1.
Is a vegan diet detrimental to endurance and muscle strength?
Boutros, GH, Landry-Duval, MA, Garzon, M, Karelis, AD
European journal of clinical nutrition. 2020;74(11):1550-1555
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Plain language summary
There is a common belief amongst the general population that a vegan diet leads to lower exercise performance due to the potential lack of dietary protein and nutrients. However, previous research that compared aerobic capacity and muscle strength between different diet groups only showed marginal variance, if any at all. But it is criticized that these studies did not always distinguish between the multiple subtypes of vegetarian or veganism. Hence this study sought to focus specifically on the comparison of strict plant-based eaters with omnivores. The participants involved were 56 active women, around their mid-twenties, with an average Body Mass Index of 22. Assessed were estimated VO2 max (an indicator of aerobic fitness), submaximal endurance performance and upper and lower body muscle strength. The 3-day food diaries of each participant was analysed and showed a similar intake of energy and fats in both groups. Vegans had higher carbohydrate, fibre, vitamin C, iron, and magnesium consumption and lower intake of protein, leucine, alanine, saturated fat, vitamin D, and vitamin B12, when compared to omnivores. Whilst upper body strength appeared to be marginally lower in the vegan group, higher levels of estimated VO2 max and significantly higher submaximal endurance levels were observed. The results contradict the common belief, demonstrating that a vegan diet appears to have no detrimental impact on endurance and muscle strength in healthy, young and lean women. In fact, the findings suggest that a vegan diet can be advantageous on endurance performance compared to omnivores. The authors propose that the higher intake of carbohydrates amongst vegans could be linked to better endurance performance and that such a plant-based diet can have favourable effects on oxidative stress and inflammatory profiles. The outcomes of this study may be of interest to those supporting the sports performance of strict plant-based eaters.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES In the general population, there is a popular belief that a vegan diet may be associated with a lower exercise performance due to the lack of certain nutrients in vegan individuals. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine endurance and muscle strength differences between vegan and omnivore participants. SUBJECTS/METHODS We studied 56 healthy young lean physically active women (age: 25.6 ± 4.1 years; body mass index: 22 ± 1.9 kg/m2). Participants were classified as vegan (n = 28) or omnivore (n = 28) based on their eating habits. All volunteers followed either a vegan or an omnivore diet for at least 2 years. Anthropometric measurements, body composition, estimated maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max), a submaximal endurance test (70% of VO2 max), muscle strength (leg and chest press), and dietary factors were measured. RESULTS Both groups were comparable for physical activity levels, body mass index, percent body fat, lean body mass, and muscle strength. However, vegans had a significantly higher estimated VO2 max (44.5 ± 5.2 vs. 41.6 ± 4.6 ml/kg/min; p = 0.03, respectively) and submaximal endurance time to exhaustion (12.2 ± 5.7 vs. 8.8 ± 3.0 min; p = 0.007, respectively) compared with omnivores. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that a vegan diet does not seem to be detrimental to endurance and muscle strength in healthy young lean women. In fact, our study showed that submaximal endurance might be better in vegans compared with omnivores. Therefore, these findings contradict the popular belief of the general population.
2.
Morphogenetic systems: Models and experiments.
Smolka, V, Drastík, J, Bradík, J, Garzon, M, Sosík, P
Bio Systems. 2020;:104270
Abstract
M systems are mathematical models of morphogenesis developed to gain insights into its relations to phenomena such as self-assembly, self-controlled growth, homeostasis, self-healing and self-reproduction, in both natural and artificial systems. M systems rely on basic principles of membrane computing and self-assembly, as well as explicit emphasis on geometrical structures (location and shape) in 2D, 3D or higher dimensional Euclidean spaces. They can be used for principled studies of these phenomena, both theoretically and experimentally, at a computational level abstracted from their detailed implementation. In particular, they afford 2D and 3D models to explore biological morphogenetic processes. Theoretical studies have shown that M systems are powerful tools (e.g., computational universal, i.e. can become as complex as any computer program) and their parallelism allows for trading space for time in solving efficiently problems considered infeasible on conventional computers (NP-hard problems). In addition, they can also exhibit properties such as robustness to injuries and degrees of self-healing. This paper focuses on the experimental side of M systems. To this end, we have developed a high-level morphogenetic simulator, Cytos, to implement and visualize M systems in silico in order to verify theoretical results and facilitate research in M systems. We summarize the software package and make a brief comparison with some other simulators of membrane systems. The core of the article is a description of a range of experiments inspired by aspects of morphogenesis in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The experiments explore the regulatory role of the septum and of the cytoskeleton in cell fission, the robustness of cell models against injuries, and, finally, the impact of changing nutrient concentration on population growth.
3.
Abstracts from Hydrocephalus 2016.
Adam, A, Robison, J, Lu, J, Jose, R, Badran, N, Vivas-Buitrago, T, Rigamonti, D, Sattar, A, Omoush, O, Hammad, M, et al
Fluids and barriers of the CNS. 2017;(Suppl 1):15
4.
Effective therapy of a vascular tumor of infancy with vincristine.
Moore, J, Lee, M, Garzon, M, Soffer, S, Kim, E, Saouaf, R, del Toro, G, Yamashiro, D, Kandel, J
Journal of pediatric surgery. 2001;(8):1273-6
Abstract
Vascular tumors are common in infancy, affecting as many as 10% of children. These lesions often follow a benign course, with an initial proliferative phase followed by spontaneous involution, and require no therapy. Others manifest explosive early growth and Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon, requiring therapeutic intervention. Occasionally, some bulky tumors threaten life or vision because of mass effect, also mandating intervention. Steroids are the mainstay of therapy, but often are ineffective. Interferon alpha (2a and 2b) has been used as second-line therapy in cases of steroid failure. However, interferon therapy has been associated with a significant incidence of spastic diplegia. The authors present the case of a 3-month-old girl in whom respiratory distress secondary to tracheal compression developed. Magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography showed a large cervicothoracic lesion encasing the great vessels and displacing the airway. She did not display associated Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon. The lesion proved refractory to standard steroid therapy, but responded dramatically to 4 cycles of vincristine (0.05 mg/kg). Although this agent has been used in children with life-threatening Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon, this is the first time it has been described in the setting of compromised vital function. Vinca alkaloids recently have been shown to have potent antiangiogenic activities in experimental models. Given the low predicted incidence of side effects at this dose, vincristine used as an antiangiogenic agent may prove an attractive alternative therapy for patients with life-threatening vascular tumors of infancy.