Breakfast habits and knowledge: Study involving participants from Brazil and Portugal

Breakfast has been considered one of the most important meals of the day. While breakfast habits and their consequences on children’s health and performance are well documented, studies on the adult population are still lacking. The aim of this study is to observe the breakfast consumption habits of Portuguese and Brazilian adults to understand the importance attributed to this meal, which leads people to have breakfast or to skip it, and also what types of food are consumed. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire survey was carried out in both countries, and the data were collected through the internet. A convenience sample consisting of 694 participants (380 from Brazil and 314 from Portugal) were used in this study, all were adults who gave informed consent to participate in the research. The results showed that the majority of participants consumed breakfast every day (74.4% in Brazil and 78.3% in Portugal), and they did it at home (94.4 and 94.3% for Brazilians and Portuguese, respectively). The results also showed that the reasons for consuming breakfast and skipping it are very similar in both countries. People say they do not have breakfast because they do not want to eat in the morning or they do not have time. The reasons to always have breakfast include providing energy, satiety from night fasting, preventing hunger until lunch, because they like it, or simply because it is a habit. The level of knowledge was slightly higher among Portuguese than Brazilian participants and was found to vary according to the habits of having breakfast or skipping it and also according to country, sex, BMI class, and school level. In conclusion, breakfast habits were found to be very similar in both countries’, but the knowledge was higher among the Portuguese than the Brazilian participants. Breakfast is linked to a healthy lifestyle, and individuals’ behaviours and beliefs must be taken into account to promote health and well-being, thus diminishing the burden of noncommunicable diseases related to improper eating habits and dietary patterns.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influence of physical and technical aspects on change of direction performance of rugby players: An exploratory study

We examined the relationships between change of direction (COD) speed and deficit, and a series of speed-and power-related measurements in national team rugby union players and analyzed the influence of movement patterns on COD ability. Eleven male athletes completed the following physical assessments on different days: day 1—anthropometric measurements, and lower-body kinematic parameters (assessed with eight inertial sensors) and completion time in COD tests (proagility, 45◦ cutting maneuver (CUT), and “L” (L-Drill)); day 2—bilateral and unilateral squat and countermovement jumps, 40 m linear sprint, and bar-power output in the jump squat and half-squat exercises. Pearson’s product–moment correlations were performed to determine the relationships between COD velocities, COD deficits, and the speed–power variables. Differences between players with higher and lower COD deficits were examined using magnitude-based inferences. Results showed that (1) greater sprint momentum was associated with higher COD deficits, particularly in drills with sharper angles and multiple directional changes (L-drill and pro-agility); (2) higher unilateral jump heights were associated with greater COD deficits in the pro-agility and L-drill but not in the CUT; (3) faster athletes were less efficient at changing direction and presented greater trunk and knee flexion angles during COD maneuvers, probably as a consequence of higher inertia

Selección y entrenamiento de un panel para evaluar el defecto rancio en aceite de soja y hamburguesas de pescado

Due to its composition of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, oils and fats are very susceptible to oxidation, with rancidity being one of the main defects. Among the several existing methodologies to monitor oxidation in foods, sensory analysis stands out because of the sensitivity of responses. Accordingly, this study aimed to select and train a panel of expert assessors to identify the rancid flavor, showing the statistical steps in the process. Assessors were selected according to their individual performance, statistically analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey’s mean comparison, Wald Sequential Analysis and chi-square test. The validation of the trained panel was carried out with the sensory analysis of fish burgers and soybean oil. F Value and box-plot graphic methods were effective for better visualization of results when used along with the mean and standard deviation tables. The final trained panel consisted of seven assessors, who have been able to identify and differentiate rancid taste in both samples used for validation.Debido a su composición en ácidos grasos insaturados y poliinsaturados, los aceites y grasas son muy susceptibles a la oxidación, siendo la rancidez uno de los principales defectos. Entre las diversas metodologías existentes para seguir la oxidación en los alimentos, el análisis sensorial destaca por la sensibilidad de las respuestas. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo seleccionar y capacitar a un panel de catadores entrenados para identificar el sabor rancio y se muestra estadisticamente los pasos del proceso. Los catadores fueron seleccionados de acuerdo a su capacidad individual y estadísticamente analizados por ANOVA comparando las medias mediante Tukey, análisis secuencial de Wald y prueba de chi-cuadrado. La validación del panel entrenado se realizó con el análisis sensorial de hamburguesas de pescado y aceite de soja. El valor F y la representación gráfica boxplot fueron eficaces para una mejor visualización de los resultados cuando se utilizan junto con las tablas de desviación media y estándar. El panel final estuvo formado por siete catadores que fueron capaces de identificar y diferenciar el sabor rancio en ambas muestras utilizadas para su validación

Chemical analysis of Greek pollen - Antioxidant, antimicrobial and proteasome activation properties

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pollen is a bee-product known for its medical properties from ancient times. In our days is increasingly used as health food supplement and especially as a tonic primarily with appeal to the elderly to ameliorate the effects of ageing. In order to evaluate the chemical composition and the biological activity of Greek pollen which has never been studied before, one sample with identified botanical origin from sixteen different common plant taxa of Greece has been evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three different extracts of the studied sample of Greek pollen, have been tested, in whether could induce proteasome activities in human fibroblasts. The water extract was found to induce a highly proteasome activity, showing interesting antioxidant properties. Due to this activity the aqueous extract was further subjected to chemical analysis and seven flavonoids have been isolated and identified by modern spectral means. From the methanolic extract, sugars, lipid acids, phenolic acids and their esters have been also identified, which mainly participate to the biosynthetic pathway of pollen phenolics. The total phenolics were estimated with the Folin-Ciocalteau reagent and the total antioxidant activity was determined by the DPPH method while the extracts and the isolated compounds were also tested for their antimicrobial activity by the dilution technique.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The Greek pollen is rich in flavonoids and phenolic acids which indicate the observed free radical scavenging activity, the effects of pollen on human fibroblasts and the interesting antimicrobial profile.</p