Flavor enhancement of food as a stimulant for food intake in elderly people

It is often speculated that the age related decline in taste and smell performance can add to the decreased food intake among elderly by causing a change in liking of food. Flavor enhancement (by adding a taste and/or an odor to enhance or intensify the flavor of the food) has been suggested to counteract for the diminished taste and smell performance in order to increase liking and subsequently intake among elderly people. However, there is no clear relationship between an impaired taste and smell functioning and flavor enhancement. In addition, the results of studies on the effect of flavor enhancement on intake are inconsistent. In this thesis we investigated the effect of flavor enhancement on liking and/or food intake in elderly people and the relationship between an altered taste and/or smell performance and liking of flavor-enhanced foods. When flavor enhancement is used as an approach to stimulate intake, it is important to know how elderly respond to a daily repeated exposure of a food. We first examined the effect of repeated exposure to fruit drinks with different sweet intensities on intake, pleasantness and boredom in young and non-institutionalized elderly adults. Second, the relationship between an impaired taste and smell performance and the liking and intake of tomato soup enhanced with MSG (0.12%) and celery powder (3 g) was studied. Third, the effect of flavor enhancement on liking and intake has been examined in nursing home elderly people that received MSG (0.3%) and/or flavors (700 mg) sprinkled over the protein component of their hot meal during 16 weeks. As last, to study the effect of a determined optimal preferred amount of MSG on food intake, we added 0.5% MSG (optimal amount) to mashed potatoes and 2% MSG to spinach and ground beef and measured the intake of these foods among institutionalized elderly. The results showed that the elderly experienced no increase in boredom and pleasantness after daily repeated exposure to fruit juices. Elderly with an impaired taste and/or smell functioning did not show an increase in liking and intake of the flavor-enhanced soup. Thus, no relationship was established between an impaired chemosensory performance and flavor enhancement. Flavor enhancement also did not increase liking and energy intake of the hot meal after 16 weeks nor did an optimal preferred amount of MSG increase intake of mashed potatoes, spinach and ground beef. A standardized flavor enhancement of foods did not prove an effective approach to increase food intake in frail elderly people. Therefore we reviewed the literature to obtain a recent picture on the causes of taste and smell loss in the elderly and to examine if the available methods to measure these losses are adequate. Results of the review showed that elderly are a heterogeneous group with various degrees of taste and smell loss and that the applied methods can distinguish the variations. This result implies a more individual, tailored taste and/or flavor enhancement of foods when it is part of a treatment or used in the prevention of undernutrition. We proposed a future strategy for flavor enhancement of foods in which we embedded the results of this review. </p

De terugkeer van Alledaags Racisme

In recent societal debates on racism in the Netherlands, cultural anthropologist Philomena Essed has become one of the key faces of Dutch research on racism. Over three decades ago, Essed published a monograph entitled Alledaags Racisme (Everyday Racism), which gave rise to substantial debate within and beyond academia on the existence of racism – especially of a more implicit, everyday variation – in the Netherlands. For the first time since 1984, Alledaags Racisme is granted a new edition and has arguably only gained in relevance in a time when issues regarding race-ethnicity are increasingly politicized (e.g. the ‘Black Pete’ debate; ethno-racial profiling by police forces). Discussing – but also going beyond – this debate, this article reports a conversation between Julian Schaap and Essed on contemporary everyday racism, the sociology of race-ethnicity, and the epistemology and methodology of research that is distinctly political

Coronary arterial findings after accidental death immediately after successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

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Natasja Essed: Flavor enhancement of food as a stimulant for food intake in elderly people

bespreking proefschrift Natasja Essed: Flavor enhancement of food as a stimulant for food intake in elderly people Met het stijgen van de leeftijd gaan mensen vaak minder eten. Dat geldt zowel voor ouderen die zelfstandig wonen als voor bewoners van een verzorgings- of verpleeghuis. Het hiermee gepaarde gewichtsverlies is een bron van zorg omdat het bijdraagt aan een slechte gezondheid en een lagere levensverwachting

Transmission of ultrasonic contrast through the lungs

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Characterization of digestive protease activity in the bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The digestive proteases of bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus, 1758) were studied. Protease activity in stomach extracts showed two optima, at pH 2.0 and 3.5. Optimum activity for intestinal proteases was found at pH 10.0 and 12.0. Protease activity in stomach extracts was found to be stable at several pH, except for pH 12.0. Alkaline protease activity of intestine extracts was highly sensitive to acidic pH. Optimal temperatures found were 50 ºC for acid proteases and 60 ºC for alkaline proteases. The use of specific protease inhibitors indicated that the main presence of acid proteases was in stomach extracts, and serine proteases in intestine extracts. Active fractions in extracts were identified with SDS-PAGE.Se estudió la actividad proteasa digestiva de Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus, 1758). Se encontraron dos óptimos de pH, tanto para la actividad proteasa ácida de los extractos estomacales (2,0 y 3,5) como para la actividad proteasa alcalina de los intestinales (10,0 y 12,0). La primera se mantuvo muy estable en un rango amplio de pH, a excepción de pH muy alcalinos (12,0). Por su parte, la actividad proteasa alcalina se vio afectada por pH muy ácidos. Los óptimos de temperatura se determinaron en 50 y 60 ºC para la actividad proteasa ácida y alcalina, respectivamente. Mediante el uso de inhibidores de proteasa se comprobó la presencia de proteasas aspárticas en los extractos estomacales y de serin-proteasas en los intestinales. La realización de zimogramas permitió identificar las distintas fracciones con actividad proteolítica presentes en cada extracto.Instituto Español de Oceanografí