diet Archives - Dr Amin Azhari - دکتر امین اظهری

Intense exercise while dieting may reduce cravings for fatty food

In a study that offers hope for human dieters, rats on a 30-day diet who exercised intensely resisted cues for favored, high-fat food pellets.

The experiment was designed to test resistance to the phenomenon known as “incubation of craving,” meaning the longer a desired substance is denied, the harder it is to ignore signals for it. The findings suggest that exercise modulated how hard the rats were willing to work for cues associated with the pellets, reflecting how much they craved them.

While more research needs to be done, the study may indicate that exercise can shore up restraint when it comes to certain foods, said Travis Brown, a Washington State University physiology and neuroscience researcher.

“A really important part of maintaining a diet is to have some brain power—the ability to say ‘no, I may be craving that, but I’m going to abstain,’” said Brown, corresponding author on the study published in the journal Obesity. “Exercise could not only be beneficial physically for weight loss but also mentally to gain control over cravings for unhealthy foods.”

In the experiment, Brown and colleagues from WSU and University of Wyoming put 28 rats through a training with a lever that when pressed, turned on a light and made a tone before dispensing a high-fat pellet. After the training period, they tested to see how many times the rats would press the lever just to get the light and tone cue.

Release date: 21 April 2022
Source: Washington State University

Neurologic disorders, Neurologic disorders, Nutrition in rehabilitation, Nutrition in rehabilitation

A diet rich in plant-based products reduces the risk of cognitive impairment in the elderly

A diet rich in plant products reduces the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in the elderly. This is the result of a study by the Biomarkers and Nutritional Food Metabolomics Research Group of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences of the University of Barcelona (UB) and the CIBER on Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES).

The paper, published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, is led by Cristina Andrés-Lacueva, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and head of the Biomarkers and Nutritional Metabolomics of Food Research Group of the UB and the Biomedical Research Network Center in Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES), which is also part of the Food Innovation Network of Catalonia (XIA).

The results reveal a protective association between metabolites derived from cocoa, coffee, mushrooms and red wine, microbial metabolism of polyphenol-rich foods (apple, cocoa, green tea, blueberries, oranges or pomegranates) and cognitive impairment in the elderly.

The analysis of plasma samples indicated that some metabolites are related to the progression of cognitive impairment and dementia. As Professor Cristina Andrés-Lacueva explains, “for example, 2-furoylglycine and 3-methylanthine, which are biomarkers of coffee and cocoa consumption, had a protective profile, while saccharin –derived from the consumption of artificial sweeteners– is associated with a damaging role”.

Mercè Pallàs, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and member of the Institute of Neurosciences (UBNeuro) of the UB, stresses that “the study of the relationship between cognitive impairment, the metabolism of the microbiota and food and endogenous metabolism is essential to develop preventive and therapeutic strategies that help to take care of our cognitive health”.

Release date: 09 December 2021
Source: University of Barcelona

Covid-19

Diet may affect risk and severity of COVID-19

A healthy plant-based diet was linked to a lower risk of getting COVID-19, and among people with COVID-19, a lower risk of experiencing severe symptoms. There was a synergistic relationship between poor diet and increased socioeconomic deprivation with COVID-19 risk that was higher than the sum of the risk associated with each factor alone.

Although metabolic conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes have been linked to an increased risk of COVID-19, as well as an increased risk of experiencing serious symptoms once infected, the impact of diet on these risks is unknown. In a recent study led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and published in Gut, people whose diets were based on healthy plant-based foods had lower risks on both counts. The beneficial effects of diet on COVID-19 risk seemed especially relevant in individuals living in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation.

For the study, Merino and his colleagues examined data on 592,571 participants of the smartphone-based COVID-19 Symptom Study. Participants lived in the UK and the US, and they were recruited from March 24, 2020 and followed until December 2, 2020. At the start of the study, participants completed a questionnaire that asked about their dietary habits before the pandemic. Diet quality was assessed using a healthful Plant-BasedDiet Score that emphasises healthy plant foods such as fruits and vegetables.

During follow-up, 31,831 participants developed COVID-19. Compared with individuals in the lowest quartile of the diet score, those in the highest quartile had a 9% lower risk of developing COVID-19 and a 41% lower risk of developing severe COVID-19.

Release date: 08 September 2021
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital

Public Health, Public Health, Public Health, Public Health, Public Health, Public Health, Public Health, Public Health, Public Health

Small changes in diet could help you live healthier, more sustainably

Eating a hot dog could cost you 36 minutes of healthy life, while choosing to eat a serving of nuts instead could help you gain 26 minutes of extra healthy life, according to a University of Michigan study.

The study, published in the journal Nature Food, evaluated more than 5,800 foods, ranking them by their nutritional disease burden to humans and their impact on the environment. It found that substituting 10% of daily caloric intake from beef and processed meats for a mix of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and select seafood could reduce your dietary carbon footprint by one-third and allow people to gain 48 minutes of healthy minutes per day.

Release date: 18 August 2021
Source: University of Michigan

Nutrition in rehabilitation

A plant-based diet combined with a healthy microbiome may protect against multiple sclerosis

The study shows that a diet rich in isoflavone, a phytoestrogen or plant-based compound that resembles estrogen, protects against multiple sclerosis-like symptoms in a mouse model of the disease. Importantly, the isoflavone diet was only protective when the mice had gut microbes capable of breaking down the isoflavones. The findings were published in Science Advances.

A new University of Iowa study suggests that metabolism of plant-based dietary substances by specific gut bacteria, which are lacking in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), may provide protection against the disease.

Isoflavones are found in soybeans, peanuts, chickpeas and other legumes. The study also found that mice fed the isoflavone diet have a microbiome that is similar to the microbiome found in healthy people and includes the bacteria which can metabolize isoflavones. Conversely, a diet lacking isoflavones promotes a microbiome in mice which is similar to one observed in patients with MS and lacks beneficial bacteria that can metabolize isoflavone.

Release date: 12 July 2021
Source: University of Iowa Health Care

Neurologic disorders

A Mediterranean diet might protect against memory loss and dementia

Alzheimer’s disease is caused by protein deposits in the brain and the rapid loss of brain matter. But a Mediterranean diet rich in fish, vegetables and olive oil might protect the brain from these disease triggers. Experts from the DZNE report on this in a recent study. Their findings are published in online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

In Alzheimer’s disease, neurons in the brain die. Largely responsible for the death of neurons are certain protein deposits in the brains of affected individuals: So-called beta-amyloid proteins, which form clumps (plaques) between neurons, and tau proteins, which stick together the inside of neurons. The causes of these deposits are as yet unclear. In addition, a rapidly progressive atrophy, i.e. a shrinking of the brain volume, can be observed in affected persons. Alzheimer’s symptoms such as memory loss, disorientation, agitation and challenging behavior are the consequences.

Release date: 06 May 2021
Source: DZNE – German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Study finds childhood diet has lifelong impact

Contain too much fat and sugar in childhood diet can alter your microbiome for life, even if you later learn to eat healthier, a new study in mice suggests.

The study by UC Riverside researchers is one of the first to show a significant decrease in the total number and diversity of gut bacteria in mature mice fed an unhealthy diet as juveniles.

“We studied mice, but the effect we observed is equivalent to kids and childhood having a Western diet, high in fat and sugar and their gut microbiome still being affected up to six years after puberty,” explained UCR evolutionary physiologist Theodore Garland.

A paper describing the study has recently been published in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

The microbiome refers to all the bacteria as well as fungi, parasites, and viruses that live on and inside a human or animal. Most of these microorganisms are found in the intestines, and most of them are helpful, stimulating the immune system, breaking down food and helping synthesize key vitamins.

In a healthy body, there is a balance of pathogenic and beneficial organisms. However, if the balance is disturbed, either through the use of antibiotics, illness, or unhealthy diet, the body could become susceptible to disease.

Analysis also showed that the gut bacteria are sensitive to the amount of exercise the mice got. Muribaculum bacteria increased in mice fed a standard diet who had access to a running wheel and decreased in mice on a high-fat diet whether they had exercise or not.

Release date: 03 February 2021
Source: University of California – Riverside

People who eat chili pepper may live longer?

Consumption of chili pepper may reduce the relative risk of cardiovascular disease mortality by 26%, according to an analysis of diet and mortality data from four large, international studies.
Chili pepper consumption was associated with a 25% reduction in death from any cause and 23% fewer cancer deaths, compared to people who never or only rarely consumed chili pepper.

Release date: 9 November 2020
Source: American Heart Association

High flavanol diet may lead to lower blood pressure

People who consume a diet including flavanol-rich foods and drinks, including tea, apples and berries, could lead to lower blood pressure, according to the first study using objective measures of thousands of UK residents’ diet.

The findings, published in Scientific Reports, studied the diet of more than 25,000 people in Norfolk, UK and compared what they ate with their blood pressure. In contrast to most other studies investigating links between nutrition and health, the researchers did not rely on study participants reporting their diet, but instead measured flavanol intake objectively using nutritional biomarkers – indicators of dietary intake, metabolism or nutritional status that are present in our blood.

Release date: 21 October 2020
Source: University of Reading

Spouses shed more pounds together than alone

Weight loss is most successful in heart attack survivors when partners join in the effort to diet, according to research presented today at ESC Congress 2020.

The RESPONSE-2 trial previously found that heart attack survivors referred to programmes for weight reduction, physical activity, and smoking cessation were more likely to modify behaviours compared to those receiving usual care. In both groups, living with a partner was linked with greater success in shifting bad habits. The most notable improvements were in patients who took part in lifestyle programmes and lived with a partner.

This follow-up study investigated whether partner involvement in lifestyle programmes had an impact on behaviour change. “If partners contribute to adopting healthy habits, it could become an important recommendation to avoid recurrent heart attacks,”

Release date: 27 August 2020

Source: European Society of Cardiology

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