SUBJECT: AJCN Apr, 2016 from Roc Nutrition Investigator
Notes from AJCN reinforcing what is known:
FOR ADULTS: There is no doubt that interest in vitamin D has burgeoned over the past few decades. Between 1995 and 2015, annual peer-reviewed, vitamin D–related publications have quadrupled. Within the European Union (EU), the investigators found that 13% of individuals had 25(OH)D concentrations <30 nmol/L and 40% had concentrations <50 nmol/L. It has a relatively short half-life. Of note, the Institute of Medicine’s RDA for vitamin D of 600–800 IU/d in adults assumed minimal sun exposure. [But that was in 2011, and now Chair of the vitamin D committee recommends 2,000IU/d of vitamin D.]
Yogurt reduces risk of diabetes. This dose-response meta-analysis of observational studies suggests a possible role for dairy foods, particularly yogurt, in the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Intake of whole grains is associated with 25% lower risk of myocardial infarction: the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort. Rye bread (in men and women) and oatmeal (in men) were associated with significantly lower risk of myocardial infarction, whereas no significant association was shown for whole-grain bread, crispbread, and wheat.
In this large prospective cohort of French middle-aged women, participants with greater flavonol, anthocyanin, and polymeric flavonoid intakes and greater total flavonoid intake were less likely to develop hypertension.
FOR MATURE: There is abundant evidence that those with serum vitamin B-12 concentrations in the “low-normal” range (150–300 pmol/L) may, but not necessarily will, suffer cognitive impairment that can usually be corrected by vitamin B-12 supplementation. Subjects with vitamin B-12 in the bottom tertile showed twice the rate of atrophy (1.05%/y) as those in the other tertiles (0.51%/y). Damage to microstructure of the hippocampus in MRI has previously been shown to be related to memory impairment, but this fine-structural analysis is the first to associate such subtle structural changes with vitamin B-12 status.
FOR PARENTS: Temperament is heritable. Heritability estimates for most dimensions of temperament typically fall in the range of 0.20–0.50 (8), although they are sometimes higher.
Parents influence the development of child eating patterns through the genes they transmit and the home environments they provide (1). Both are important and, as a general rule, neither should be discounted when striving to understand individual differences in how children eat. This holds true for eating in the absence of hunger (2), satiety responsiveness and food cue responsiveness (3), 24-h dietary intake (4), and food neophobia (i.e., fear of new foods).
Lower maternal n–3 PUFA concentrations and higher n–6 PUFA concentrations during pregnancy are associated with higher body fat and abdominal fat in childhood at the median age of 6.0 y.
FOR WEIGHT WATCHERS: When it comes to obesity, genes contribute to genetic predisposition rather than genetic determinism. Those carrying 1 of 2 copies of the obesity-predisposing allele A tend to lose a greater amount of weight when exposed to a diet/lifestyle intervention.
Greater intake of high-fat dairy products, but not intake of low-fat dairy products, was associated with less weight gain. Greater consumption of total dairy products may be of importance in the prevention of weight gain in middle-aged and elderly women who are initially normal weight.
This study in just 10 young men showed that compared with depletions by exercise alone, acute caloric restriction results in rapid changes in appetite that result in compensatory eating, which may initially dissuade potential success in weight-loss efforts.
FOR PUBLIC POLICY: This study provides benchmark data on the prevalence of undernutrition, including more than half a million patients. One out of 7 patients was scored as undernourished. For geriatrics, oncology, gastroenterology, and internal medicine, this ratio was even greater (1 out of 3–4). Hospital stay was 1.4 d longer among undernourished patients than among those who were well nourished.
LINK to this month’s Table of Contents for AJCN where you can read all abstracts
– Roc, Nutrition Investigator
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