium selenite, barley, oats and meat meal selenium by the chick.

The biological availability of selenium (Se) in barley, oats and meat meal as compared to that in sodium selenite was determined by whole blood glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity and Se concentration depletion-repletion bioassays. One day old White Leghorn chicks, initially of low-Se status, were further depleted for Se by feeding a low-Se casein basal diet (0.03 mg Se/kg diet) adequate in vitamin E for the first two weeks of life.