1.
Cortisol, blood pressure, and heart rate responses to food intake were independent of physical fitness levels in women.
Jayasinghe, SU, Torres, SJ, Fraser, SF, Turner, AI
Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme. 2015;(11):1186-92
Abstract
This research tested the hypothesis that women who had higher levels of physical fitness will have lower hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis (cortisol) and sympatho-adrenal medullary system (blood pressure and heart rate) responses to food intake compared with women who had low levels of physical fitness. Lower fitness (n = 22; maximal oxygen consumption = 27.4 ± 1.0 mL∙kg(-1)·min(-1)) and higher fitness (n = 22; maximal oxygen consumption = 41.9 ± 1.6 mL∙kg(-1)·min(-1)) women (aged 30-50 years; in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle) who participated in levels of physical activity that met (lower fitness = 2.7 ± 0.5 h/week) or considerably exceeded (higher fitness = 7.1 ± 1.4 h/week) physical activity guidelines made their own lunch using standardised ingredients at 1200 h. Concentrations of cortisol were measured in blood samples collected every 15 min from 1145-1400 h. Blood pressures and heart rate were also measured every 15 min between 1145 h and 1400 h. The meal consumed by the participants consisted of 20% protein, 61% carbohydrates, and 19% fat. There was a significant overall response to lunch in all of the parameters measured (time effect for all, p < 0.01). The cortisol response to lunch was not significantly different between the groups (time × treatment, p = 0.882). Overall, both groups showed the same pattern of cortisol secretion (treatment p = 0.839). Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, or heart rate responses (time × treatment, p = 0.726, 0.898, 0.713, and 0.620, respectively) were also similar between higher and lower fitness women. Results suggest that the physiological response to food intake in women is quite resistant to modification by elevated physical fitness levels.
2.
Dietary patterns are associated with cognition among older people with mild cognitive impairment.
Torres, SJ, Lautenschlager, NT, Wattanapenpaiboon, N, Greenop, KR, Beer, C, Flicker, L, Alfonso, H, Nowson, CA
Nutrients. 2012;(11):1542-51
Abstract
There has been increasing interest in the influence of diet on cognition in the elderly. This study examined the cross-sectional association between dietary patterns and cognition in a sample of 249 people aged 65-90 years with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Two dietary patterns; whole and processed food; were identified using factor analysis from a 107-item; self-completed Food Frequency Questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses showed that participants in the highest tertile of the processed food pattern score were more likely to have poorer cognitive functioning; in the lowest tertile of executive function (OR 2.55; 95% CI: 1.08-6.03); as assessed by the Cambridge Cognitive Examination. In a group of older people with MCI; a diet high in processed foods was associated with some level of cognitive impairment.
3.
Dietary electrolytes are related to mood.
Torres, SJ, Nowson, CA, Worsley, A
The British journal of nutrition. 2008;(5):1038-45
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Abstract
Dietary therapies are routinely recommended to reduce disease risk; however, there is concern they may adversely affect mood. We compared the effect on mood of a low-sodium, high-potassium diet (LNAHK) and a high-calcium diet (HC) with a moderate-sodium, high-potassium, high-calcium Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-type diet (OD). We also assessed the relationship between dietary electrolytes and cortisol, a stress hormone and marker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. In a crossover design, subjects were randomized to two diets for 4 weeks, the OD and either LNAHK or HC, each preceded by a 2-week control diet (CD). Dietary compliance was assessed by 24 h urine collections. Mood was measured weekly by the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Saliva samples were collected to measure cortisol. The change in mood between the preceding CD and the test diet (LNAHK or HC) was compared with the change between the CD and OD. Of the thirty-eight women and fifty-six men (mean age 56.3 (sem 9.8) years) that completed the OD, forty-three completed the LNAHK and forty-eight the HC. There was a greater improvement in depression, tension, vigour and the POMS global score for the LNAHK diet compared to OD (P < 0.05). Higher cortisol levels were weakly associated with greater vigour, lower fatigue, and higher levels of urinary potassium and magnesium (r 0.1-0.2, P < 0.05 for all). In conclusion, a LNAHK diet appeared to have a positive effect on overall mood.