Nutrition

HEADLINES – Here are headlines based on the November Journal of Nutrition.  Summaries are at http://www.beloit.edu/nutrition/ln/ln08novjnutr where there are links to the full  articles published this month.
*Build and protect muscles with branched chain amino acids in whey (ref 3), protein/carb snacks (ref 1) during workouts, and antioxidants vitamin C and E (ref 2).
*For women – zinc and iron combined better for anemia (ref 4), get arachadonic acid AND fish oil when pregnant  (ref 5).
*Green tea aids weight loss (ref 7)  and protects against arthritis (ref 6).
*With diabetes (ref 8)  or heart disease risk (ref 9), there is a special need for plenty of B vitamins.
*Tocotrienol (ref 11), garlic  (ref 10) prevent cancer, but French fries  (ref 12) encourage it.
*More highlights
13. A nutritional way to prevent ulcers
14. Adult requirements for essential amino acids higher than current Daily Values indicate
15. Spending more on fruits and vegetables helps children under five
16. Dieting during influenza is dangerous

SYNOPSIS OF ARTICLES THIS MONTH:
Before getting to J. Nutriton, here’s an important story in Science17 October 2008, page 365-67:
Diabetes and blood sugar – “Paradoxical Effects of Tightly Controlled Blood Sugar.” – Apparently how diabetes, blood sugar, and insulin cause the harm associated with diabetes is becoming controversial. This article makes clear that taking antioxidants – vitamin C and E – and antiinflammatories – fish oil – are each very important to prevent the damage associated with obesity and diabetes. So if you are overweight, have blood sugar issues, or diabetes, please speak with your doctor and take vitamin C 500 mg twice a day, vitamin E 400 IU daily, and 2 g of fish oil daily.

Build and protect muscles with branched chain amino acids in whey, protein/carb snacks during workouts, and antioxidants vitamin C and E.
1. Protein/Carbohydrate consumption during 2 hours of exercise builds muscles much better than just water – We investigated the effect of carbohydrate and protein hydrolysate ingestion on whole-body and muscle protein synthesis during a combined endurance and resistance exercise session and subsequent overnight recovery. Twenty healthy men were studied in the evening after consuming a standardized diet throughout the day. Subjects participated in a 2-h exercise session during which beverages containing both carbohydrate (0.15 g·kg–1·h–1) and a protein hydrolysate (0.15 g·kg–1·h–1) (C+P, n = 10) or water only (W, n = 10) were ingested. ..During subsequent overnight recovery, whole-body protein synthesis was 19% greater in the C+P group than in the W group…We conclude that, even in a fed state, protein and carbohydrate supplementation stimulates muscle protein synthesis during exercise. Ingestion of protein with carbohydrate during and immediately after exercise improves whole-body protein synthesis but does not further augment muscle protein synthesis rates during 9 h of subsequent overnight recovery.
2 . Getting antioxidants with branched chain amino acids builds muscle better -Aging is characterized by a progressive loss of muscle mass that could be partly explained by a defect in the anabolic effect of food intake. We previously reported that this defect resulted from a decrease in the protein synthesis response to leucine in muscles …This defect was reversed when old rats were supplemented with antioxidants.
3. Whey protein best for muscle maintenance and growth, even during bedrest – We tested the relative ability of rapidly digested whey and slowly digested casein to stimulate net whole-body protein synthesis during prolonged physical inactivity. ..8 young male volunteers for 14 days bedrest…The rapidly digested whey protein was more efficient than the slowly digested casein in increasing postprandial net protein synthesis during short-term bed rest.

For women – zinc and iron combined better for anemia, get arachadonic acid AND fish oil when pregnant.
4. Taking zinc with iron supplements protects young women who are anemic – Iron supplementation impairs antioxidant status, whereas zinc is recognized as an antioxidant micronutrient…In conclusion, supplementing young women with both zinc and iron protects zinc-related antioxidant indicators previously impaired by iron supplementation without impairment of iron status.
5. Both omega-6 AND omega-3 fats are necessary in supplements for optimal breast milk for pregnant women – Lactation hampers normalization of the maternal arachidonic acid (AA) status, which is reduced after pregnancy and can further decline by the presently recommended increased consumption of [fish oil]. This may be unfavorable for breast-fed infants, because they also require an optimum supply of AA…We thus concluded that the consumption by lactating women of AA in addition to extra [fish oil] dose dependently increased the AA concentration of their milk total lipids.

Green tea aids weight loss and protects against arthritis.
6. Green tea protects against arthritis -Green tea, a product of the dried leaves of Camellia sinensis, is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. The polyphenolic compounds from green tea (PGT) possess antiinflammatory properties. ..Rats consumed green tea (2–12 g/L) in drinking water for 1–3 wk and then were injected with Mtb to induce disease…Thus, green tea induced changes in arthritis-related immune responses. We suggest further systematic exploration of dietary supplementation with PGT as an adjunct nutritional strategy for the management of RA.
7. Green Tea promotes weight loss – Green tea (GT) and its components have been shown to possess antiobesity properties and the corresponding mechanisms of action are being investigated, given the epidemic proportions of obesity incidence…GT as the sole drinking beverage…These results suggest new mechanisms for GT on body weight and highlight its potential benefit to prevent or treat obesity and the metabolic syndrome.

With diabetes or heart disease risk, there is a special need for plenty of B vitamins.
8. Need for B-vitamins increased by diabetes – [Vitamins B6, B9, and B12 lower homocysteine levels and assist methylation of DNA] Numerous perturbations of methyl group and homocysteine metabolism have been documented as an outcome of diabetes. It has also been observed that there is a transition from hypo- to hyperhomocysteinemia in diabetes, often concurrent with the development of nephropathy…These results suggest that diabetes-induced perturbations of methyl group and homocysteine metabolism lead to functional methyl deficiency, resulting in the hypomethylation of DNA in a tissue-specific fashion.
9. Need B-vitamins for HDL to help prevent heart disease – High plasma homocysteine concentrations have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, whereas plasma HDL concentration is inversely correlated to such disorders. ..Our findings suggest that hyperhomocysteinemic individuals have dysfunctional HDL particles with attenuated antiatherogenic activity and may represent a novel explanation for the increased risk of cardiovascular events in these individuals.

Tocotrienol, garlic prevent cancer, but French fries encourage it.
10. Garlic provides antioxidants and more to kill cancer cells – Much evidence in the last few years suggests that the antiproliferative effects of various garlic secondary metabolites in in vitro experimental systems are due to redox-based mechanisms. In particular, sulfur-containing allyl compounds have been demonstrated to generate reactive oxygen species and to modify directly the redox state of specific reactive cysteines on protein surfaces.
11. Vitamin E-related tocotrienols inhibits cancer -Tocotrienol (T3), unsaturated vitamin E, has recently gained considerable attention as a potent antiangiogenic agent minimizing tumor growth, the exact intracellular mechanisms of which remain poorly understood. ..Overall, our results confirmed that T3 has an inhibitory effect on angiogenic factor secretion from cancer cells and revealed the possible mechanisms, providing new information about the antiangiogenic effects of T3.
12. French fries might cause cancer -Acrylamide is a probable human carcinogen that was detected in several heat-treated foods, such as French fries and crisps, in 2002. ..There were some significantly increased risks within subgroups stratified by obesity, nonoccupational physical activity, and age, factors that were a priori selected based on their capacity to modify cytochrome P4502E1 activity. Overall, acrylamide intake was not associated with colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, and esophageal cancer risk, but some subgroups deserve further attention.

More highlights
13. A nutritional way to prevent ulcers – The increasing emergence of Helicobacter pylori strains resistant to antibiotics may cause unsuccessful treatment. ..We explored the preventive and therapeutic potential of a combination of catechins and sialic acid on H. pylori-infected human gastric cells in vitro and in mice in vivo…Pretreatment with catechins/sialic acid completely prevented H. pylori infection and resulted in normal histology. Post-treatment with catechins/sialic acid decreased the bacterial load and gastritis score and eradicated up to 60% of H. pylori infections in a dose-dependent manner.
14. Adult requirements for essential amino acids higher than current Daily Value indicates -New estimates of the indispensable amino acid requirements of adult humans are much higher than previously thought and questions the adequacy of cereal-based diets of low protein quality. ..The contribution of the intestinal microbiota to body leucine input was estimated to be between 19 and 22% at the 1.25 EAR diet.
15. Spending more on fruits and vegetables helps children under five -The specific aims of this study were to examine the relationships between household food expenditures and under-5 child mortality among families in rural Indonesia…These findings suggest that lower under-5 child mortality is found in households that spend a greater proportion of income on plant foods and less on grain foods
16. Dieting during influenza is dangerous – Energy restriction (ER) without malnutrition extends lifespan in mice and postpones age-related changes in immunity. However, we have previously shown that aged (22 mo old) ER mice exhibit increased mortality, impaired viral clearance, and reduced natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity following influenza infection compared with aged mice that consumed food ad libitum (AL).