Journal of Nutrition, Fasting and Health
Volume:10 Issue: 3, Summer 2022

Safety and quality control of foods have attracted significant global attentions. Intelligent and active packaging materials are emerging areas of food technology, which is attracting a lot of attention in the food industry. The present study with the aims of incorporating Rosa damascena extract (RDE) into the chitosan-gum Arabic (CH-GA) through the casting method and investigating its antimicrobial property as potential application in the food packaging were conducted.  Preparation of films based on CH-GA containing RDE was conducted via casting method. The antimicrobial activity of the designated films was investigated by the disk diffusion assay. The morphology of the fabricated films was determined under the field emission scanning electron microscopy.  The prepared films had antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus cereus ranging from 5.50 mm to 9.33 mm inhibition zone diameter. The film containing the RDE has a rough surface and the pure film exhibited a smooth, dense surface, a uniform structure, and no cracks.  This result showed that the CH-GA film containing RDE can be used as an active packaging material in the food industry for enhancing the freshness of the protein-rich foods.

The levels of physical activity (PA) is an important  for the health of children and environmental factors play a vital role in shaping children's attitudes, behavior and physical-mental development. Hence the identification of the environmental factors that may contribute to children`s health is important. The relevant literature between 2015-2020 was reviewed, and the factors classified according to three principal environments of home, neighborhood and school. Findings highlight the need for more studies, especially into contextual factors and design-related characteristics of the environments. Increasing child`s PA opportunities including active play and commute vs. sedentary behavior (SB) in all of the three environments were suggested through: 1) proper presence and availability of PA supportive places (either indoors or outdoors), routes (sidewalks, cycling routes) and equipment, 2) consideration of practical threshold for walking/cycling time and distance to schools and neighborhood destinations, 3) provision of neighborhood with more traffic/social safety, 4) limitation of child`s sedentary time (ST), SB supportive devices number and accessibility, 5) emphasizing the importance of teachers, child care providers and family role (role modeling, support, attitude, rules, socioeconomic status (SES), perceptions, concerns, priorities and physical-mental health). Implementation of policies and measures targeted at enhancement of the environments PA supportive qualities simultaneous with promotion of knowledge of planners, designers, teachers, child care providers and families about children`s PA importance is needed.

Water- and foodborne illnesses are of major public health concerns. However, the significance of foodborne diseases are generally underestimated. Therefore, in this study we aimed to emphasize on the importance of control of foodborne illnesses trough highlighting data about outbreaks, hospitalizations and deaths caused by contaminated food in the developed countries from 2015 to 2020. 

 In this descriptive-analytical study, 105 and 152 cases of water- and foodborne illnesses were reported in the United States (CDC) and Europe (ECDC) in 2015-2020. 

The most reported causative agents were Salmonella spp, Cyclospora, Escherichia coliBacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens spp, and Listeria monocytogenes were in the US and Salmonella, Norovirus, Calicivirus, Campylobacter, B. cereus, and C. perfringens in the EU. 

According to the results, CDC and ECDC analyses could provide insights into the most critical pathogens and food sources help the authorities to control foodborne illnesses.

Previous studies have shown that the health burden associated with vitamin D deficiency is increasing globally. Vitamin D supplementation appears to be a feasible strategy for improving vitamin D status within populations. Little information is available on the perception and barriers to the widespread application of vitamin D supplements in Iran. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the perception of health care providers regarding the implementation of vitamin D supplementation program in the Iranian cities of Mashhad, Qom and Zahedan.This qualitative conventional content analysis study was conducted at 3 medical universities in Iran: Mashhad (MUMS), Qom (QUMS) and Zahedan (ZAUMS) University of Medical Sciences. These universities, are within regions with differing prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, and were selected based on the results of National Integrated Micronutrient Survey 2012 (NIMS-II study). Individual semi-structured in-depth interviews were performed with 103 participants (consisting of health professionals and health providers) to understand the perceptions of health professionals and health care providers’. The data were collected from December 2018 to July 2019. Guba and Lincoln’s criteria were used to ensure the trustworthiness of the data. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis based on the approach of Graneheim and Lundman's.There were three categories of barriers to distribution and use of individual supplements,  and the funding to implement the program; there were ten subcategories. Supplement distribution were affected by three subcategories of inadequate distribution of the supplement, irregular distribution of the supplement, and   insufficient space to store the supplements. Individual barriers to the use of supplement comprised five subcategories: forgetting to take them, lack of knowledge about their benefits, accessing a health care center providing them, negative advertising for supplement use, and not taking them because of cost. Funding to implement the program contained the two subcategories of financial limitation in urban and rural area and financial limitation for all target groups.The findings showed that health care providers reported a variety of barriers to supplement use. Applying a multiple strategy requires: training, conducting advertising campaigns, financial support, sufficient and regular distribution of the supplement and perhaps the use of alternative methods of supplement delivery, such as food fortification can be helpful.

Nutrition programs can effectively influence physiological systems both at rest and in response to exercise. In the present study, the effect of time-restricted eating (TRE) on two steroid hormones, namely testosterone and cortisol and the ratio of testosterone to cortisol, at rest and in response to a session of exhaustive endurance exercise was investigated. 

Participants of this study were 8 active boys (age: 22.63±3.50 years, body mass index: 23.46±5.61kg/m2) who participated in the study voluntarily. Subjects performed TRE for two weeks. That is, they abstained from eating and drinking (except water) from 8 am to 4 pm, and continued their usual diet for the rest of the day. Before and after the two weeks of diet, they participated in the Yo-Yo exercise test. In both stages, blood samples were taken before the breakfast, and immediately after eating breakfast and the yo-yo test to measure the concentration of testosterone and cortisol. Paired t-tests were used to analyze the findings. 

Findings indicated that TRE increased fasting testosterone levels. Testosterone decreased after exercise following two weeks of TRE. Cortisol and the ratio of testosterone to cortisol at rest and in response to exercise after TRE were not significantly different compared to before TRE. 

It can be concluded that TRE improved fasting testosterone as an anabolic index but reduced its response to exercise.

The milk produced from dairy animals fed with feed intake aflatoxin may include Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1). Dairy products, produced with milk containing AFM1 represent an important problem in terms of public health.  This study investigated AFM1 in Afyon Tulum cheese (ATC) taken in Afyonkarahisar province. For analysis, 80 samples of Afyon Tulum cheese were collected and stored at -20°C. All samples were then analyzed using a commercial Aflatoxin M1 ELISA test kit.  AFM1 was found between 0.007-0,017 ug/kg in spring-summer season and between 0.006-0,041 ug/kg in autumn-winter season. AFM1 levels were found under the Turkish Food Codex (TFC) limit (0,05 μg/kg) in all samples.  It is recommended that milk containing AFM1 should not be used in production and the feeds used in animal feeding and storage conditions should be checked.

Leptin is a protein hormone with a spiral structure similar to cytokines, which is mainly synthesized and released by subcutaneous fat cells in a steady pulsating manner with a peak secretion near midnight. The aim of this study was to compare the short-term effects of aerobic exercise and high-fat diet and curcumin extract on leptin gene expression in the liver tissue of male rats.

Fifty male rat with two-month-old were prepared and divided into five groups: control(G1), high-fat diet(G2), curcumin and high-fat diet(G3), exercise and high-fat diet(G4), curcumin+exercise+high-fat diet(G5). Data analysis was compared using one-way analysis of variance. Bonferroni's post hoc test was used to accurately determine the differences between groups. The mean of intra-group differences was also compared using the t-test of the sample. 

The results showed a significant difference in the average leptin gene expression of subjects among 5 groups. The results of Bonferroni's post hoc test also showed an increase in the high-fat diet group compared to the control group(P=0.0001), and a decrease in the high-fat diet + curcumin group(P=0.0001), the high-fat diet + exercise group(P=0.0001), and the high-fat diet + exercise + curcumin group compared to the control group(P=0.0001). 

Leptin gene is expressed under the influence of short-term exercises and the consumption of curcumin, which is an antioxidant. So that the use of each agent alone causes a decrease or increase in the leptin gene expression in the liver, and the simultaneous use of both factors causes a decrease in the leptin gene expression of these cells in the muscle tissue.

Active antimicrobial food packaging is a practical technique to retard the growth of foodborne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms by integrating antimicrobial agents into the film materials. 

The effects of Nanochithosan (NC) coating containing various concentrations of Polylophium involucratum essential oil (PIEO) and Zataria multiflora Boiss. essential oil (ZMEO) on microbial, chemical and sensory characteristics of silver carp fillets were investigated within 12 days during refrigerated storage. 

The aerobic plate count (APC) exceeded 7 log CFU/g after day 4 and day 6 for the control and samples coated with pure NC, respectively. The samples coated with NC containing ZMEO 0.6% and PIEO 0.6% showed the lowest microbial count. Total volatile base of nitrogen (TVB-N) of fresh silver carp at the first day of study was 10.34 mg/100 g and after 8 days reached 33.15 mg/100 g in control, while this value remained lower than 25 mg/100 g for the coated samples with NC containing ZMEO 0.6% and PIEO 0.6%. In general, integration of the ZMEO and PIEO did not cause any significant negative impact on the sensory characteristic of coated samples in comparison with those of control samples within study period. 

Based on the findings, NC coating containing ZMEO and PIEO showed a potential to be utilized as a novel active packaging for fish meat products, without any unfavorable organoleptic characteristics.

The role of exercise and some supplements in lipolysis has been reported, but given limited information on the simultaneous effect of endurance training (ET) and octopamine (Oct), the present study aimed to investigate the interactive effect of these two interventions on adipose tissue lipolysis with emphasis on octopamine receptors in rats treated with deep fried oil (DFO). 

Thirty male Wistar rats (20-18 weeks old and 280-320 g) were divided into five groups, including (1) healthy control (C), (2) DFO, (3) Oct+DFO, (4) ET+DFO and (5) DFO+Oct+ET. Aerobic training was performed for four weeks, five sessions per week with an intensity of 16-26 m / min and equivalent to 50-65% VO2max; also, 81 μmol/kg octopamine supplementation was intraperitonally injected to rats 5 days a week. Two-way analysis of variance and Bonferroni's post hoc test were used to analyze the data. 

ET increases Octβ-R expression (P=0.02) and Oct protein concentration (P=0.001) in the visceral adipose tissue of rats exposed to DFO. Oct supplementation increases Octα-R (P=0.01) expression in the visceral adipose tissue of rats exposed to DFO. Also, ET and Oct do not have a synergistic effect on Octβ-R (P=0.91), Octα-R (P=0.65) and Oct protein concentration (P=0.16) in the visceral adipose tissue of rats exposed to DFO. 

It seems that although training and octopamine supplementation alone play a role in increasing the protein concentration of octopamine and its receptors, these two interventions do not have a synergistic effect on lipolysis by emphasizing the octopamine receptor pathway.

The current survey investigated the alleviating effect of dietary clove (Syzygium aromaticum) essential oil (CEO) in comparison with vitamin C (VC), against the adverse effects of Pb on growth performance, serum oxidative indices, and lipid profile in Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica), following oral administration.

480 one-day-old quails were randomly segregated into 8 groups, which fed with the following diets, via 35 days: basal diet (negative control), basal diet + VC (500 mg/kg), basal diet + CEO (450 mg/kg), basal diet + CEO (100 mg/kg), basal diet + VC (500 mg/kg) + Pb (100 mg/l), basal diet + CEO (450 mg/kg) + Pb (100 mg/l), basal diet + CEO (100 mg/kg) + Pb (100 mg/l), and basal diet + Pb (100 mg/l) (positive control). The data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance and Duncan’s post hoc test.

Quails exposed to Pb and treated with CEO had reduced oxidative stress as evidenced by lower concentrations of TBARS and CP, higher activities of SOD, GPx, and CAT, and more improved lipid profile, compared to positive control. Moreover, the alleviating effects of CEO were dose-dependent.

The CEO (450 mg/kg) was potentially as effective as or even more potent than VC (500 mg/kg) in alleviating the adverse effects of Pb.