Study on Eating Habits and Physical Activity Status in Turkey

The present study aimed to evaluate eating habits and physical activity status of Turkish population, and to determine nutritional changes. This study was conducted in 12 provinces of 11 regions of NUTS level 1 via a face-to-face interview using a pre-prepared questionnaire and included 1536 subjects aged >15 years with different socioeconomic statuses who eat out at least once in a month. Of the subjects, 33.6% were overweight, 18.4% were obese and 48% had normal weight.   The rates of subjects calculating calorie intake (8.4%) and reading nutrition facts label (29.1%) were increased with increasing BMI. The most frequently consumed foods were bread, cheese and olive at breakfast, bread, soup, salad, yoghurt, and pilaf at lunch and toast, sandwiches, and Turkish bagels at snacks. The mean duration of meals was <30 min in 85.8% of the subjects. The most commonly consumed non-alcoholic beverages were tea (95.7%), coffee (58.7%), Turkish yoghurt drink (56.1%), and carbonated beverages (48.3%). Milk consumption was low (20.2%). Alcohol consumption rate was 26.6%. The rate of subjects doing sports was 14.8%, which decreased with increasing age and BMI. In Turkish population, eating habits continued to be traditional, eating awareness and the rate of sport activities were very low

The Properties of Vitamin B12 Deficiency in the Patients of an Outpatient Clinic

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the properties of vitamin B12 deficiency and predisposing factors in the patients of an outpatient clinic. Material and Methods: Four hundred patients with vitamin B12 deficiency were studied. Anthropometric measures, biochemical analysis, gastric parietal cell antibodies and parasites in stool of the patients, antigliadin antibody survey and upper gastrointestinal system endoscopy were performed. Additionally, randomly selected 100 patients with low and 100 healthy subjects with normal serum vitamin B12 levels were questioned about food intake. Results: Overall ratio of vitamin B12 deficiency among outpatients was 4%. Coexisting diseases such as diabetes mellitus (12.3%), hypertension (42.0%), hyperlipidemia (42.0%) and obesity (42.0%) were determined. Nearly a quarter (22,8%) had autoimmune thyroid disease. A group of patients had other problems that may have caused malabsorption such as Helicobacter pylori gastritis (66/85= 77.6%), antigastric parietal cell antibody positivity (37/85= 43.5%), antigliadin antibody positivity (40/61= 65.6%), and others (3.3%). The patient group with vitamin B12 deficiency consumed significantly less meat (p< 0.001), chicken (p< 0.001), fish (p= 0.002), milk (p= 0.027) and eggs (p< 0.001), smaller number of meals (p= 0.013) and significantly higher amounts of fiber (p< 0.001) and vegetables (p= 0.037) when compared with the control group. Conclusion: Vitamin B12 deficiency was considered to be related mainly with improper and defective alimentation. However, malabsorption-related diseases may also contribute to vitamin B12 deficiency

The influence of low dialysate sodium and glucose concentration on volume distributions in body compartments after haemodialysis: a bioimpedance analysis study

Background. Despite the developments in haemodialysis, there are still some difficulties in maintaining the haemodynamic stability. Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) has been proposed for the estimation of dry weight in haemodialysis patients. We aimed to investigate the effects of dialysate sodium and glucose contents on volume distribution in body compartments after haemodialysis by using BIA, a sensitive and reliable method

Presence of Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157 and Nitrate-Nitrite Residue Levels in Turkish Traditional Fermented Meat Products (Sucuk and Pastirma)

WOS: 000374311900011Turkish sucuk and pastirma are traditional meat products commonly consumed in Turkey. These products are generally known as dry fermented meat products (FMP), fermented and ripened naturally. Curing is a preparation method for FMPs used for prolonging shelf life. As well as additives such as nitrate and nitrite are used to obtain the desired colour and flavour, also inhibit the mentioned bacteria. Despite the advantages of the curing agents, FMPs may pose a risk for human health via uncontrolled (out of limits) usage. The present study was conducted to investigate the incidence of Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157 and nitrate-nitrite contents in 132 sucuk and 66 pastirma samples collected from producers and retailers in Istanbul, Adapazari, Afyon and Kayseri. Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes were detected 2.52% and 2.02% in all samples, respectively. All samples were negative for E. coli O157. The nitrate level of sucuk and pastirma samples were found was in the acceptable range. Only, 5 of sucuk samples exceeded the nitrite limit value. The results indicate that meat products may be contaminated with pathogens and nitrosamines can be present in meat products. Furthermore, the essential precautions should be taken to apply sanitation procedure and improve the quality of production technology.University of Istanbul [49382]This work was financially supported by the Research Fund of the University of Istanbul (Project number: 49382