Journal of the American College of Nutrition
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The stomach stores food and starts digesting protein and fat. Lipids, sugars, certain amino acids, and nutrients of high osmolality trigger sensory mechanisms from the intestine which inhibit gastric emptying. Food rich in carbohydrates leaves the stomach slower than protein-rich food, and emptying is slowest after a meal containing lipid. ⋯ In healthy children ingesting different juices, the myoelectric pattern of the stomach (indicator of the gastric emptying) correlates with the carbohydrate absorption (measured by breath hydrogen excretion). Fast gastric emptying was associated with greater production of breath hydrogen. The malabsorption of juice carbohydrates may in part be related to their effect on gastric motility.
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Comparative Study
Vitamin supplementation and other variables affecting serum homocysteine and methylmalonic acid concentrations in elderly men and women.
An elevated serum concentration of the metabolite, homocysteine (Hcys): 1) can indicate folate or vitamin B12 deficiency, 2) is an independent risk factor for vascular disease. The metabolite, methylmalonic acid (MMA), is elevated in deficiency of vitamin B12, but not folate. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of self-selected vitamin supplementation and other variables on serum Hcys and MMA concentrations in elderly men and women. ⋯ Results showed potential usefulness of serum MMA and Hcys in identifying subclinical or tissue deficiency of vitamin B12. Clinicians should be aware of the risk of vitamin B12 deficiency in older people and of current screening algorithms using serum metabolites. These elderly volunteers had generally good folate status; nevertheless, some subjects seemed likely to benefit from an improvement in folate status that would reduce their serum Hcys within the normal range. The role of serum creatinine in the normal range in predicting serum Hcys, a vascular disease risk factor, remains unexplained.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Soluble fiber enhances the hypocholesterolemic effect of the step I diet in childhood.
Psyllium, a water-soluble fiber, has been shown to have a cholesterol-lowering effect in studies of adults. A small number of studies in children have produced variable results. ⋯ In this 12-week study, soluble fiber (psyllium) provided added benefit to the Step I diet in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.
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Fat content and fatty acid (FA) composition of 100 common items in 17 food categories from the Canadian retail market were determined. Of these, 52 samples were made from partially hydrogenated fat. Their fat (in parentheses) and trans FA levels were as follows: breads (3.7% fat) 15.7%, hamburger buns (5.5% fat) 26.3%, cakes (8.7-36.7% fat) 10.1-25.7%, candies/chocolates (27.1% fat) 11.1%, cereals (1.3-12.9% fat) 9.2-33.7%, cookies (5.0-40.5% fat) 7.6-38.7%, crackers (9.2-33.0% fat) 13.8-35.4%, donuts (16.6-29.6% fat) 27.7-32.7%, french fries (pre-cooked) (4.3-4.5% fat) 32.8-42.8%, muffins (12.5-23.7% fat) 16.5-24.2%, pizza crusts (6.0-7.2% fat) 22.1-28.8%, shortenings (100% fat) 17.4-20.2%, potato chips (33.2-40.0% fat) 29.7-39.7%, and corn chips (25.0-34.2%) 29.9-33.9%. ⋯ The higher levels of saturates plus trans were at the expense of the essential fatty acids (EFA). The high-fat foods, such as cakes, cookies, crackers, donuts and potato chips, made with partially hydrogenated fat, were substantially lower in EFA and contained relatively higher levels of trans polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). In some samples of potato chips and french fries, the level of trans PUFA was almost the same or more than the sum of linoleic and linolenic acids.
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Atrophy of the filiform papillae of the tongue is a sign of malnutrition. However, papillary atrophy has not been correlated with laboratory indices of nutritional status. We studied photographs of tongues from 30 elderly subjects and determined the percentage of normal papillary development (%NPD) relative to a reference photograph. ⋯ We found that %NPD correlated significantly (p < 0.0031) with levels of vitamin E and prealbumin, but not with 14 other laboratory indices. Subjects with overt atrophic glossitis (%NPD < 50%) tended to have multiple nutritional deficiencies. The high correlation of plasma vitamin E levels with %NPD may be related to its role as an antioxidant and in the maintenance of cellular membrane integrity.