Blackberry Feeding Increases Fat Oxidation and Improves Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight and Obese Males.

Berries and other anthocyanin-rich treatments have prevented weight gain and adiposity in rodent models of diet-induced obesity. Their efficacy may be explained by modulation of energy substrate utilization. However, this effect has never been translated to humans.

Estimation of metabolic energy expenditure from core temperature using a human thermoregulatory model.

Human metabolic energy expenditure is critical to many scientific disciplines but can only be measured using expensive and/or restrictive equipment. The aim of this work is to determine whether the SCENARIO thermoregulatory model can be adapted to estimate metabolic rate (M) from core body temperature (T). To validate this method of M estimation, data were collected from fifteen test volunteers (age = 23 ± 3yr, height = 1.

The metabolizable energy of dietary resistant maltodextrin is variable and alters fecal microbiota composition in adult men.

Resistant maltodextrin (RM) is a novel soluble, nonviscous dietary fiber. Its metabolizable energy (ME) and net energy (NE) values derived from nutrient balance studies are unknown, as is the effect of RM on fecal microbiota. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study was conducted (n = 14 men) to determine the ME and NE of RM and its influence on fecal excretion of macronutrients and microbiota.

Whey protein but not soy protein supplementation alters body weight and composition in free-living overweight and obese adults.

A double-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted to determine the effect of consumption of supplemental whey protein (WP), soy protein (SP), and an isoenergetic amount of carbohydrate (CHO) on body weight and composition in free-living overweight and obese but otherwise healthy participants. Ninety overweight and obese participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups for 23 wk: 1) WP; 2) SP (each providing ~56 g/d of protein and 1670 kJ/d); or 3) an isoenergetic amount of CHO. Supplements were consumed as a beverage twice daily.

Controlled meal frequency without caloric restriction alters peripheral blood mononuclear cell cytokine production.

Background: Intermittent fasting (IF) improves healthy lifespan in animals by a mechanism involving reduced oxidative damage and increased resistance to stress. However, no studies have evaluated the impact of controlled meal frequency on immune responses in human subjects.

Objective: A study was conducted to establish the effects of controlled diets with different meal frequencies, but similar daily energy intakes, on cytokine production in healthy male and female subjects.

The US Department of Agriculture Automated Multiple-Pass Method reduces bias in the collection of energy intakes.

Background: The US Department of Agriculture Automated Multiple-Pass Method (AMPM) is used for collecting 24-h dietary recalls in What We Eat In America, the dietary interview component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Because the data have important program and policy applications, it is essential that the validity of the method be tested.

Objective: The accuracy of the AMPM was evaluated by comparing reported energy intake (EI) with total energy expenditure (TEE) by using the doubly labeled water (DLW) technique.

Estimates of adherence and error analysis of physical activity data collected via accelerometry in a large study of free-living adults.

Background: Activity monitors (AM) are small, electronic devices used to quantify the amount and intensity of physical activity (PA). Unfortunately, it has been demonstrated that data loss that occurs when AMs are not worn by subjects (removals during sleeping and waking hours) tend to result in biased estimates of PA and total energy expenditure (TEE). No study has reported the degree of data loss in a large study of adults, and/or the degree to which the estimates of PA and TEE are affected.

Impact of reduced meal frequency without caloric restriction on glucose regulation in healthy, normal-weight middle-aged men and women.

An unresolved issue in the field of diet and health is if and how changes in meal frequency affect energy metabolism in humans. We therefore evaluated the influence of reduced meal frequency without a reduction in energy intake on glucose metabolism in normal-weight, healthy male and female subjects. The study was a randomized crossover design, with two 8-week treatment periods (with an intervening 11-week off-diet period) in which subjects consumed all of their calories for weight maintenance distributed in either 3 meals or 1 meal per day (consumed between 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm).

Comparison of two different physical activity monitors.

Background: Understanding the relationships between physical activity (PA) and disease has become a major area of research interest. Activity monitors, devices that quantify free-living PA for prolonged periods of time (days or weeks), are increasingly being used to estimate PA. A range of different activity monitors brands are available for investigators to use, but little is known about how they respond to different levels of PA in the field, nor if data conversion between brands is possible.

A controlled trial of reduced meal frequency without caloric restriction in healthy, normal-weight, middle-aged adults.

Background: Although consumption of 3 meals/d is the most common pattern of eating in industrialized countries, a scientific rationale for this meal frequency with respect to optimal health is lacking. A diet with less meal frequency can improve the health and extend the lifespan of laboratory animals, but its effect on humans has never been tested.

Objective: A pilot study was conducted to establish the effects of a reduced-meal-frequency diet on health indicators in healthy, normal-weight adults.

Validation of a food frequency questionnaire by direct measurement of habitual ad libitum food intake.

Food frequency questionnaires are commonly used to assess habitual food intake. Although food frequency questionnaires are known to produce measurement error, the amount of error and effectiveness of correction methods are poorly understood. Twelve men from the Baltimore, MD/Washington, DC, area consumed an ad libitum diet for 16 weeks during the spring of 2001.

Preprandial ghrelin is not affected by macronutrient intake, energy intake or energy expenditure.

Background: Ghrelin, a peptide secreted by endocrine cells in the gastrointestinal tract, is a hormone purported to have a significant effect on food intake and energy balance in humans. The influence of factors related to energy balance on ghrelin, such as daily energy expenditure, energy intake, and macronutrient intake, have not been reported. Secondly, the effect of ghrelin on food intake has not been quantified under free-living conditions over a prolonged period of time.

Commercial portion-controlled foods in research studies: how accurate are label weights?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of label weights as surrogates for actual weights in commercial portion-controlled foods used in a research setting.

Design: Actual weights of replicate samples of 82 portion-controlled food items and 17 discrete units of food from larger packaging were determined over time. Comparison was made to the package label weights for the portion-controlled food items and the per-serving weights for the discrete units.

Effects of the interaction of sex and food intake on the relation between energy expenditure and body composition.

Background: The relation between physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) and percentage body fat (%BF) is not very strong in the general population. It is possible that variables such as sex, food intake, or both may in part explain this poor coupling.

Objective: This study was designed to show the relation between PAEE and %BF and to determine whether sex, food intake, or both influence the strength of the relation.

Personality characteristics as predictors of underreporting of energy intake on 24-hour dietary recall interviews.

Objective: To identify characteristics associated with misreporting of energy intake during 24-hour dietary recalls (24 HR).

Design: Ninety-eight subjects were administered two 24 HRs. Energy expenditure was determined by doubly labeled water (44 subjects) or intake balance (54 subjects).

The effect of daily alcohol intake on breath alcohol concentrations of postmenopausal women after a bolus dose.

Objective: This study was designed to test whether daily alcohol intake can influence parameters related to rate of alcohol clearance and systemic alcohol exposure.

Method: Postmenopausal women (N = 14) completed a study in which they consumed an alcohol treatment daily for 8 weeks. In a three-period crossover design, women consumed 0, 15 or 30 g/day ethanol, with each subject completing each treatment level.