AJCN May, 2009 – SUMMARY – Last nutrition notes for May. Read details with links at http://www.beloit.edu/nutrition/ln/ln09mayajcn

REDUCE YOUR RISK FOR DISEASE
9. To reduce your risk for heart disease, polyunsaturated fats PUFA are best, then monounsaturates MUFA, worst is saturated fat
2. Fish oil lowers LDL and risk of heart disease. They also reduce ventricular arrhythmias.
4. Vitamin D reduces heart risk
11. Colorectal cancer risk reduced up to 24% by fruits and vegetables
12. Western diet and genetic predisposition can double risk of developing diabetes
8. Well-done meat contributes to colon cancer

OBESITY CONTROL
3. Sugar-sweetened beverages are major contribution to obesity.
6. High fiber breakfast reduces caloric intake at breakfast and lunch

STAY HEALTHY WHEN OLDER
|7. When older, your body may not let you know that you really need to eat – The impaired response of these hunger regulatory hormones with age might contribute to the mechanisms of anorexia associated with aging.
13. BCAAs do not increase muscles or strength in elderly men
5. Adults over 64 may need nearly 2,000 IU of vitamin D every day

HEALTHY BABIES
1. Exclusive breastfeeding is best
10. In developed nations, fully breastfed infants probably get plenty of iron

Symposium: Early Risk Determinants and Later Health Outcomes
A. Introduction -This is a quest to consolidate current knowledge on the early determinants of maternal and child health.
B. Diet must have enough choline, folate, methionine – A number of syndromes in humans can be caused by defective epigenetic regulation, including Rett syndrome.
C. Obese parents likely to have obese children – The familial risk ratio for childhood obesity when a parent is obese reaches >2.5.
D. Formula feeding contributes to obesity

DETAILS –
1. Exclusive breastfeeding is best – Notwithstanding the HIV/AIDS epidemic ravaging sub-Saharan Africa, exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for at least the first 6 mo of life remains the cornerstone of child survival.

2. Fish oil lowers LDL and risk of heart disease. They also reduce ventricular arrhythmias.

3. Sugar-sweetened beverages are major contribution to obesity. Conclusions: These data support recommendations to limit liquid calorie intake among adults and to reduce SSB consumption as a means to accomplish weight loss or avoid excess weight gain.

4. Vitamin D reduces heart risk – Conclusions: The results indicate that a vitamin D supplement of 83 µg/d does not adversely affect weight loss and is able to significantly improve several cardiovascular disease risk markers in overweight subjects with inadequate vitamin D status participating in a weight-reduction program.

5. Adults over 64 may need nearly 2,000 IU of vitamin D every day – Conclusion: To ensure that the vitamin D requirement is met by the vast majority (>97.5%) of adults aged ≥64 y during winter, between 7.9 and 42.8 µg [320 to 1,700 IU] vitamin D/d is required

6. High fiber breakfast reduces caloric intake at breakfast and lunch – Conclusions: A HighFiber breakfast cereal contributes to a cumulative reduction in breakfast and lunch energy intake, possibly due to its high satiety value per kilocalorie. A short-term benefit of the HF cereal, compared with LowFfiber cereal, was lower plasma glucose concentration before and immediately after lunch.

7. When older, your body may not let you know that you really need to eat – Conclusions: Advanced age determines a poorer ghrelin postprandial recuperation phase, a reduced CCK postprandial response, and an exaggerated postprandial insulin release. A loss of ghrelin prandial rhythm is present in old frail persons. The impaired response of these hunger regulatory hormones with age might contribute to the mechanisms of anorexia associated with aging.

8. Well-done meat contributes to colon cancer – Background: Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCAs), which arise from cooking meat and fish at high temperatures, may increase the risk of colorectal adenomas…[Relative risk increases about 50%]

9. To reduce your risk for heart disease, polyunsaturated fats PUFA are best, then monounsaturates MUFA, worst is saturated fat – Background: Saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake increases plasma LDL-cholesterol concentrations; therefore, intake should be reduced to prevent coronary heart disease (CHD)…Conclusion: The associations suggest that replacing SFAs with PUFAs rather than MUFAs or carbohydrates prevents CHD over a wide range of intakes.

10. In developed nations, fully breastfed infants probably get plenty of iron – Results: The percentages of infants with Iron deficiency (ID) were 6% in Sweden, 17% in Mexico, 13–25% in Honduras, and 12–37% in Ghana. The percentages with iron deficiency anemia were 2% in Sweden, 4% in Mexico, 5–11% in Honduras, and 8–16% in Ghana.

11. Colorectal cancer risk reduced up to 24% by fruits and vegetables

12. Western diet and genetic predisposition can double risk of developing diabetes – Conclusion: Genetic predisposition may synergistically interact with a Western dietary pattern in determining diabetes risk in men.

13. BCAAs do not increase muscles or strength in elderly men [about 70 yrs old] – Conclusion: Long-term leucine supplementation (7.5 g/d) does not augment skeletal muscle mass or strength and does not improve glycemic control or the blood lipid profile in healthy elderly men age of 71 ± 4 y.

Early Risk Determinants and Later Health Outcomes: Implications for Research Prioritization and the Food Supply

A. Introduction – This is a quest to consolidate current knowledge on the early determinants of maternal and child health outcomes related to obesity, cardiovascular disease risk, and neurodevelopment.
B. Diet must have enough choline, folate, methionine – During critical periods in development, dietary methyl-group intake (choline, methionine, and folate) can alter DNA and histone methylation, which results in lifelong changes in gene expression. .. A number of syndromes in humans can be caused by defective epigenetic regulation, including Rett syndrome.
C. Obese parents likely to have obese children – The familial risk ratio for childhood obesity when a parent is obese reaches >2.5. ..It is possible that the prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing across generations as a result of positive assortative mating with obese husbands and wives contributing more obese offspring than normal-weight parents.
D. Formula feeding contributes to obesity – obesity risk at school age was reduced by 15–25% with early breastfeeding compared with formula feeding. We proposed that breastfeeding protects against later obesity by reducing the occurrence of high weight gain in infancy and that one causative factor is the lower protein content of human milk compared with most infant formula (the early protein hypothesis).