Dietary combination of soy with a probiotic or prebiotic food significantly reduces total and LDL cholesterol in mildly hypercholesterolaemic subjects

Objective: We hypothesized that a dietary combination of soy with either a probiotic (yoghurt) or a prebiotic (resistant starch) would result in enhanced lipid-lowering effects compared with a control soy diet, possibly via improvements in isoflavone bioavailability. Subjects: Mildly hypercholesterolaemic subjects (men and post-menopausal women) older than 45 years were recruited via the local media. Thirty-six subjects commenced the study; five withdrew. Results: Soy+probiotic significantly decreased total cholesterol (4.72.0%; P=0.038) and soy+prebiotic significantly decreased total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (5.51.6%; P=0.003 and 7.32.2%; P=0.005, respectively). The bioavailabilities of daidzein, genistein or equol were not affected by probiotic or prebiotic consumption or associated with lipid changes. Conclusion: Dietary combination of soy with either a probiotic or a prebiotic resulted in significant lipid lowering, not related to isoflavone bioavailability

A \u27slow pace of life\u27 in Australian old-endemic passerine birds is not accompanied by low basal metabolic rates

Life history theory suggests that species experiencing high extrinsic mortality rates allocate more resources toward reproduction relative to self-maintenance and reach maturity earlier (\u27fast pace of life\u27) than those having greater life expectancy and reproducing at a lower rate (\u27slow pace of life\u27). Among birds, many studies have shown that tropical species have a slower pace of life than temperate-breeding species. The pace of life has been hypothesized to affect metabolism and, as predicted, tropical birds have lower basal metabolic rates (BMR) than temperate-breeding birds. However, many temperate-breeding Australian passerines belong to lineages that evolved in Australia and share \u27slow\u27 life-history traits that are typical of tropical birds. We obtained BMR from 30 of these \u27old-endemics\u27 and ten sympatric species of more recently arrived passerine lineages (derived from Afro-Asian origins or introduced by Europeans) with \u27faster\u27 life histories. The BMR of \u27slow\u27 temperate-breeding old-endemics was indistinguishable from that of new-arrivals and was not lower than the BMR of \u27fast\u27 temperate-breeding non-Australian passerines. Old-endemics had substantially smaller clutches and longer maximal life spans in the wild than new arrivals, but neither clutch size nor maximum life span was correlated with BMR. Our results suggest that low BMR in tropical birds is not functionally linked to their \u27slow pace of life\u27 and instead may be a consequence of differences in annual thermal conditions experienced by tropical versus temperate species