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Longitudinal study of the effects of price and promotion incentives on purchases of unhealthy foods: evidence for restricting food promotions.
Kopasker, D, Ejebu, OZ, Norwood, P, Ludbrook, A
BMJ nutrition, prevention & health. 2022;5(1):62-71
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The European Commission and WHO have updated their approach to addressing obesity and promoting healthy eating among the general population. Foods that are high in calories, fat, sugar, and salt provide little nutritional value and are calorie dense. Price interventions, like the levy introduced by the UK government, have effectively reduced consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and sugary drinks. Both the UK and Scottish governments have recently proposed legislation to restrict the promotion of unhealthy foods. This longitudinal regression analysis assessed the consumer microdata over time to determine the effectiveness of price, price promotions, and volume promotions in predicting reductions in household purchases of high-fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) foods. The results revealed that in-store promotions led to a significant increase in household purchasing. Volume promotions were more effective than price promotions, but they resulted in greater calorie intake per household. Additionally, there were significant differences in purchasing behaviour and income levels of households. Households with children tended to purchase more than those without. These findings suggest that policies aimed at limiting promotions may help reduce household purchases and consumption of HFSS foods. Healthcare professionals can utilise the outcomes of this review to comprehend the correlation between price and volume promotions on household buying and consumption of HFSS foods.
Abstract
Objectives: Taxes and restrictions on promotions have recently been proposed as policy instruments to reduce consumption of unhealthy foods. The objective of this study is to add to the limited evidence on the comparative effectiveness of price changes, price promotions and volume promotions in changing household purchasing of unhealthy foods, using biscuits, crisps and savoury snacks as examples. Design: Longitudinal regression analysis of consumer microdata. Setting: Secondary data on itemised household purchases of biscuits, crisps and savoury snacks from 2006 to 2012. Participants: Sample of 3024 households in Scotland. Main outcome measures: Changes in the number of calories (kcal) purchased in the product category by a household caused by changes in the price for the product category, any temporary in-store price promotions and any temporary in-store volume promotions. Changes are measured at the mean, median, 25th percentile and 75th percentile of the household purchasing distribution for the full sample. Subgroup analyses were conducted by household income band and for households with and without children. Results: Between product categories, the scale of purchasing response to incentives varies significantly. Within product categories, the mean calories (kcal) purchased by a household are more responsive to any volume promotion than to price or any price promotion for all product categories. As the volume of items purchased increases, households are less responsive to price, less responsive to any volume promotion and more responsive to any price promotion. Statistically significant differences are observed between household income groups in their response to price and promotion incentives within the biscuits category only. In cases where statistically significant differences are observed, households with children are more responsive to promotion and price incentives than households without children. Conclusions: For all product categories analysed (biscuits, crisps and savoury snacks), household purchasing is most responsive to any volume promotion. Therefore, assuming the response of consumers to incentives remains constant following legislation, the most effective policy instrument to reduce the calorie intake from these products may be a ban on volume promotions.
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Manipulation of Dietary Intake on Changes in Circulating Testosterone Concentrations.
Zamir, A, Ben-Zeev, T, Hoffman, JR
Nutrients. 2021;13(10)
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Androgens, like testosterone, are steroid hormones commonly associated with reproduction. However, they also govern metabolic functions, body composition and growth. Higher levels of circulating androgens enhance athletic performance by supporting metabolic activities such as protein production, regeneration and growth and by inhibiting breakdown processes. Manipulating testosterone to enhance athletic performance without the use of anabolic steroids hormones has been of much interest. As macro-and micronutrients can influence androgen hormones, this review examined whether specific energy and nutrient intake can ‘naturally’ manipulate testosterone levels. The authors describe the metabolic functions of testosterone before exploring the current evidence on selected plant extracts and nutrients and their impact on aromatase activity. Inhibiting aromatase can prevent androgens from being converted into oestrogen and thus may help to raise circulating androgens. Discussed are a range of plant-derived compounds, flavonoids, macronutrients and micronutrients (Vitamin D, Zinc and Magnesium) and their impact on testosterone levels. The authors conclude that the nutrients discussed have some supportive evidence, yet overall findings are inconclusive due to limited studies. Regarding macronutrients more research is available, and the evidence supports that low energy intake negatively impacts testosterone levels and performance. Whereby supplementation of vitamins crucial to testosterone production seems to provide value in cases of deficiency further research is required. This article yields an overview of plant compounds, macro-and micronutrients and their potential impact on circulating testosterone levels. While low energy intake and nutrient deficiencies appears to be unfavourable, the absence of clear evidence on other compounds would warrant further case-specific investigations.
Abstract
Elevations in the circulating concentration of androgens are thought to have a positive effect on the anabolic processes leading to improved athletic performance. Anabolic-androgenic steroids have often been used by competitive athletes to augment this effect. Although there has been concerted effort on examining how manipulating training variables (e.g., intensity and volume of training) can influence the androgen response to exercise, there has been much less effort directed at understanding how changes in both macronutrient and micronutrient intake can impact the androgen response. Thus, the focus of this review is to examine the effect that manipulating energy and nutrient intake has on circulating concentrations of testosterone and what the potential mechanism is governing these changes.
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Personalised nutrition advice reduces intake of discretionary foods and beverages: findings from the Food4Me randomised controlled trial.
Livingstone, KM, Celis-Morales, C, Navas-Carretero, S, San-Cristobal, R, Forster, H, Woolhead, C, O'Donovan, CB, Moschonis, G, Manios, Y, Traczyk, I, et al
The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity. 2021;18(1):70
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Food4Me is an internet-based personalised nutrition study that evaluates the effectiveness of personalized dietary advice in avoiding discretionary foods compared to conventional advice. In different countries, discretionary foods are classified differently. Therefore, this study included two measures of discretionary foods identified by the Food4Me Food Frequency Questionnaire, which covered 22 discretionary foods classified by Food Standards Scotland and 59 discretionary foods identified by Australian Dietary Guidelines. For six months, 1607 participants from seven European countries were randomly assigned to receive generalised dietary advice or one of three levels of personalised nutrition advice (based on diet [L1], phenotype [L2] and genotype [L3]). Personalised nutrition advice was found to be effective in reducing discretionary foods when categorisation included foods high in fat, added sugar and salt. There was a greater reduction in energy, sugar, salt, and saturated fat intakes in people who received personalised nutrition advice [L1-3] as compared to generalised dietary advice after six months. Results of this study can be used by healthcare professionals to support personalised nutrition strategies in the general population targeting discretionary foods to increase compliance with personalised nutrition strategies and achieve better health outcomes.
Abstract
BACKGROUND The effect of personalised nutrition advice on discretionary foods intake is unknown. To date, two national classifications for discretionary foods have been derived. This study examined changes in intake of discretionary foods and beverages following a personalised nutrition intervention using these two classifications. METHODS Participants were recruited into a 6-month RCT across seven European countries (Food4Me) and were randomised to receive generalised dietary advice (control) or one of three levels of personalised nutrition advice (based on diet [L1], phenotype [L2] and genotype [L3]). Dietary intake was derived from an FFQ. An analysis of covariance was used to determine intervention effects at month 6 between personalised nutrition (overall and by levels) and control on i) percentage energy from discretionary items and ii) percentage contribution of total fat, SFA, total sugars and salt to discretionary intake, defined by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG) classifications. RESULTS Of the 1607 adults at baseline, n = 1270 (57% female) completed the intervention. Percentage sugars from FSS discretionary items was lower in personalised nutrition vs control (19.0 ± 0.37 vs 21.1 ± 0.65; P = 0.005). Percentage energy (31.2 ± 0.59 vs 32.7 ± 0.59; P = 0.031), percentage total fat (31.5 ± 0.37 vs 33.3 ± 0.65; P = 0.021), SFA (36.0 ± 0.43 vs 37.8 ± 0.75; P = 0.034) and sugars (31.7 ± 0.44 vs 34.7 ± 0.78; P < 0.001) from ADG discretionary items were lower in personalised nutrition vs control. There were greater reductions in ADG percentage energy and percentage total fat, SFA and salt for those randomised to L3 vs L2. CONCLUSIONS Compared with generalised dietary advice, personalised nutrition advice achieved greater reductions in discretionary foods intake when the classification included all foods high in fat, added sugars and salt. Future personalised nutrition approaches may be used to target intake of discretionary foods. TRIAL REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01530139 . Registered 9 February 2012.
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Acute responses of hepatic fat content to consuming fat, glucose and fructose alone and in combination in non-obese non-diabetic individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Kovar, J, Dusilova, T, Sedivy, P, Bruha, R, Gottfriedova, H, Pavlikova, P, Pitha, J, Smid, V, Drobny, M, Dezortova, M, et al
Journal of physiology and pharmacology : an official journal of the Polish Physiological Society. 2021;72(1)
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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is often associated with obesity or conditions related to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes. Steatosis is one of the four stages of NAFLD, where there is a small layer of fat build-up on the liver. Currently, one in three people in the UK has simple fatty liver or steatosis. A fascinating aspect of this study is exploring the long-term cumulative effects of daily fat intake when consumed with glucose or fructose and in the pathogenesis of steatosis. In this randomised controlled study, the researchers examined the immediate impact of high-fat loads on hepatic fat content (HFC) when administered with glucose or fructose in eight healthy overweight males with NFALD. The experiments lasted only eight hours. HFC was only transiently elevated by co-administration of glucose and high-fat loading. However, fructose co-administration with multiple high-fat loads promoted HFC. Small sample size and short duration are the limitations of this study. Long-term robust studies are needed to confirm the findings. Yet, healthcare professionals can use this study to distinguish between the immediate effects of fructose or glucose when combined with multiple doses of high fat on HFC in healthy and NAFLD subjects.
Abstract
We have recently demonstrated that a high-fat load can induce immediate increase in hepatic fat content (HFC) and that such an effect can be modified differently by co-administration of fructose or glucose in healthy subjects. Therefore, we addressed the question how consumption of these nutrients affects changes in HFC in subjects with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Eight male non-obese non-diabetic patients with NAFLD underwent 6 experiments each lasting 8 hours: 1. fasting, 2. high-fat load (150 g of fat (dairy cream) at time 0), 3. glucose (three doses of 50 g at 0, 2, and 4 hours), 4. high-fat load with three doses of 50 g of glucose, 5. fructose (three doses of 50 g at 0, 2, and 4 hours), 6. high-fat load with three doses of 50 g of fructose. HFC was measured using magnetic resonance spectroscopy prior to meal administration and 3 and 6 hours later. Plasma triglycerides, non-esterified fatty acids, glucose and insulin were monitored throughout each experiment. HFC increased by 10.4 ± 6.9% six hours after a high-fat load and by 15.2 ± 12.5% after high-fat load with fructose. When co-administering glucose with fat, HFC rose only transiently to return to baseline at 6 hours. Importantly, NAFLD subjects accumulated almost five times more fat in their livers than healthy subjects with normal HFC. Consumption of a high-fat load results in fat accumulation in the liver of NAFLD patients. Fat accumulation after a fat load is diminished by glucose but not fructose co-administration.
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Evolution of the Human Diet and Its Impact on Gut Microbiota, Immune Responses, and Brain Health.
González Olmo, BM, Butler, MJ, Barrientos, RM
Nutrients. 2021;13(1)
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One explanation for the increased prevalence in chronic disease and mental illness is from the evolutionary perspective. This suggests the rapid shift in diet towards processed foods in the past 200 years has not allowed for sufficient adaptation of the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome plays an important role in the digestive, immune and nervous systems via the gut-brain axis, and may be a key factor in modulating inflammation and disease. The aim of this review is to discuss how what we eat affects the immune system and impacts our brain health. The literature currently shows significant associations between the Western diet and its impact on the health of the gut microbiome and the brain. Increased intake of saturated fats, refined carbohydrates and sugar, coupled with a reduction in fiber, negatively impacts the digestive system and elicits an immune response. This response can lead to neuroinflammation, which is now found to be associated with deficits in learning and memory, as well as increased rates of neurodegenerative disease and depression. Based on the existing literature, the authors conclude the human gut microbiome has not had sufficient time to adapt to many modern foods, thus leading to inflammation and disease. The authors recommend that a diet composed of natural whole foods with minimal processing can help prevent and alleviate some of the burden caused by chronic disease, and suggest future studies focus on improving techniques to evaluate neuroinflammation in humans.
Abstract
The relatively rapid shift from consuming preagricultural wild foods for thousands of years, to consuming postindustrial semi-processed and ultra-processed foods endemic of the Western world less than 200 years ago did not allow for evolutionary adaptation of the commensal microbial species that inhabit the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and this has significantly impacted gut health. The human gut microbiota, the diverse and dynamic population of microbes, has been demonstrated to have extensive and important interactions with the digestive, immune, and nervous systems. Western diet-induced dysbiosis of the gut microbiota has been shown to negatively impact human digestive physiology, to have pathogenic effects on the immune system, and, in turn, cause exaggerated neuroinflammation. Given the tremendous amount of evidence linking neuroinflammation with neural dysfunction, it is no surprise that the Western diet has been implicated in the development of many diseases and disorders of the brain, including memory impairments, neurodegenerative disorders, and depression. In this review, we discuss each of these concepts to understand how what we eat can lead to cognitive and psychiatric diseases.
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Micronutrient Gaps in Three Commercial Weight-Loss Diet Plans.
G Engel, M, J Kern, H, Brenna, JT, H Mitmesser, S
Nutrients. 2018;10(1)
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Globally, around 39% of adults are overweight and 13% obese, and more than one third of American adults are obese. Being overweight or obese is associated with many chronic conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Weight loss, even at moderate level, can reduce the risk of these obesity-related chronic conditions. Commercial weight-loss diet plans can vary greatly, not only in energy content but also in macronutrient and micronutrient composition. Most plans restrict calories or certain macronutrients, particularly carbohydrate or fat, and in doing so, often overlook micronutrient, i.e. vitamin and mineral, content. Previous studies have shown that many weight-loss plans do not provide adequate amounts of all micronutrients, and in order to reach the reference daily intakes for various vitamins and minerals, dieters would need to increase their calorie intake significantly and often unrealistically. The authors of this paper analysed seven single-day menus of three select commercial diet plans to determine their micronutrient sufficiency. The diet plans included were Eat to Live-Vegan, Aggressive Weight Loss (ETL-VAWL), Fast Metabolism Diet (FMD), and Eat, Drink and Be Healthy (EDH). ETL-VAWL diet provided less than 90% of recommended amounts for B12, B3, D, E, calcium, selenium and zinc. The FMD diet was low in B1, D, E, calcium, magnesium and potassium, while EDH diet didn’t meet the recommended amounts for vitamin D, calcium and potassium. Even after adjusting all the plans to an intake of 2000 kcal/day, several micronutrients were found to remain inadequate (vitamin B12 in ETL-VAWL, calcium in FMD and EDH and vitamin D in all diets). The authors conclude that, in order to reduce the risk of micronutrient deficiencies, more attention needs to be paid to micronutrient rich foods when designing commercial diet plans. Alternatively, these nutrient gaps should be filled in other ways, e.g. using appropriate dietary supplements.
Abstract
Weight-loss diets restrict intakes of energy and macronutrients but overlook micronutrient profiles. Commercial diet plans may provide insufficient micronutrients. We analyzed nutrient profiles of three plans and compared their micronutrient sufficiency to Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for male U.S. adults. Hypocaloric vegan (Eat to Live-Vegan, Aggressive Weight Loss; ETL-VAWL), high-animal-protein low-carbohydrate (Fast Metabolism Diet; FMD) and weight maintenance (Eat, Drink and Be Healthy; EDH) diets were evaluated. Seven single-day menus were sampled per diet (n = 21 menus, 7 menus/diet) and analyzed for 20 micronutrients with the online nutrient tracker CRON-O-Meter. Without adjustment for energy intake, the ETL-VAWL diet failed to provide 90% of recommended amounts for B12, B₃, D, E, calcium, selenium and zinc. The FMD diet was low (<90% DRI) in B₁, D, E, calcium, magnesium and potassium. The EDH diet met >90% DRIs for all but vitamin D, calcium and potassium. Several micronutrients remained inadequate after adjustment to 2000 kcal/day: vitamin B12 in ETL-VAWL, calcium in FMD and EDH and vitamin D in all diets. Consistent with previous work, micronutrient deficits are prevalent in weight-loss diet plans. Special attention to micronutrient rich foods is required to reduce risk of micronutrient deficiency in design of commercial diets.