The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects is unique in a sense because it focuses on the most recent advances in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Genetics that are the basic components of Personalized Nutrition. The book also emphasizes the importance of evolutionary aspects of diet and exercise and the need to select foods that are consistent with the evolutionary aspects of diet because these are the foods that contain the nutrients that our genes are programmed to respond. This book is the antidote to ultra-processed foods and imitation foods that are proinflammatory and contribute to increases in chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. It is a book for Health! The aim of the book is to provide readers with the basic factual information necessary to comprehend the enormity and potential effects of nutrients and foods on overall health and well-being. This book should be of interest to the educated public, teachers, health professionals, physicians, medical students, nutritionists, dietitians, historians and policy makers

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects is unique in a sense because it focuses on the most recent advances in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Genetics that are the basic components of Personalized Nutrition. The book also emphasizes the importance of evolutionary aspects of diet and exercise and the need to select foods that are consistent with the evolutionary aspects of diet because these are the foods that contain the nutrients that our genes are programmed to respond. This book is the antidote to ultra-processed foods and imitation foods that are proinflammatory and contribute to increases in chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. It is a book for Health! The aim of the book is to provide readers with the basic factual information necessary to comprehend the enormity and potential effects of nutrients and foods on overall health and well-being. This book should be of interest to the educated public, teachers, health professionals, physicians, medical students, nutritionists, dietitians, historians and policy makers

Obstáculos para a implementação governamental de dietas saudáveis com base científica e como superá-los

The Bellagio Report on Healthy Agriculture, Healthy Nutrition, Healthy People was science-based but policy-oriented. The role and amount of healthy and unhealthy nutrients in foods that may underlie the epidemics of non-communicable diseases worldwide was extensively discussed, with attention to the relative content of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and also sugar, particularly fructose. The report concludes that sugar consumption, especially in the form of high energy fructose in soft drinks, poses a major and insidious health threat, and most diets are defficient in omega-3 fatty acids and too high in omega-6 fatty acids. The meeting established that: governments must elevate, as a matter of urgency, Nutrition to a national priority; access to a healthy diet should be considered a human right; and the lead responsibility for Nutrition should be placed in Ministries of Health rather than Agriculture so that the health requirements drive agricultural priorities, not vice versa.O Relatório de Bellagio sobre Agricultura Saudável, Alimentação Saudável, Populações Saudáveis foi baseado em ciência, mas politicamente orientado. Foram amplamente discutidos o papel e a quantidade de nutrientes saudáveis e não saudáveis em alimentos que podem estar subjacentes à epidemia de doenças não transmissíveis em todo o mundo, com atenção ao conteúdo relativo de ácidos graxos ômega-3 e ômega-6, e também de açúcar, especialmente frutose. O relatório conclui que o consumo de açúcar, principalmente na forma de frutose de alta energia em refrigerantes, representa uma grande e insidiosa ameaça à saúde, e a maioria das dietas é deficiente em ácidos graxos ômega-3 e muito rica em ômega-6 ácidos graxos. A reunião estabeleceu que: os governos devem elevar, como uma questão de urgência, a Nutrição para uma posição de prioridade nacional; o acesso a uma dieta saudável deve ser considerado um direito humano; e a responsabilidade principal sobre a Nutrição deve ser colocada nas mãos do Ministério da Saúde, em vez do da Agricultura, para que os requisitos de saúde conduzam as prioridades agrícolas, e não vice-versa

Otkrivanje delecije kromosoma 1 pomoću tehnike FISH na otiscima ependimoma ukazuje na regiju izvan kromosoma 22 važnu za recidiv tumora

Ependymomas are glial tumors. They constitute approximately 5%-10% of intracranial tumors. Ependymomas are tumors which can recur. Predictive factors of outcome in ependymomas are not well established. Karyotypic studies are relatively scarce and loss of chromosome 22 has been described to correlate with recurrence. We are unaware of any reports involving chromosome 1 aberrations in the malignant progression of ependymomas. Cytogenetic analysis of 4 ependymomas was performed using double-target fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and focusing on chromosomes 1 and 22. One patient had recurrent tumor. FISH was performed on 500 nuclei/tumors. All four cases showed a loss of chromosome 22q, while only one showed an additional loss of chromosome 1p, and it was the one with tumor relapse. We support the presence of tumor suppressor gene on 1p associated with relapse in ependymomas and suggest that the chromosome 1p status by FISH may identify a high risk group of patients harboring this tumor. Additional studies in this direction are needed, as our results refer to a minimal number of individuals analyzed.Ependimomi su glialni tumori. Oni čine otprilike 5%-10% intrakranijskih tumora. Ependimomi su tumori koji se mogu ponavljati. Čimbenici koji bi ukazivali na ishod ependimoma nisu dobro utvrđeni. Kariotipska ispitivanja su relativno rijetka, a opisano je kako gubitak kromosoma 22 korelira s ponovnom pojavom tumora. Nisu nam poznata izvješća o upletenosti aberacija kromosoma 1 u malignoj progresiji ependimoma. U ovoj studiji je citogenetska analiza 4 ependimoma provedena pomoću dvociljne fluorescentne in situ hibridizacije (FISH) i fokusiranja na kromosomima 1 i 22. U jednog se bolesnika radilo o ponovnoj pojavi tumora. FISH je izvedena na 500 jezgara/tumora. Sva četiri slučaja pokazala su gubitak kromosoma 22q, dok je samo jedan, i to onaj s ponovnim razvojem tumora, pokazao dodatni gubitak kromosoma 1p. Priklanjamo se mišljenju kako je prisutnost gena tumorske supresije na 1p udru žena s recidivom kod ependimoma i ukazujemo na to da bi status kromosoma 1p utvrđen pomoću FISH mogao identificirati visoko rizičnu skupinu bolesnika koji nose ovaj tumor. Potrebne su daljnje studije u ovom smjeru, jer se naši rezultati odnose na mali broj analiziranih osoba

National strategic framework for research & innovation. 2014-2020

SAFE Professor Michalis Haliassos was a member of the National Council for Research and Technology (ESET) established by the Government of Greece for the period 2010-2013. The council, consisting of eleven scientists from a range of disciplines, has now published their communiqué "National Strategic Framework for Research and Innovation 2014-2020". To promote the advancement of research, technology and innovation in Greece, the strategic plan proposed by the authors seeks to identify areas of existing research strength and excellence that can be further advanced to become engines for progress and growth in Greece, as well as flaws inherent to the present system. The authors stress the need to address current constraints to growth, which include the declining education system; the confusion and weaknesses of R&D governance and management; the discontinuities and inefficiencies of resource allocation and investment; the lack of adaptation to clearly-defined national priorities; and the inadequate opportunities and funding for high-quality research and development to flourish. They stress the need for prioritisation and efficient allocation; stability of the policy frame; predictability of planning; provision of opportunity; recognition of excellence; and responsiveness to current and future needs

Relationship Between Distance Run Per Week, Omega-3 Index, and Arachidonic Acid (AA)/Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) Ratio: An Observational Retrospective Study in Non-elite Runners

Background: Tissue availability of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) depends on several factors, including dietary intake, physical exercise, genetic variation, and metabolic turnover. However, there is limited evidence whether running training activity per se may influence indices associated with PUFA metabolism such as Omega-3 (ω-3) index and arachidonic acid (AA; 20:4ω-6)/eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5ω-3) ratio.Objective: To examine the association between kilometers (Km) run per week and changes in ω-3 index and AA/EPA ratio.Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational, cohort study of 257 non-elite runners (mean age: 40.85 ± 12.17 years) who consumed no fatty acid supplements and provided a blood sample for analysis. The whole blood samples were collected by finger sticks, stored on absorbent filter paper, and then PUFA were quantified by gas chromatography (GC) and ω-3 index and AA/EPA ratio measured.Results: In a multivariate linear regression model, a gradual decrease of the ω-3 index was observed with higher weekly running distance (β = −0.033; 95% CI −0.039 to −0.026; R2 = 0.447; p < 0.0001). We also found a progressive increase of the AA/EPA ratio in subjects who ran greater weekly distances (β = 0.092; 95% CI 0.038 to 0.146; R2 = 0.320; p = 0.001). No other significant associations were observed with other variables, including years of running training and weekly training frequency (hours/week). Finally, as expected, a significant inverse correlation between ω-3 index and AA/EPA ratio (β = −2.614; 95% CI −3.407 to −1.821; R2 = 0.336; p < 0.0001) was detected.Conclusions: These findings suggest that distance running training and its weekly volume may negatively contribute to changes of the ω-3 index and AA/EPA ratio. Further studies with greater sample size will be required to replicate and extend these data

The case for strategic international alliances to harness nutritional genomics for public and personal health

Nutrigenomics is the study of how constituents of the diet interact with genes, and their products, to alter phenotype and, conversely, how genes and their products metabolise these constituents into nutrients, antinutrients, and bioactive compounds. Results from molecular and genetic epidemiological studies indicate that dietary unbalance can alter gene-nutrient interactions in ways that increase the risk of developing chronic disease. The interplay of human genetic variation and environmental factors will make identifying causative genes and nutrients a formidable, but not intractable, challenge. We provide specific recommendations for how to best meet this challenge and discuss the need for new methodologies and the use of comprehensive analyses of nutrient-genotype interactions involving large and diverse populations. The objective of the present paper is to stimulate discourse and collaboration among nutrigenomic researchers and stakeholders, a process that will lead to an increase in global health and wellness by reducing health disparities in developed and developing countrie

An Increase in the Omega-6/Omega-3 Fatty Acid Ratio Increases the Risk for Obesity

In the past three decades, total fat and saturated fat intake as a percentage of total calories has continuously decreased in Western diets, while the intake of omega-6 fatty acid increased and the omega-3 fatty acid decreased, resulting in a large increase in the omega-6/omega-3 ratio from 1:1 during evolution to 20:1 today or even higher. This change in the composition of fatty acids parallels a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Experimental studies have suggested that omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids elicit divergent effects on body fat gain through mechanisms of adipogenesis, browning of adipose tissue, lipid homeostasis, brain-gut-adipose tissue axis, and most importantly systemic inflammation. Prospective studies clearly show an increase in the risk of obesity as the level of omega-6 fatty acids and the omega-6/omega-3 ratio increase in red blood cell (RBC) membrane phospholipids, whereas high omega-3 RBC membrane phospholipids decrease the risk of obesity. Recent studies in humans show that in addition to absolute amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acid intake, the omega-6/omega-3 ratio plays an important role in increasing the development of obesity via both AA eicosanoid metabolites and hyperactivity of the cannabinoid system, which can be reversed with increased intake of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). A balanced omega-6/omega-3 ratio is important for health and in the prevention and management of obesity