Nutrition
-
The aim of this study was to examine the associations between milk and dairy product intakes, intestinal bacteria, and respiratory infections in children of elementary school age and older in Japan. ⋯ We found that higher milk intake was inversely associated with respiratory infections in children older than preschool age. Higher lactic acid drink intake could be inversely associated only in children with a low F. prausnitzii count in the intestine.
-
Polypharmacy is the simultaneous use of multiple medicines, usually more than five. Polypharmacy is highly prevalent among older individuals and is associated with several adverse health outcomes, including frailty. The role of polypharmacy in nutritional status seems to be crucial: although a clear association between polypharmacy and malnutrition has been widely reported in older people, the magnitude of the effect of increased number of drugs in combination with their type on the risk for malnutrition remains to be largely explored. ⋯ Deprescribing (i.e., a systematic process of identification and discontinuation of drugs or a reduction of drug regimens) could be an essential step for minimizing the effects of polypharmacy on malnutrition. In this regard, the literature suggests that in older patients taking several medications, the best method to solve this problem is the comprehensive geriatric assessment, based on a holistic approach, including drug review, to find potential unnecessary and inappropriate medications. Nutritional and deprescribing interventions must be tailored to patient needs and to the local context to overcome barriers when applied in different settings.
-
Consumers' growing interest in using foods that improve health has motivated researchers and the food industry to develop new functional products, such as foods containing probiotics or live microbes. Probiotics have functional attributes that could satisfy most basic nutritional and therapeutic supplementation requirements. These microbes positively respond to clinical therapies against diseases and illnesses such as rotavirus-associated diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, and food allergies. ⋯ Probiotic supplementation usually involves dairy products. However, because of the growing number of individuals affected by lactose intolerance and/or vegans, other food matrices like fruits, vegetables, cereals, and so on, have been studied as potential carriers for these microorganisms, presenting an alternative and better source in the process of assessing novel probiotic strains. The present review discusses the various factors affecting the survival of probiotics during storage in fruit juices, the possible effect of probiotics on sensory attributes and the overall acceptance of the products, and future technologies to improve the viability of probiotics.
-
The geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is an effective tool to assess the nutritional status of the elderly. However, the relationship between the GNRI and the risk for prostate cancer (PCa) remains uncertain in middle-aged and older men. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the GNRI and the risk for PCa by analyzing the serum total (tPSA) and free prostate-specific antigen (fPSA) levels (including percent fPSA [%fPSA]). ⋯ The results of this study suggest that nutritional status, as represented by the GNRI, is associated with the risk for PCa.
-
Indigestible carbohydrates may strengthen tight junctions (TJs) independently of intestinal bacteria. This study investigated whether indigestible carbohydrates (i.e., fructo-oligosaccharides [FOS]) promote TJs directly to intestinal absorptive Caco-2 cells and examined the association between the expression of genes constructing TJs and other genes using mRNA microarray analysis. ⋯ Induction of TJ-strengthening CLDN4 and reduction of TJ-weakening CLDN2 by FOS treatment in small intestinal absorptive Caco-2 cells is positively associated with the induction of inflammatory genes, including CLEC7A.