The decreased molar ratio of phytate:zinc improved zinc nutriture in South Koreans for the past 30 years (1969-1998)

For the assessment of representative and longitudinal Zn nutriture in South Koreans, Zn, phytate and Ca intakes were determined using four consecutive years of food consumption data taken from Korean National Nutrition Survey Report (KNNSR) every 10 years during 1969-1998. The nutrient intake data are presented for large city and rural areas. Zn intake of South Koreans in both large city and rural areas was low during 1969-1988 having values between 4.5-5.6 mg/d, after then increased to 7.4 (91% Estimated Average Requirements for Koreans, EAR = 8.1 mg/d) and 6.7 mg/d (74% EAR) in 1998 in large city and rural areas, respectively. In 1968, Zn intake was unexpectedly higher in rural areas due to higher grain consumption, but since then until 1988 Zn intake was decreased and increased back in 1998. Food sources for Zn have shifted from plants to a variety of animal products. Phytate intake of South Koreans during 1969-1978 was high mainly due to the consumption of grains and soy products which are major phytate sources, but decreased in 1998. The molar ratios of phytate:Zn and millimmolar ratio of phytate×Ca:Zn were decreased due to the decreased phytate intake in South Koreans, which implies higher zinc bioavailability. The study results suggest that Zn nutriture has improved by increased dietary Zn intakes and the decreased molar ratio of phytate:Zn in South Koreans in both large city and rural areas

The synergistic effect of cigarette taxes on the consumption of cigarettes, alcohol and betel nuts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Consumption of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages creates serious health consequences for individuals and overwhelming financial burdens for governments around the world. In Asia, a third stimulant – betel nuts – increases this burden exponentially. For example, individuals who simultaneously smoke, chew betel nuts and drink alcohol are approximately 123 times more likely to develop oral, pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer than are those who do not.</p> <p>To discourage consumption of cigarettes, the government of Taiwan has imposed three taxes over the last two decades. It now wishes to lower consumption of betel nuts. To assist in this effort, our study poses two questions: 1) Will the imposition of an NT$10 Health Tax on cigarettes effectively reduce cigarette consumption? and 2) Will this cigarette tax also reduce consumption of alcoholic beverages and betel nuts? To answer these questions, we analyze the effect of the NT$10 tax on overall cigarette consumption as well as the cross price elasticities of cigarettes, betel nuts, and alcoholic beverages.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To establish the Central Bureau of Statistics demand function, we used cigarette, betel nut, and alcoholic beverage price and sales volume data for the years 1972–2002. To estimate the overall demand price elasticity of cigarettes, betel nuts, and alcoholic beverages, we used a seemingly unrelated regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We find that the NT$10 health tax on cigarettes will reduce cigarette consumption by a significant 27.22$10 health tax on cigarettes will reduce betel nut consumption by 20.07% and alcohol consumption by 7.5%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The assessment of a health tax on cigarettes as a smoking control policy tool yields a win-win outcome for both government and consumers because it not only reduces cigarette consumption, but it also reduces betel nut and alcoholic beverage consumption due to a synergistic relationship. Revenues generated by the tax can be used to fund city and county smoking control programs as well as to meet the health insurance system's current financial shortfall.</p

Mapping the Influence of Food Waste in Food Packaging Environmental Performance Assessments

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149217/1/jiec12743-sup-0001-SuppInfoS1.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149217/2/jiec12743.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149217/3/jiec12743_am.pd

Associations between branched chain amino acid intake and biomarkers of adiposity and cardiometabolic health independent of genetic factors: a twin study

Background: Conflicting data exist on the impact of dietary and circulating levels of branched chain amino acids (BCAA) on cardiometabolic health and it is unclear to what extent these relations are mediated by genetics.  Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 1997 female twins we examined associations between BCAA intake, measured using food frequency-questionnaires, and a range of markers of cardiometabolic health, including DXA-measured body fat, blood pressure, HOMA-IR, highsensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and lipids. We also measured plasma concentrations of BCAA and known metabolites of amino acid metabolism using untargeted mass spectrometry. Using a within-twin design, multivariable analyses were used to compare the associations between BCAA intake and endpoints of cardiometabolic health, independently of genetic confounding.  Results: Higher BCAA intake was significantly associated with lower HOMA-IR (-0.1, Ptrend 0.02), insulin (-0.5 µU/mL, P-trend 0.03), hs-CRP -0.3 mg/L, P-trend 0.01), systolic blood pressure (-2.3 mm Hg, P-trend 0.01) and waist-to-height ratio (-0.01, P-trend 0.04), comparing extreme quintiles of intake. These associations persisted in within-pair analysis for monozygotic twins for insulin resistance (P<0.01), inflammation (P=0.03), and blood pressure (P=0.04) suggesting independence from genetic confounding. There were no association between BCAA intake and plasma concentrations, although two metabolitespreviously associated with obesity were inversely associated with BCAA intake (alphahydroxyisovalerate and trans-4-hydroxyproline).  Conclusions: Higher intakes of BCAA were associated, independently of genetics, with lower insulin resistance, inflammation, blood pressure and adiposity-related metabolites. The BCAA intake associated with our findings are easily achievable in the habitual diet.  Abbreviations: BCAA, branched chain amino acids; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; DZ, dizygotic; FFQ, food frequency questionnaire; HDL-C, high density lipoprotein cholesterol; hs-CRP, high sensitivity C-reactive protein; MZ, monozygotic; SBP, systolic blood pressure; T2DM, type 2 diabetes; SBP, systolic blood pressure; WHtR, waist to height rati

Soil type influences crop mineral composition in Malawi

Food supply and composition data can be combined to estimate micronutrient intakes and deficiency risks among populations. These estimates can be improved by using local crop composition data that can capture environmental influences including soil type. This study aimed to provide spatially resolved crop composition data for Malawi, where information is currently limited. Six hundred and fifty-two plant samples, representing 97 edible food items, were sampled from N150 sites in Malawi between 2011 and 2013. Samples were analysed by ICP-MS for up to 58 elements, including the essential minerals calcium (Ca), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn). Maize grain Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Se and Zn concentrations were greater from plants grown on calcareous soils than those from the more widespread low-pH soils. Leafy vegetables from calcareous soils had elevated leaf Ca, Cu, Fe and Se concentrations, but lower Zn concentrations. Several foods were found to accumulate high levels of Se, including the leaves of Moringa, a crop not previously been reported in East African food composition data sets. New estimates of national dietary mineral supplies were obtained for non-calcareous and calcareous soils. High risks of Ca (100%), Se (100%) and Zn (57%) dietary deficiencies are likely on non-calcareous soils. Deficiency risks on calcareous soils are high for Ca (97%), but lower for Se (34%) and Zn (31%). Risks of Cu, Fe and Mg deficiencies appear to be low on the basis of dietary supply levels

Biofuels and the role of space in sustainable innovation journeys

This paper aims to identify the lessons that should be learnt from how biofuels have been envisioned from the aftermath of the oil shocks of the 1970s to the present,and how these visions compare with biofuel production networks emerging in the 2000s. Working at the interface of sustainable innovation journey research and geographical theories on the spatial unevenness of sustainability transition projects,we show how the biofuels controversy is linked to characteristics of globalised industrial agricultural systems. The legitimacy problems of biofuels cannot be addressed by sustainability indicators or new technologies alone since they arise from the spatial ordering of biofuel production. In the 1970-80s, promoters of bioenergy anticipated current concerns about food security implications but envisioned bioenergy production to be territorially embedded at national or local scales where these issues would be managed. Where the territorial and scalar vision was breached, it was to imagine poorer countries exporting higher-value biofuel to the North rather than the raw material as in the controversial global biomass commodity chains of today. However, controversy now extends to the global impacts of national biofuel systems on food security and greenhouse gas emissions, and to their local impacts becoming more widely known. South/South and North/North trade conflicts are also emerging as are questions over biodegradable wastes and agricultural residues as global commodities. As assumptions of a food-versus-fuel conflict have come to be challenged, legitimacy questions over global agri-business and trade are spotlighted even further. In this context, visions of biofuel development that address these broader issues might be promising. These include large-scale biomass-for-fuel models in Europe that would transform global trade rules to allow small farmers in the global South to compete, and smallscale biofuel systems developed to address local energy needs in the South

Amino acid intakes are inversely associated with arterial stiffness and central blood pressure in women

Background: Although data suggest that intake of total protein and specific amino acids (AAs) reduces blood pressure, data on other cardiovascular disease risk factors are limited. Objective: We examined associations between intake of AAs with known mechanistic links to cardiovascular health and direct measures of arterial stiffness, central blood pressure, and atherosclerosis. Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 1898 female twins aged 18–75 y from the TwinsUK registry, intake of 7 cardioprotective AAs (arginine, cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, leucine, and tyrosine) was calculated from food-frequency questionnaires. Direct measures of arterial stiffness and atherosclerosis included central systolic blood pressure (cSBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), augmentation index (AI), pulse wave velocity (PWV), and intima–media thickness (IMT). ANCOVA was used to assess the associations between endpoints of arterial stiffness and intake (per quintile), adjusting for potential confounders. Results: In multivariable analyses, higher intake of total protein and 7 potentially cardioprotective AAs was associated with lower cSBP, MAP, and PWV. Higher intake of glutamic acid, leucine, and tyrosine was most strongly associated with PWV, with respective differences of -0.4 ± 0.2 m/s (P-trend = 0.02),-0.4 ± 0.2 m/s (P-trend = 0.03), and -0.4 ± 0.2 m/s (P-trend = 0.03), comparing extreme quintiles. There was a significant interaction between AA intake and protein source, and higher intake of AAs from vegetable sources was associated with lower central blood pressure and AI. Higher intake of glutamic acid, leucine, and tyrosine from animal sources was associated with lower PWV. Conclusions: These data provide evidence to suggest that intake of several AAs is associated with cardiovascular benefits beyond blood pressure reduction in healthy women. The magnitude of the observed associations was similar to those previously reported for other lifestyle factors. Increasing intake of these AAs could be an important and readily achievable way to reduce cardiovascular disease risk

Local Foods Can Increase Adequacy of Nutrients Other than Iron in Young Urban Egyptian Women: Results from Diet Modeling Analyses

BACKGROUND: Nutrition transition and recent changes in lifestyle in Middle Eastern countries have resulted in the double burden of malnutrition. In Egypt, 88% of urban women are overweight or obese and 50% are iron deficient. Their energy, sugar, and sodium intakes are excessive, while intakes of iron, vitamin D, and folate are insufficient. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to formulate dietary advice based on locally consumed and affordable foods and determine the need for fortified products to meet the nutrient requirements of urban Egyptian women. METHODS: Food intakes were assessed using a 4-d food diary collected from 130 urban Egyptian women aged 19-30 y. Food prices were collected from modern and traditional markets to calculate diet cost. Population-based linear and goal programming analyses (Optifood tool) were used to identify "limiting nutrients" and to assess whether locally consumed foods (i.e., consumed by >5% of women) could theoretically improve nutrient adequacy at an affordable cost (i.e., less than or equal to the mean diet cost), while meeting recommendations for SFAs, sugars, and sodium. The potential of hypothetical fortified foods for improving intakes of micronutrients was also assessed. RESULTS: Iron was the most limiting nutrient. Daily consumption of fruits, vegetables, milk or yogurt, meat/fish/eggs, and tahini (sesame paste) were likely to improve nutrient adequacy for 11 out of 12 micronutrients modeled. Among fortified foods tested, iron-fortified rice, milk, water, bread, or yogurt increased the minimized iron content of the modeled diet from 40% to >60% of the iron recommendation. CONCLUSIONS: A set of dietary advice based on locally consumed foods, if put into practice, can theoretically meet requirements for most nutrients, except for iron for which adequacy is harder to achieve without fortified products. The acceptability of the dietary changes modeled needs evaluation before promoting them to young Egyptian women