Long-term strict raw food diet is associated with favourable plasma b-carotene and low plasma lycopene concentrations in Germans

Dietary carotenoids are associated with a reduced risk of chronic diseases. Raw food diets are predominantly plant-based diets that are practised with the intention of preventing chronic diseases by virtue of their high content of beneficial nutritive substances such as carotenoids. However, the benefit of a long-term adherence to these diets is controversial since little is known about their adequacy. Therefore, we investigated vitamin A and carotenoid status and related food sources in raw food diet adherents in Germany. Dietary vitamin A, carotenoid intake, plasma retinol and plasma carotenoids were determined in 198 (ninety-two male and 106 female) strict raw food diet adherents in a cross-sectional study. Raw food diet adherents consumed on average 95 weight% of their total food intake as raw food (approximately 1800 g/d), mainly fruits. Raw food diet adherents had an intake of 1301 retinol activity equivalents/d and 16·7 mg/d carotenoids. Plasma vitamin A status was normal in 82% of the subjects ($1·05mmol/l) and 63$0·88 mmol/l). In 77% of subjects the lycopene status was below the reference values for average healthy populations (,0·45mmol/l). Fat contained in fruits, vegetables and nuts and oil consumption was a significant dietary determinant of plasma carotenoid concentrations (b-carotene r 0·284; P,0·05; lycopene r 0·168; P¼0·024). Long-term raw food diet adherents showed normal vitamin A status and achieve favourable plasma b-carotene concentrations as recommended for chronic disease prevention, but showed low plasma lycopene levels. Plasma carotenoids in raw food adherents are predicted mainly by fat intake

Criterios de calidad y evaluación: un instrumento de medición para el área de la lengua alemana

La Xarxa Universitària sobre Responsabilitat Social és una xarxa de més de 40 universitats d'Alemanya i Àustria establerta el 2009 que volen fer realitat i ampliar la seva responsabilitat social promovent sistemàticament la participació a la societat civil d'estudiants, professors i altres membres universitaris, vinculant-ho amb la seva missió educativa per influir activament en la societat i contribuir a la transferència mútua de coneixements. L'aprenentatge servei (ApS) és una manera de fer-ho. El 2018, un taller va iniciar una discussió entre representants del món acadèmic i de la societat civil. El focus era analitzar els criteris de qualitat de l’ApS. El grup va plantejar deu criteris diferents que proporcionen un marc de referència per a les diferents manifestacions de l’ApS a la comunitat. A partir d'aquests criteris, es van desenvolupar procediments i instruments adequats per oferir als actors orientació i suggeriments per a la implementació i avaluació dels projectes d’ApS.The University Network on Social Responsibility is a network of more than 40 universities in Germany and Austria established in 2009 that want to realise and expand their social responsibility by systematically promoting the civil society engagement of students, teachers, and other members of higher education, linking this with their educational mission and thus actively influencing society and contributing to the mutual transfer of knowledge. This can be done through the teaching-learning format of service learning (SL). In 2018, a workshop initiated a discussion between representatives of academia and civil society. The focus was the aspect of quality of SL. The group came up with ten different criteria which provide a frame of reference for the different manifestations of SL in the community. Based on these criteria, suitable procedures and instruments were developed to provide SL actors with orientation and suggestions for the implementation and evaluation of SL projects.La Red Universitaria sobre Responsabilidad Social es una red de más de 40 universidades en Alemania y Austria, establecida en 2009, que desean realizar y expandir su responsabilidad social promoviendo sistemáticamente la participación de la sociedad civil de estudiantes, docentes y otros miembros universitarios, vinculando con su misión educativa para influir activamente en la sociedad y contribuir a la transferencia mutua de conocimientos. Ello se puede hacer a través del aprendizaje-servicio (ApS). En 2018, un taller inició un debate entre representantes de la academia y la sociedad civil. El foco fue los aspectos de calidad del ApS. El grupo ideó diez criterios diferentes que proporcionan un marco de referencia para las diferentes manifestaciones de ApS en la comunidad. Con base en estos criterios, se desarrollaron procedimientos e instrumentos adecuados para proporcionar a los actores orientación y sugerencias para la implementación y evaluación de proyectos de ApS

German vegan study: Diet, life-style factors, and cardiovascular risk profile

Background/Aim: Evaluation of cardiovascular risk profile in 154 German vegans. Methods: Cross-sectional study, Germany. Study instruments: 2 FFQ, 2 questionnaires, analyses of fasting venous blood samples. Results: The total study population had a low BMI (mean: 22.3 kg/m2), a moderate blood pressure (mean: 120/75 mm Hg), an extremely low consumption of alcohol (mean: 0.77 g/day) and 96.8% were nonsmokers. Moderate physical activity (PAL) was reported by nearly 50%, whereas 22.7% declared to have a high PAL (>3 h/week). Median triacylglycerol (TG) was 0.81 mmol/l, total cholesterol (TC) was 4.33 mmol/l, HDL was 1.34 mmol/l. The mean TC/HDL-ratio was 3.3. Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) was 8.13 mg/dl, concentrations of >30 mg/dl were prevalent in 25% of the participants. In general, status of folate and pyridoxine were sufficient, while 49.7% showed cobalamin concentrations <150 pmol/l. Plasma homocysteine levels were slightly elevated (median: 12.5 µmol/l). Cobalamin concentration and duration of vegan nutrition were the main determinants of homocysteine in the total study population. Conclusion: Although TC and LDL concentrations were favorable, low HDL and elevated homocysteine and Lp(a) concentrations were unfavorable. Overall, these results confirm the notion that a vegan diet is deficient in vitamin B12, which may have an unfavorable effect on CHD risk

Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective

This Report has a number of inter-related general purposes. One is to explore the extent to which food, nutrition, physical activity, and body composition modify the risk of cancer, and to specify which factors are most important. To the extent that environmental factors such as food, nutrition, and physical activity influence the risk of cancer, it is a preventable disease. The Report specifies recommendations based on solid evidence which, when followed, will be expected to reduce the incidence of cancer

Dietary intake of vitamin B6 and concentration of vitamin B 6 in blood samples of German vegans

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the dietary vitamin B6 intake and determine the vitamin B6 concentration in blood samples of German vegans. Design and setting: Cross-sectional study with 33 examination sites all over Germany. Subjects: Ninety-three vegans (50 females) with a mean (± standard deviation (SD)) age of 43.7 ± 15.7 years who took no vitamin supplements. Methods: Dietary intake was assed using a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Erythrocyte aspartate aminotransferase activity coefficient (EAST-AC) was calculated as the ratio of stimulated (pyridoxal 5′-phosphate added) to unstimulated activity in blood samples that were provided after an overnight fast. Results: Mean ± SD vitamin B 6 intake was 2.83 ± 0.98 mg day-1 and mean ± SD protein intake was 56.6 ± 21.7 g day-1. Of the participants 4% showed vitamin B6 intakes lower than daily recommended intakes for Germany, 16% showed EAST-AC &gt; 1.85, and a further 58% showed EAST-AC of 1.5-1-85. Moderate vegans were affected to a lesser extent than strict vegans. None of the established confounders was a significant predictor of EAST-AC. In logistic regression analyses the contribution of nutriments and cereals to pyridoxine intake was the only predictor of EAST-AC classified as ≤ 1.85 and &gt; 1.85, respectively. Conclusions: In spite of the high total intake of vitamin B6, an adequate concentration in blood samples could not be realised for a majority of the participants. Due to the health implications of a marginal pyridoxine status, vegans should be encouraged to include foods with a high bioavailability of pyridoxine, such as beans, lentils and bananas, in the daily diet

Intensity and timing of physical activity in relation to postmenopausal breast cancer risk: the prospective NIH-AARP diet and health study.

BACKGROUND: Despite strong evidence of an inverse association of physical activity with postmenopausal breast cancer risk, whether a certain intensity or time of life of physical activity is most effective for lowering breast cancer risk is not known. METHODS: In 118,899 postmenopausal women in the prospective NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, we examined the relations of light and moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity during four periods of life ("historical": ages 15-18, 19-29, 35-39 years; "recent": past 10 years) to postmenopausal breast cancer risk. Physical activity was assessed by self-report at baseline, and 4287 incident breast cancers were identified over 6.6 years of follow-up. RESULTS: In age-adjusted and multivariate Cox regression models, >7 hours/week of moderate-to-vigorous activity during the past 10 years was associated with 16% reduced risk of postmenopausal breast cancer (RR:0.84; 95%CI:0.76,0.93) compared with inactivity. The association remained statistically significant after adjustment for BMI (RR:0.87; 95%CI:0.78,0.96). Neither moderate-to-vigorous activity during other periods of life nor light intensity activity during any period of life was related to breast cancer risk, and associations did not vary by tumor characteristics. CONCLUSION: A high level of recent, but not historical, physical activity of moderate-to-vigorous intensity is associated with reduced postmenopausal breast cancer risk. More precise recall of recent physical activity than activity in the distant past is one possible explanation for our findings.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Area-level and individual correlates of active transportation among adults in Germany: A population-based multilevel study

This study aimed at estimating the prevalence in adults of complying with the aerobic physical activity (PA) recommendation through transportation-related walking and cycling. Furthermore, potential determinants of transportation-related PA recommendation compliance were investigated. 10,872 men and 13,144 women aged 18 years or older participated in the cross-sectional 'German Health Update 2014/15 - EHIS' in Germany. Transportation-related walking and cycling were assessed using the European Health Interview Survey-Physical Activity Questionnaire. Three outcome indicators were constructed: walking, cycling, and total active transportation (>= 600 metabolic equivalent, MET-min/week). Associations were analyzed using multilevel regression analysis. Forty-two percent of men and 39% of women achieved >= 600 MET-min/week with total active transportation. The corresponding percentages for walking were 27% and 28% and for cycling 17% and 13%, respectively. Higher population density, older age, lower income, higher work-related and leisure-time PA, not being obese, and better self-perceived health were positively associated with transportation-related walking and cycling and total active transportation among both men and women. The promotion of walking and cycling among inactive people has great potential to increase PA in the general adult population and to comply with PA recommendations. Several correlates of active transportation were identified which should be considered when planning public health policies and interventions

Paradoxical roles of antioxidant enzymes:Basic mechanisms and health implications

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are generated from aerobic metabolism, as a result of accidental electron leakage as well as regulated enzymatic processes. Because ROS/RNS can induce oxidative injury and act in redox signaling, enzymes metabolizing them will inherently promote either health or disease, depending on the physiological context. It is thus misleading to consider conventionally called antioxidant enzymes to be largely, if not exclusively, health protective. Because such a notion is nonetheless common, we herein attempt to rationalize why this simplistic view should be avoided. First we give an updated summary of physiological phenotypes triggered in mouse models of overexpression or knockout of major antioxidant enzymes. Subsequently, we focus on a series of striking cases that demonstrate “paradoxical” outcomes, i.e., increased fitness upon deletion of antioxidant enzymes or disease triggered by their overexpression. We elaborate mechanisms by which these phenotypes are mediated via chemical, biological, and metabolic interactions of the antioxidant enzymes with their substrates, downstream events, and cellular context. Furthermore, we propose that novel treatments of antioxidant enzyme-related human diseases may be enabled by deliberate targeting of dual roles of the pertaining enzymes. We also discuss the potential of “antioxidant” nutrients and phytochemicals, via regulating the expression or function of antioxidant enzymes, in preventing, treating, or aggravating chronic diseases. We conclude that “paradoxical” roles of antioxidant enzymes in physiology, health, and disease derive from sophisticated molecular mechanisms of redox biology and metabolic homeostasis. Simply viewing antioxidant enzymes as always being beneficial is not only conceptually misleading but also clinically hazardous if such notions underpin medical treatment protocols based on modulation of redox pathways