Microenvironmental Factors Modulating Tumor Lipid Metabolism: Paving the Way to Better Antitumoral Therapy

Metabolic reprogramming is one of the emerging hallmarks of cancer and is driven by both the oncogenic mutations and challenging microenvironment. To satisfy the demands of energy and biomass for rapid proliferation, the metabolism of various nutrients in tumor cells undergoes important changes, among which the aberrant lipid metabolism has gained increasing attention in facilitating tumor development and metastasis in the past few years. Obstacles emerged in the aspect of application of targeting lipid metabolism for tumor therapy, due to lacking of comprehensive understanding on its regulating mechanism. Tumor cells closely interact with stromal niche, which highly contributes to metabolic rewiring of critical nutrients in cancer cells. This fact makes the impact of microenvironment on tumor lipid metabolism a topic of renewed interest. Abundant evidence has shown that many factors existing in the tumor microenvironment can rewire multiple signaling pathways and proteins involved in lipid metabolic pathways of cancer cells. Hence in this review, we summarized the recent progress on the understanding of microenvironmental factors regulating tumor lipid metabolism, and discuss the potential of modulating lipid metabolism as an anticancer approach.

Restrictions on ultra-processed foods: challenge for compliance with World Trade Organization commitments

The health problems, due to obesity and overweight (NCD), which cross the countries worldwide faces the challenge of applying different measures and restrictions, and at the same time raises the question whether these measures and restrictions are compatible with WTO and other commitments. Nowadays trade restrictions should not be justified based only on the industry process but rather in the ingredients and quality of those food contents, when the critical nutrients ingredients exceed a healthy threshold. The justification for the restrictive measures of the SPS agreement has been applied both in food labelling formats and in other formats, to address NDCs and whether similar restrictions can be applied to ultra-processed foods, such as those that have been applied in the past to the tobacco consumption, without breaking commitments.

Objective Understanding of Front of Pack Warning Labels Among Mexican Children of Public Elementary Schools. A Randomized Experiment

Background. Warning Labels (WL) are a new approach which highlight excessive amounts of critical nutrients in processed foods or beverages in order to discourage consumption of unhealthful products. This study aimed to evaluate among Mexican school children, the objective understanding of traditional and numeric WL considered by the Mexican regulation. To identify the impact of cartoon characters in the objective understanding of the WL and, to test some communication strategies to facilitate the correct use of the WL.Methods. We carried out a randomized experiment in July of 2019 in public elementary schools Morelos, Mexico. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: 1) Nutrient Facts Panel (NF), 2) Nutrient Facts Panel with cartoon characters (NF+C), 3) Warning Labels (WL), and 4) Warning Labels with cartoon characters (WL+C). After allocation, children assigned to both WL groups (WL or WL+C), were randomly required to watch simultaneously two posters or a video explaining how to correctly interpret WLs. Logistic regression models adjusted by sex, age and cluster (school) were fitted.Results. The proportion of children correctly choosing the healthiest or the least healthy option was higher for WL groups (56.8%, 95%CI; 40.8-72.8) compared to all NF groups (24.3%, 95%CI; 20.4-28.3, p<0.05). The objective understanding of traditional WL was higher (28.7%, 95%CI: 22.8-35.4) than the numeric WL (19%, 95%CI: 14.2-25.0, p<0.05). For choosing the unhealthiest products, WL group responded correctly in a higher proportion when using traditional WL (58.7%, 95%CI: 36.4-81.1) in comparison to WL+C group (48.8%, 95%CI: 25.4-64.2, p<0.05). By tool of communication, the video was 2.23 times more helpful than the posters to the correct interpretation of the WL (p<0.05), being 2.41 times more helpful for choosing the healthiest item (p<0.05) and 1.57 for choosing the unhealthiest choice (p<0.05).Conclusions. In scholar Mexican children, WL were useful to identify easily and quickly healthier and unhealthier packaged products in comparison to NF. Importantly, numeric WL seemed to be as effective as WL to help children identify healthy and unhealthy products. Cartoons displayed on the packages reduced the objective understanding of the WL, especially for breakfast cereals and milks for which cartoons where perceived as the unhealthiest ones.

Nutritional Profile and the use "Whole Grains" Claims in Packaged Food in Brazil

Background: Although the nutrition claim “whole grains” can be found in packaged foods marketed in Brazil, the current legislation does not establish composition or labelling criteria to its use, which may confuse and misinform consumers and lead to inadequate food choices. Thus, the present study aims to assess the use of “whole grains” claims in food products marketed in Brazil, and to assess the nutritional profile of these products. Methods: We used data from 775 grain-based packaged foods collected in Brazil from April to July 2017. Using the INFORMAS’s protocol for food labelling, we estimated the prevalence of packaged foods with “whole grains” claims. The amount of whole grains was evaluated using the ingredients list. We compared the nutritional profile of the products with and without "whole grains" claims using the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) nutrient profile criteria. Results: Results show that about 19% of the assessed products had "whole grains" claims; of these, 35% did not have any whole grain among the top three ingredients. These products also had a high proportion of refined ingredients (e.g. refined flour and sugar) and were high in critical nutrients according to PAHO´s criteria. Conclusion: Our results showed the need to improve Brazilian food labeling regulation in order to determine thresholds for wholemeal flour content to allow foods to receive “whole grains” claim.

Knowledge of Vegetarian and Nonvegetarian Peruvian Dietitians about Vegetarianism at Different Stages of Life

Background: The vegetarian diet continues to gain recognition and popularity among people; however, few studies have considered the level of knowledge of professional dietitians about this dietary pattern. Objective: This study aimed to compare the level of knowledge of vegetarian and nonvegetarian Peruvian dietitians regarding vegetarianism at different life stages. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out. An online questionnaire based on the recommendations of the current dietary guidelines was administered to more than 400 registered dietitians. Of which, a total of 179 decided to participate in the study: 72 vegetarians and 107 nonvegetarians. The data were analyzed using the chi-square test, considering a significance level of 5%. Results: Women represented the largest proportion of the sample. The participants demonstrated a complete and exhaustive knowledge of the definition of vegetarian diets. Regarding the risks and benefits associated with vegetarianism, the largest proportion of those who got the correct answers were vegetarians. The percentage of correct answers selected for both groups regarding the critical nutrients were less than 50%. Only 17.6% identified the correct answer regarding the risk of eating disorders of vegetarianism. Conclusions: Dietitians did not demonstrate complete and comprehensive knowledge of the critical nutrients of vegetarianism and lack information on the risks of eating disorders from the vegetarian diet.

Nutritional potentialities of neem (Azadiracthaindica) plant parts as supplementary feed in ruminant production system

This study was conducted to determine and compare the nutritional value of plant parts of neem as supplementary feedin ruminant production systems. Fresh matured leaves, and bark of Neem (Azadirachta indica) were collected, air dried and analyzed for chemical] and phytochemical constituents namely saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids and tannins as well as in vitro gas production and Dry matter digestibility. Results showed that the proximate and fibre fractions composition as well as the concentration of phytochemicals differed (P< 0.05) across plant parts with a tolerable range of values that could supply critical nutrients needed to enhance ruminalmicrobial growth and fermentation. Crude protein contentswere highest in leaves (19.76%) with bark having the least values (7.20%), while fibre fractions and phytochemical constituents were highest in bark with least values observed in seeds. Kinetics of gas production differed (P < 0.05) among plant parts with the leaves showing a shorter lag time and higher rate of fermentation. Gas production of neem plant parts increased (P

Development and evaluation of a new dietary index assessing nutrient security by aggregating probabilistic estimates of the risk of nutrient deficiency in two French adult populations

Although micronutrient deficiencies affect 2 billion people worldwide, no index focusses on measuring the risk of overt nutrient deficiency. We aimed to develop an index that could capture the nutrient dimension of nutritional security, a nutrient security index (SecDiet), and evaluate its apparent validity. The SecDiet (range: 0-1) is based on the square-weighted average of the probabilities that the intake of 12 critical nutrients exceeds the threshold value associated with a risk of overt deficiency. Using adult populations from a French representative survey (INCA3, n=1,774) and a large cohort (NutriNet-Santé, n=104,382), the content and construct validity of the SecDiet was evaluated by estimating associations of the SecDiet with its components and with socio-demographic characteristics that are known to be associated with low micronutrient intakes and statuses. The SecDiet was high in the overall population (0.93±0.09 in INCA3) and markedly skewed towards 1 (i.e. lower risk of insufficient intake). It correlated positively with its 12 components (r=0.17-0.78, all Ps<0.001). The SecDiet was associated with monthly income (P=0.002), perception of financial situation, professional situation, food insufficiency and security statuses (all Ps<0.001) in the INCA3 population and with monthly income, professional situation, and level of education (all Ps<0.001) in the NutriNet-Santé population. Unlike a broader nutrient-based quality index taken as comparison, the SecDiet mean decreased and the tail of its distribution notably extended downwards in at-risk sub-populations, thus revealing its specific sensitivity. The SecDiet could be used to screen sub-groups or study the determinants of nutrient insecurity in large population surveys.

Evaluation of the Nutritional Quality of Processed Foods in Honduras: Comparison of Three Nutrient Profiles

Obesity is considered a global pandemic. Different countries have worked to implement front-of-package (FOP) labeling systems that define thresholds for critical nutrients (CN) as part of their public health policies. The objective of this study is to identify the proportion of Processed (PF) and Ultra-Processed (UPF) Foods marketed in Honduras, which meet or fall short of the criteria of three Nutrient Profile Models (NPM): PAHO (2016), Chile (2017) and the Central American Technical Regulation Proposal-Nutritional Warning Front Labeling (CATRP-NWFL 2017). This study is descriptive; 1009 products from 206 brands were collected nationwide. Descriptive statistics were performed. The mean CN compliance with the three models was 49.3% for sodium, 30.6% for sugars, 63.1% and 96% for saturated and trans fats. The PAHO and Chilean (NPM) similarly concentrated on the lower compliance with the established criteria, unlike the CATRP, which has less stringent criteria. This is the first assessment of CN content in PF and UPF in Honduras under three different NPMs. We highlight the importance of defining or adopting criteria for the implementation of NWFL as information for the consumer and thereby contribute to reducing the risks of obesity and related diseases.

Labeling and classification of breads, biscuits and toasts sold as wholegrain in Brazil

The objective of this study was to evaluate the labeling and classification of breads, biscuits and toasts declared as wholegrain and to compare them. The cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried in Uberaba, in 2016. Products sold in five supermarkets were classified as processed or ultra-processed according to the NOVA system, which considers the industrial processing employed. The Pan American Health Organization Nutritional Profile Model was used to classify products with excessive amounts of critical nutrients. The products were evaluated for the carbohydrate:fiber ratio recommended by the American Heart Association. A total of 147 products were analyzed: 99 biscuits, 36 breads and 12 toasts. The average number of ingredients in the formulations was 17.3±5.4, so that 100% of the products were classified as ultra-processed. The majority, 64.6%, did not present wholegrain flour as the first ingredient. The declaration of supplementary nutritional information on dietary fiber was present in 49% of the products and 100% complied with the mandatory requirements. Despite that, 53.7% presented excessive levels of sodium and 22.4% and 56.5% had excessive levels of total and saturated fat, respectively. For the criterion of carbohydrate:fiber ratio, 38.7% had a ratio of ≥10:1, mainly biscuits, which is undesirable. All biscuits, breads and toasts sold as "wholegrain" were ultra-processed, with excessive sodium content (breads and toast in general) and fats (most biscuits). Wholegrain flours only accounted for 35.4% of the products and half of the toasts, and most of the biscuits (66.7%) could not be considered a source of fiber.

Critical nutrients for brain development in infants and children

The UK Department of Health publishes detailed recommendations for supplements during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Are there potential risks of over-supplementing the maternal diet or to the infant through additional supplements, such as extra vitamins or fortified infant formula? This article will examine the necessary macro- and micronutrients, the best food sources for these and when the sensitive periods of high demand occur for brain development during pregnancy and post-delivery. It will also examine current public health recommendations for ante- and postnatal supplements, and how midwives and health visitors can tailor their advice towards the more vulnerable groups of women and children they serve.