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Nutrient Intake and Gut Microbial Genera Changes after a 4-Week Placebo Controlled Galacto-Oligosaccharides Intervention in Young Females.
Johnstone, N, Dart, S, Knytl, P, Nauta, A, Hart, K, Cohen Kadosh, K
Nutrients. 2021;(12)
Abstract
Recent interest in the gut-brain-axis has highlighted the potential of prebiotics to impact wellbeing, and to affect behavioral change in humans. In this clinical trial, we examined the impact of four-weeks daily supplementation of galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) on self-reported nutrient intake and relationships on gut microbiota in a four-week two-armed parallel double-blind placebo controlled GOS supplement trial in young adult females. Food diaries and stool samples were collected prior to and following 28 days of supplement consumption. It was found that four weeks of GOS supplementation influenced macronutrient intake, as evident by reduced carbohydrate and sugars and increased fats intake. Further analysis showed that the reduction in carbohydrates was predicted by increasing abundances of Bifidobacterium in the GOS group in comparison to the placebo group. This suggests that Bifidobacterium increase via GOS supplementation may help improve the gut microbiota composition by altering the desire for specific types of carbohydrates and boosting Bifidobacterium availability when fiber intake is below recommended levels, without compromising appetite for fiber from food.
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[Seasonal fluctuations and influence of nutrition on macular pigment density].
Jahn, C, Brinkmann, C, Mössner, A, Wüstemeyer, H, Schnurrbusch, U, Wolf, S
Der Ophthalmologe : Zeitschrift der Deutschen Ophthalmologischen Gesellschaft. 2006;(2):136-40
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Abstract
PURPOSE We have previously reported on measuring macular pigment density (MPD) with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (HRA, Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). This study war undertaken to evaluate the variation of MPD over a period of 1 year in healthy subjects. METHOD We used autofluorescence images recorded with a HRA to evaluate MPD with a 2 degrees circle centered on the fovea. Healthy subjects were included in the study and MPD measurements were repeated every 2 months over a period of 1 year. RESULTS We included a total of 30 healthy subjects aged 19-34 years (mean: 23+/-2 years). Mean MPD at time point 1 was 0.215+/-0.056 density units (DU), at time point 2 0.235+/-0.051 DU, at time point 3 0.218+/-0.055 DU, at time point 4 0.228+/-0.057 DU, at time point 5 0.225+/-0.053 DU, and at time point 6 0.203+/-0.050 DU. The statistical analysis revealed no significant variation of MPD over the follow-up period of 1 year. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that MPD shows no variation over a period of 1 year in healthy subjects.
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Early childhood development interventions and cognitive development of young children in rural Vietnam.
Watanabe, K, Flores, R, Fujiwara, J, Tran, LT
The Journal of nutrition. 2005;(8):1918-25
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Abstract
Little is known about the long-term benefits of interventions that aim to promote early childhood development programs. The goal of this research was to determine whether an early childhood development intervention added to a nutrition intervention during preschool ages had lasting effects on the cognitive development of school-age children in communes of Thanh Hoa province in rural Vietnam. The study focused on a total of 313 children aged 6.5-8.5 y (grades 1 and 2 in primary school) in 2 communes that were exposed to nutrition intervention or nutrition and early childhood development (ECD) intervention from 1999 to 2003. Measurements of height and cognitive test scores (Raven's Progressive Matrices Test) were collected from the children; household characteristics were determined by interviews with mothers. Longitudinal analysis was performed by integrating the data with that collected from the same children in past surveys. Significant effects of the ECD intervention compared with the nutrition intervention were detected. The beneficial effect of ECD intervention on the cognitive test scores was large for the most nutritionally challenged children whose height-for-age Z-scores declined or remained in the stunted range. The findings help provide useful insights into the development of an effective integrated model of ECD and nutrition intervention for children in rural Vietnam.