Glial Modulation of Energy Balance: The Dorsal Vagal Complex Is No Exception

The avoidance of being overweight or obese is a daily challenge for a growing number of people. The growing proportion of people suffering from a nutritional imbalance in many parts of the world exemplifies this challenge and emphasizes the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate nutritional balance. Until recently, research on the central regulation of food intake primarily focused on neuronal signaling, with little attention paid to the role of glial cells. Over the last few decades, our understanding of glial cells has changed dramatically. These cells are increasingly regarded as important neuronal partners, contributing not just to cerebral homeostasis, but also to cerebral signaling. Our understanding of the central regulation of energy balance is part of this (r)evolution. Evidence is accumulating that glial cells play a dynamic role in the modulation of energy balance. In the present review, we summarize recent data indicating that the multifaceted glial compartment of the brainstem dorsal vagal complex (DVC) should be considered in research aimed at identifying feeding-related processes operating at this level.

NUTRITIONAL STATUS IDENTIFICATION AND EATING HABITS OF A REPRESENTATIVE GROUP OF PREGNANT WOMEN

There are special nutritional requirements in pregnancy, in which the intake of nutrients exerts its action both on the woman and the conception product. Therefore, the balance and diversity are the key of a proper nutrition during the pregnancy. Combining food categories is the best way to ensure nutritional balance during pregnancy period. A market research was performed on a representative sample at national level of 120 persons, in order to identify the nutritional status of pregnant women in this group. The market research highlighted the diet structure of the studied group, the categories of foods consumed weekly by the group members, as well as their frequency of consumption. The results of the study indicated a varied diet of pregnant women, but the frequency of consumption should be reviewed for certain food categories, thus: increased for: milk and dairy products, fish, oily fruits; lower, in fatty foods and salt.

Children’s Diet during the Early Stages of the Nutritional Transition. The Foundlings in the Hospital of Valencia (Spain), 1852–1931

The nutritional transition brought about profound changes in the nutrition of the European population in the 19th and 20th centuries. The predominant consumption of cereals gave way to kilocalorie-, protein-, vitamin- and mineral-rich diets that involved a greater intake of animal products. However, not all population groups underwent this transition at the same pace; socio-economic conditions, sex and age led to important inequalities. This article uses institutional sources to analyse the nutrition of children during the early stages of the nutritional transition and to compare it with that of other age groups (adult psychiatric patients). The study examines the average diets and nutritional balance of foundlings in the Hospital General de Valencia from 1852 to 1931. The main conclusion of the study is that, throughout the period under study, foundlings were exposed to a poor, traditional diet, characterized by structural deficits and imbalances. This may have affected their physical growth, health and biological wellbeing in adulthood, and demonstrates that the nutritional transition was anything but a homogeneous process.

Food Preferences of Patients with Citrin Deficiency

Citrin deficiency is characterized by a wide range of symptoms from infancy through adulthood and presents a distinct preference for a diet composed of high protein, high fat, and low carbohydrate. The present study elucidates the important criteria by patients with citrin deficiency for food selection through detailed analysis of their food preferences. The survey was conducted in 70 citrin-deficient patients aged 2–63 years and 55 control subjects aged 2–74 years and inquired about their preference for 435 food items using a scale of 1–4 (the higher, the more favored). The results showed that the foods marked as “dislike” accounted for 36.5% in the patient group, significantly higher than the 16.0% in the controls. The results also showed that patients clearly disliked foods with 20–24 (% of energy) or less protein, 45–54% (of energy) or less fat, and 30–39% (of energy) or more carbohydrate. Multiple regression analysis showed carbohydrates had the strongest influence on patients’ food preference (β = −0.503). It also showed female patients had a stronger aversion to foods with high carbohydrates than males. The protein, fat, and carbohydrate energy ratio (PFC) of highly favored foods among patients was almost the same as the average PFC ratio of their daily diet (protein 20–22: fat 47–51: carbohydrates 28–32). The data strongly suggest that from early infancy, patients start aspiring to a nutritional balance that can compensate for the metabolism dissonance caused by citrin deficiency in every food.

International Obesity Day

Today's pace of life forces people to eat quickly and on the go, neglecting a full dinner with hot soup, and makes them buy ready-made meals due to the unwillingness to cook on their own. Why waste time going to the store and standing by the stove, when you can have a quick bite at the nearest cafe or buy convenience foods? We even bring children to fast food places, again due to the lack of time, sometimes forgetting how much we harm the body with such products. In these conditions, no one counts calories or analyzes the nutritional balance of this diet. We do not think that the frequent consumption of hamburgers, hot dogs, pies and fries quickly causes metabolic disorders and, as a result, leads to the development of obesity. Few consider obesity to be a disease, meanwhile this pathology is rapidly becoming younger: if earlier overweight children used to be, rather, an exception to the rule and became objects of ridicule by their peers, now, due to a sedentary lifestyle and excessive enthusiasm for gadgets, more and more children and adolescents are becoming overweight.

Model for determining nutritional and non-nutritional limitations of Grande Naine banana in the Brazilian semiarid region

ABSTRACT Plant nutrition is essential in attaining higher yields; however, non-nutritional factors play a major role in limiting crop yield. This study aimed to model and determined nutritional and non-nutritional limitations of Grande Naine banana grown in Ceará and Bahia states, Brazil, based on nutritional balance and equilibrium. The data used in this study were collected between 2010 and 2017 from two farms, located in Missão Velha, Ceará (7° 35’ 90” S and 39° 21’ 17” W, and 442 m of altitude), and Ponto Novo, Bahia (10º 51’ 46” S and 40º 08’ 01” W, and 342 m of altitude). Plots with yields greater than the average plus 0.5 standard deviations were defined as high-yielding populations (HYP) and used as a reference population to establish the norms. Plots with yields below this limit, low-yielding populations (LYP), were used for nutritional diagnosis. The database was divided into four. The first and second databases, from the area located in Missão Velha, contained 46 samples from a reference population with a yield greater than 58.84 t ha-1 per year, and 104 samples from an LYP, respectively. The third and four databases, from the area located in Ponto Novo, contained 19 samples from a reference population with a yield greater than 76.12 t ha-1 per year, and 46 samples from an LYP, respectively. Nutritional factors limited Grande Naine banana yield in Ceará and Bahia by 11.17 and 14.79%, while non-nutritional factors limited by 30.11 and 29.41%, respectively. In Grande Naine banana, non-nutritional factors are more yield-limiting than nutritional factors.

Identification of Salty Dietary Patterns of the Japanese Macroregion

Objective. The traditional Japanese dietary pattern, “Washoku,” is considered to provide an ideal nutritional balance. However, it tends to have a high salt intake. To reduce population-level salt intake, it is important to review the overall dietary patterns over a wide area. Methods. To identify dietary patterns with high salt intake, partial least squares regression analysis was conducted using population-based household survey data from 52 cities. Annual salt consumption was set as the target variable, and the annual purchase weight of 109 foods was set as the explanatory variable. Result. At least three dietary patterns (traditional, urban, and local) accounted for more than 90% of the variation in salt consumption and 29% of the explanatory variables (food purchases). Traditional patterns explained the salt consumption and regional differences in energy and protein consumption; however, their relationship to fat consumption was weak. The results reconfirmed that “Washoku” has an ideal nutritional balance but has high salt intake. The distribution of scores for traditional Japanese food patterns was high in northeast Japan and low in southwest Japan, with a geographical gradient. This pattern is thought to have formed over a long period of time because of the influence of environmental factors, such as local climate.

The Contribution of Up-Cycled Food Waste to a Balanced Diet of Low-Income Households

This paper focuses on the contribution of an upcycling food organization to a balanced diet, which rescues and redistributes fresh or freshly cooked food to low-income households. To determine the nutritional balance of food hampers provided by our case study organization, according to the Portuguese food guidelines, we have weighed all items of food hampers in three weighing rounds over a period of four months. The results suggest that upcycled foods can contribute to a more balanced diet in terms of “Potato, Cereal and Cereal Products”, “Vegetables”, “Meat, Fish, Seafood and Eggs” and “Fruits”, both according to the Portuguese Food Wheel and compared to that of the general Portuguese population. The novelty of this study is the evaluation of the contribution to the balanced diet of the population in a vulnerable situation, of perishable foods such as freshly cooked, in traditional restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and hotels, or is naturally fresh (fruit and vegetables food aid services) up-cycled by a food aid organization.

Reference values and diagnostic ranges to assess the degree of nutritional balance for cacao plants

Aim of study: The interpretation of results of leaf analysis can be performed by nutritional balance methods, such as Kenworthy method (KW) and diagnostic levels of contents, whose achievements for cacao constitute the main objective of this work.Area of study: Bahia, Brazil.Material and methods: The database covered cacao trees in two cultivation systems: agroforestry systems and full sun. The reference populations were composed of plots with relative yield higher than the average plus half a standard deviation of each of these cultivation systems, in addition to a combined population of both systems.Main results: The norms of the KW method were compared by the t test, for mean, with 72% concordance; and F, for variance, 82% concordant. The diagnoses made based on specific norms per cultivation system and the general norm agreed on average of 91%. Potential response curves were obtained as a function of the Balanced Indices of Kenworthy (BIK) for each nutrient, by the boundary-line method, in addition to sufficiency ranges for BIK and for leaf contents for cacao.Research highlights: It is concluded that the general KW norms associated with the original Kenworthy ranges or the specific ranges for cacao are efficient in the nutritional diagnosis of cacao.