scholarly journals Next Generation Health Claims Based on Resilience: The Example of Whole-Grain Wheat

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2945
Author(s):  
Femke Hoevenaars ◽  
Jan-Willem van der Kamp ◽  
Willem van den Brink ◽  
Suzan Wopereis

Health claims on foods are a way of informing consumers about the health benefits of a food product. Traditionally, these claims are based on scientific evaluation of markers originating from a pharmacological view on health. About a decade ago, the definition of health has been rephrased to ‘the ability to adapt’ that opened up the possibility for a next generation of health claims based on a new way of quantifying health by evaluating resilience. Here, we would like to introduce an opportunity for future scientific substantiation of health claims on food products by using whole-grain wheat as an example. Characterization of the individual whole wheat grain food product or whole wheat flour would probably be considered as sufficiently characterized by the European Food Safety Authority, while the food category whole grain is not specific enough. Meta-analysis provides the scientific evidence that long-term whole-grain wheat consumption is beneficial for health, although results from single ‘gold standard’ efficacy studies are not always straight forward based on classic measurement methods. Future studies may want to underpin the scientific argumentation that long-term whole grain wheat consumption improves resilience, by evaluating the disruption and rate of a selected panel of blood markers in response to a standardized oral protein glucose lipid tolerance test and aggregated into biomarkers with substantiated physiological benefits, to make a next-generation health claim for whole-grain wheat achievable in the near future.

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamioka ◽  
Tsutani ◽  
Origasa ◽  
Yoshizaki ◽  
Kitayuguchi ◽  
...  

Background: In Japan, a new type of foods with health claims, called Foods with Function Claims (FFC), was introduced in April 2015 in order to make more products available that are clearly labeled with certain health functions. Regarding substantiating product effectiveness, scientific evidence for the proposed function claims must be explained by systematic reviews (SRs), but the quality of SRs was not clear. The objectives of this review were to assess the quality of SRs based on the FFC registered on the Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) website in Japan, and to determine whether the CAA’s verification report in 2016 was associated with improvement in the quality of SRs. Methods: We evaluated the reporting quality of each SR by the AMSTAR checklist on methodological quality. We searched the database from 1 April to 31 October 2015 as the before-SR and from 1 July 2017 to 31 January 2018 as the after-SR. Results: Among the 104 SRs reviewed, 96 final products were included: 51 (53.1%) were supplements, 42 (43.8%) were processed foods without supplements, and 3 (3.1%) were fresh foods. Of the 104 SRs, 92 (88.5%) were qualitative reviews (i.e., without meta-analysis) and 12 (11.5%) performed a meta-analysis. The average quality score of before-SRs and after-SRs was 6.2 ± 1.8 and 5.0 ± 1.9, respectively, a statistically significant decrease (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Overall, the methodology and reporting quality of after-SRs based on the FFC were poorer than those of before-SRs. In particular, there were very poor descriptions and/or implementations of study selection and data extraction, search strategy, evaluation methods for risk of bias, assessment of publication bias, and formulating conclusions based on methodological rigor and scientific quality of the included studies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Ujang Sumarwan ◽  
Megawati Simanjuntak ◽  
Lilik Noor Yuliati

<p>Labels are an integral part of a product. Observing the labels on the packaging, especially food products is considered very important to do. However, the label of food packaging products receives less attention from consumers. Therefore, the public is required to be more ingenious in observing the label of food packaging products to avoid food security problems which have adverse health effects. The purpose of this study was to map the results of research on label reading behavior. The design of this study was a literature study of research results that can be accessed via the internet. The results showed that the behavior of reading food product labels was done before buying the product (Aulawi 2005; Susanto 2008; Kumalasari and Sjafei 2012). From the frequency of reading nutrition labels, it could be found out that 42.5 percent of consumers sometimes read and 30.2 percent often read food packaging labels (Andrias 2016). Of the 52 studies, 17 studies have shown that women often read more and notice label attributes on food product packaging. The most commonly read consumer label (Figure 3) was the kosher logo and nutritional value. Food products that are usually labeled are packaged foods. Nutrition and health claims are considered as a means of education for consumers - 14 percent to know new information and 86 percent of consumers decided to read the labels because of the outside factors, such as advertising, internet, or at school.</p>


Author(s):  
Francesca Mori ◽  
Mattia Giovannini ◽  
Simona Barni ◽  
Rodrigo Jiménez-Saiz ◽  
Daniel Munblit ◽  
...  

The prevalence of food allergy has increased in recent years, especially in children. Food allergen avoidance and symptomatic drugs in case of an allergic reaction remain the standard of care in food allergy. Nevertheless, increasing attention has been given to the possibility to treat food allergy, through immunotherapy, particularly oral immunotherapy (OIT). Several OIT protocols and clinical trials have been published. Most of them focus on children allergic to milk, egg, or peanuts, although recent studies developed protocols for other foods, such as wheat and different nuts. OIT efficacy in randomized controlled trials is usually evaluated as the possibility for patients to achieve desensitization, while the issue of a possible long-term sustained unresponsiveness has not been completely addressed. Here, we evaluated current OIT knowledge, focusing on the results of clinical trials and current guidelines. Specifically, we wanted to highlight what is known in terms of OIT efficacy and effectiveness, safety, and impact on quality of life. For each aspect, we reported the pros and the cons, inferable from published literature. In conclusion, even though many protocols, reviews and meta-analysis have been published on this topic, OIT remains a controversial therapy and no definitive generalized conclusion may be drawn so far. It should be an option provided by specialized teams, when both patients and their families are prone to adhere to the proposed protocol. Efficacy, long-term effectiveness, possible role of adjuvant therapies, risk of severe reactions including anaphylaxis or eosinophilic esophagitis, and impact on the quality of life of both children and caregivers are all aspects that should be discussed before starting OIT. Future studies are needed to provide firm clinical and scientific evidence, which should also consider patient reported outcomes.


Author(s):  
Michele Di Mauro ◽  
Giorgia Bonalumi ◽  
Antonio Calafiore ◽  
Roberto Lorusso

The meta-analysis by He and collaborators [has the worth to cover, as much as possible, a gap of scientific evidence where conducting a randomized trial appears very complex for ethical and logistical reasons. The authors concluded that mitral valve repair (MVP) provide better pooled results, both early and late, with respect to mitral valve replacement (MVR). However, the superiority of MVP is driven by some single large cohort-studies where surgeons had wide experience in the field of MVP for IE. This finding is also confirmed by other studies. But if mitral repair produces such a better short- and long-term survival than replacement, why are there no clear indications from consensus and guidelines pushing surgeons toward the pursuit of a reconstructive procedure at almost any cost? We wonder but to repair or not to repair, is that really the question? The AATS consensus suggests to repair “whenever possible” but without providing more specific indications. If the two primary goals of surgery are total removal of infected tissues and reconstruction of cardiac morphology, including repair or replacement of the affected valve(s), probably MVP as to perform in case of less extensive tissue detriment by the infection. In more wide valve involvement, MVP may be the choice but only in very expert hands and in Centers with very large volume of valve repairing. This decision cannot therefore be the result of the choice of an individual but must derive from a careful multidisciplinary discussion to be held in an EndoTeam.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Mori ◽  
Mattia Giovannini ◽  
Simona Barni ◽  
Rodrigo Jiménez-Saiz ◽  
Daniel Munblit ◽  
...  

The prevalence of food allergy has increased in recent years, especially in children. Allergen avoidance, and drugs in case of an allergic reaction, remains the standard of care in food allergy. Nevertheless, increasing attention has been given to the possibility to treat food allergy, through immunotherapy, particularly oral immunotherapy (OIT). Several OIT protocols and clinical trials have been published. Most of them focus on children allergic to milk, egg, or peanut, although recent studies developed protocols for other foods, such as wheat and different nuts. OIT efficacy in randomized controlled trials is usually evaluated as the possibility for patients to achieve desensitization through the consumption of an increasing amount of a food allergen, while the issue of a possible long-term sustained unresponsiveness has not been completely addressed. Here, we evaluated current pediatric OIT knowledge, focusing on the results of clinical trials and current guidelines. Specifically, we wanted to highlight what is known in terms of OIT efficacy and effectiveness, safety, and impact on quality of life. For each aspect, we reported the pros and the cons, inferable from published literature. In conclusion, even though many protocols, reviews and meta-analysis have been published on this topic, pediatric OIT remains a controversial therapy and no definitive generalized conclusion may be drawn so far. It should be an option provided by specialized teams, when both patients and their families are prone to adhere to the proposed protocol. Efficacy, long-term effectiveness, possible role of adjuvant therapies, risk of severe reactions including anaphylaxis or eosinophilic esophagitis, and impact on the quality of life of both children and caregivers are all aspects that should be discussed before starting OIT. Future studies are needed to provide firm clinical and scientific evidence, which should also consider patient reported outcomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 339-347
Author(s):  
D Rodríguez Rey ◽  
MA Sanchez-Lastra ◽  
C Ayán Pérez

Objective: Analyze the scientific evidence on the effects that aquatic physical exercise has on people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Material and method: A systematic review was carried out following the checklist Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols, with the objective of locating the largest number of investigations that aimed to identify the effects of the practice of aquatic physical exercise in people with ERC. A search of the PubMed, PEDro, Scopus and Cochrane databases were carried out until March 2019, using the PEDro, CERT, MINORS and NIH scales to determine the methodological quality of the same. Results: Five investigations were located, two of them were randomized control trials, another two studies comparatives and one was uncontrolled. The mean score and the median obtained after applying PEDro scale were 4 and 4 respectively. All the interventions proposed aerobic exercise programs, being generally of short duration and highly supervised, without any adverse effects arising from their practice. In a large part of the studies, significant effects were observed in physical condition, physiological parameters and quality of life, to a lesser extent. The practice of exercise had no significant impact on either the activity of the disease or the perceived pain in patients. Conclusions: Practice of aquatic exercise is beneficial in people with ERC. More longitudinal studies are needed to assess the impact of aquatic exercises as well as its effect and quality of life in long term.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 521-521
Author(s):  
Lisa Sanders ◽  
Yong Zhu ◽  
Meredith Wilcox ◽  
Katie Koecher ◽  
Kevin Maki

Abstract Objectives Epidemiological study results suggest that whole grain (WG) consumption is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes; however, the potential mechanism behind this observation is unclear.  WG intake may lower postprandial glycemia and insulinemia and improve insulin sensitivity, thereby contributing to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.  The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the impact of WG on postprandial glycemia and insulinemia and markers of glycemic control and insulin sensitivity/resistance. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of WG intake, compared to refined grain (RG) intake, on postprandial glycemia and insulinemia area under the curve and markers of glycemic control and insulin sensitivity/resistance in adults.  A search of PubMed and Scopus yielded 80 relevant RCTs.  Pooled estimates were expressed as standardized mean differences (SMD) between the WG intervention and RG control group. Results WG intake resulted in a significant reduction of postprandial glycemia (SMD: −0.46, 95% CI: −0.59, −0.33, P &lt; 0.001) and insulinemia (SMD: −0.29, 95% CI: −0.39, −0.20, P &lt; 0.001), compared to RG intake.  There were no significant effects of WG on fasting glucose, fasting insulin, or homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR); however, there was a marginally significant benefit of WG intake for glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (P = 0.050). Conclusions Compared to RG foods, WG foods improve postprandial glycemia and insulinemia which may partially explain the association of WG intake and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.  However, WG intake did not impact long-term markers of glycemic and insulinemic control, except for a marginally significant effect on HbA1c.  While short term improvements in glycemic response may be beneficial, more investigations are needed to determine if these lead to long-term benefits in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.  PROSPERO Registration: CRD42020180069 Funding Sources This research was funded by General Mills, Inc.


Author(s):  
Sunghwa You ◽  
Tae Hoon Kong ◽  
Woojae Han

The present study explores the scientific evidence on whether music exposure temporarily or permanently affects hearing sensitivity in young adults. Six electronic databases were searched using related keywords for the four categories of personal listening devices, listening habits, hearing outcomes, and age. The Hedges’ g and its 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. A Higgins I2 was also used to check for heterogeneity. To test for publication bias, funnel plots were drawn using Egger’s regression. Based on the inclusion criteria, 16 studies were divided into two groups to identify short-term hearing changes (n = 7) and long-term hearing changes (n = 9). In the short term, there was no significant immediate change in the thresholds or amplitudes after the music exposure, although pure-tone thresholds (PTAs) and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) did show the highest effect size (−0.344, CI −0.727 to 0.038) and (0.124, CI −0.047 to 0.296) at 4 kHz. On the other hand, for long-term hearing changes, the PTA provided the highest effect size at 6 kHz (−0.525, CI −0.897 to −0.154) and 8 kHz (–0.486, CI −0.819 to −0.152), while also implying that habitual and repeated personal listening device (PLD) usage can act on some significant hearing changes in audiological tests. We conclude that the use of a PLD produces a few temporary hearing changes at 4 kHz after its use but that the changes are then reversed. However, it is important to note heavy PLD users’ experience regarding permanent changes in their hearing thresholds at high frequencies, and the public should be educated on this issue.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Algattas ◽  
Pradeep Setty ◽  
Ezequiel Goldschmidt ◽  
Eric W. Wang ◽  
Elizabeth Tyler-Kabara ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
A. V. Trapeznikov ◽  
V. N. Trapeznikova ◽  
A. V. Korzhavin ◽  
V. N. Nikolkin ◽  
A. P. Plataev

Relevance. In connection with the development of nuclear energy, many aquatic ecosystems have been exposed to radioactive substances. Fish, as an element of biota, is capable to accumulate radionuclides. However, fish is a traditional food. The control of the technogenic radionuclides accumulation level in the ichthyofauna is an important link in ensuring human security.Intention. To analyze the long-term data on the content of long-lived technogenic radionuclides 90Sr and 137Cs in the ichthyofauna of the Ob-Irtysh river system for the period from 2004 to 2016 and Beloyarsky pond for the period from 1977 to 2018.Methodology. Fish as a food product was assessed according to two criteria: a) permissible levels of specific activity of radionuclides (SanPiN 2.3.2.1078-01); b) using the indicator of conformity B and the uncertainty of its definition В (GOST 32161-2013 and GOST 32163-2013).Results and Discussion. Fish of all species that live in the river Tetcha, is not suitable for food use according to the criteria of SanPiN 2.3.2.1078-01, GOST 32161-2013 and GOST 32163-2013. The fish of the Ob-Irtysh river system, the habitat of which is located outside the Tetcha, meets the requirements for fish products. In the period from 1977 to 1989 in the Beloyarsk pond the accumulations of technogenic radionuclides in fish in quantities exceeding sanitary and hygienic standards were possible. Currently, the fish of the Beloyarsky pond fully complies with the sanitary and hygienic requirements for the radiation factor and is safe for human consumption.Conclusion. In the ponds exposed to the atomic energy enterprises, it is necessary to continuously monitor the content of long-lived technogenic radionuclides in fish and assess their amount in accordance with the requirements of SanPiN 2.3.2.1078-01 and using the conformity indicator В and the uncertainty of its determination В. 


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