NUTRITION AND FOOD SCIENCES RESEARCH
Year:2016 | Volume:3 | Issue:2|Papers Count:7

Mental disorders cause a large number of years of life lost due to disability (YLDs). Dietary risks are known as a top risk factor for various non-communicable diseases, and by increasing life-expectancy, dietary risks and mental disorders would be one of the main sources of nonfatal health burden...

Cash transfer (CTs) is an increasingly popular social protection mechanism used by many developing countries to improve the food security and nutritional status of lower socio-economic groups.This paper is a review of the literature regarding the impact of CT programs on the food security of recipient households in the developing countries, including Iran. We looked for all original studies, performed in the developing countries and published in any language, containing at least one outcome related to food and nutritional security of the beneficiary population using Pub Med, Iran Medex, SID (Scientific Information Database), ISI (Information Sciences Institute) database, INP (Iran’s Nutrition Publication) Abstracts, IRANDOC and Magiran. Searches used the following terms or keyword “household food security”, “household food insecurity“ and “cash transfer” on any publication published within 1990-2015.A total of 12 studies evaluating the influence of CT programs on the recipients’ food and nutrition security were identified. CT programs have the potential to deliver a range of benefits not only through reducing extreme poverty but also by providing effective support for broader human development objectives, including better nutrition, as well as health and education outputs and outcomes. The extent to which programs can have these different impacts will depend critically on the availability of complementary services, the local context, and the specifics of program design, including the transfer value. However, findings in Iran suggest that the replacement of staple food subsidies by CT has led to a significant increase in household food insecurity (especially marginal or mild food insecurity).

Background and Objectives: Periodontal disease is a chronic disorder with a high prevalence. There are few studies about the role of diet in prevention and treatment of periodontal disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of consumption of Chicory leaf extract in adjunct with non-surgical periodontal therapies on serum antioxidant and lipid status.Materials and Methods: This study was a double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial conducted on 40 patients in Sina Hospital of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (Iran) in 2014. The intervention (n=20) and control groups (n=20) were allocated using blocked randomization. The intervention group received 2 capsules (2 g) of Chicory leaf extract daily for 8 weeks. All subjects underwent non-surgical periodontal therapy during the intervention period. Anthropometric indices, 24-hour diet records, total antioxidant capacity, malate di-aldehyde (MDA), uric acid, total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG) and HDL-c was measured before and after intervention.Results: The mean level of total antioxidant capacity (1.89 ± 0.49; 1.20 ± 0.25, respectively; P<0.001) and uric acid (7.15±1.98; 4.48±1.34, respectively; P<0.001) increased in the intervention group compared with the control group post intervention. The mean level of MDA decreased in the intervention group compared with the control group post-intervention (3.01±1.15; 3.97±1.19, respectively; P.d<0.001). Cholesterol difference was not significant pre- and post-intervention between the two groups (P=0.35). The mean level of serum triglyceride (TG) was significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the control group post intervention (149.50±97.88; 109.35±58.00, respectively; P.d<0.001). The mean level of HDL-c was also significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the control group post treatment (42.25±8.47; 39.80±8.94, respectively; P.d<0.001).Conclusions: It seems that consumption of Chicory leaf in adjunct with non-surgical periodontal treatment has beneficial effect against periodontal disease.

Background and Objectives: Globally, the prevalence of overweight/obesity is increasing at an alarming rate.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 1.9 billion adults worldwide are overweight, and of these, over 600 million are obese. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in West Azerbaijan, Iran, in 2014.Materials and Methods: Data were collected as part of the National Food and Nutritional Surveillance Program (NFNSP). A total of 249 men and women aged 20–60 from West Azerbaijan were included in the survey conducted in 2014. Body height and weight were measured with light clothing and no footwear after overnight fasting.Results: Mean age of the participants was 38.5 ±7.8 yrs. Mean BMI was 28.0±4.9 kg/m2 (men: 26.8±4.2 vs.women: 29.0±5.3, p<0.001). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 36.5% (men: 38.6 % vs. women: 34.8%, p: 0.439) and 33.3% (men: 25.4 vs. women: 40.0 %, p: 0.016), respectively. Women were more likely to be overweight or obese than males (P=0.038). Multiple logistic regression revealed that gender (women vs.men) (OR, 2.05; CI, 1.15-3.65; p, 0.014) and age (OR, 1.06; CI, 1.01-1.1; p, 0.004) increased the risk of becoming overweight or obese. Women who were housewives were five times more at risk of becoming overweight or obese (OR: 4.93; CI: 1.9-12.3; p<0.001) even after adjusting for age and educational level.Conclusions: The high prevalence of weight problems in West Azerbaijan is a serious health concern, especially in women. The lifestyle of housewives is a potential risk factor for weight gain in women.

Background and Objectives: Red beet extract concentrate can be used as a natural colorant in food products; however, destructive effects of thermal methods to produce juice concentrate decrease nutritional value in the final product.Materials and Methods: In this study, red beet extract was concentrated using osmotic distillation method, and the best pretreatment was evaluated to increase the efficiency of the concentration process. Also changes in some physicochemical properties such as betacyanins and betaxanthins contents, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of red beet juice were evaluated by both the membrane and thermal concentration methods.Results: The results showed that the best concentration efficiency was obtained after pretreatment of the fresh juice with centrifugation at 1699 G for 17 min. Evaluation of the effect of both the membrane and thermal concentration processes on the physicochemical properties of juice showed that the membrane method did not change betacyanin and betaxanthin contents, total phenolic compounds, and antioxidant activity of the red beet extract. However, these properties decreased with the thermal concentration method by 26, 15, 11 and 13%, respectively.Conclusions: According to the results, osmotic distillation can produce red beet concentrate with more nutritional value than the concentrate produced with thermal method.

Background and Objectives: Essential oils (EOs) possess a wide range of significant properties including antiphlogistic, spasmolytic and antinociceptive effects. In this study, we use EOs fromThymus daenensis, Thymus caramanicus and Ziziphora clinopodiodes.Materials and Methods: In this study, the plants were collected from the Botany Department, were air dried, grinded and set for extraction with a Clevenger-type apparatus, according to the procedure described in the European pharmacopoeia.In vitro antifungal activity of the EOs was evaluated according to Agar dilution method by determining the radial growth rate and inhibition ratio (%).Results: Among the three EOs, T. daenensis contains the highest level of thymol (77.62%). Zizipora clinopodioidescontains pulegone (31.21%), menth-3-en-8-0l (23.82%), menthol (7.21%), borneol (2.25%), carvacrol (5.38%) and piperitone (5.55%). Only the 9 μL concentration ofZ. clinopodioides EO can prevent mycelium growth of both fungi for 7 days.Thymus caramanicus contains carvacrol (65.52%), p-cymene (13.21%), gamma-terpinene (4.44%), thymol (4.14%) and linalool (2.63).Conclusions: According to the results, that compound thymol is more effective than carvacrol in preventing the growth of fungi.

Background and Objectives: Food preservatives have become an essential element nowadays; they play an important role during food transportation. This will preserve the food for a long duration from the spoilage.High concentration of preservatives in food may result in gastrointestinal disturbances whereby some patients suffering from asthma, rhinitis, or urticaria. The aim of this study is introduction and optimization of a new method for simultaneous determination of four preservatives (SB, PS, MP and PP) in foodstuff by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).Materials and Methods: Important factors in extraction, separation and determination processes were optimized using the one-variable-at-a-time method. For optimization, all tests were performed two times.Figures of merit of the proposed method were evaluated. The amount of SB, PS, MP and PP in some food samples was determined using the proposed method.Results: The results showed that the obtained chromatogram of extract was free of significant interference. The preservatives’ recoveries ranged from 88% to 110 %. Limit of detection and limit of quantitation for the preservatives were 0.2 mg kg-1 and 0.5 mg kg-1, respectively. Concentration of SB, PS, MP and PP in the 20 studied samples was in the range of N.D-639.9, N.D -214.5, N.D -579.8 and N.D -30.5 mg kg-1, respectively.Conclusions: The acceptable performance and reliability of the proposed method as a simple, efficient and fast method for determination of SB, PS, MP and PP in the food samples were demonstrated.