No abstract

Sweetened beverages are associated with obesity, but the failure of non-caloric sweeteners to curb obesity suggests that other elements are involved. In addition, beverages are mainly consumed cold, and humans activate various processes when exposed to external temperature variations. However, the effect of internal temperature variations through the ingestion of cold beverages is far from clear. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of the temperature of the beverages on body composition. Sprague Dawley rats (5-6week-old males) had free access to food and beverage for 8 weeks. Energy intake, body weight, and body composition were monitored. In Experiment 1, two groups of rats (n=9) consumed water at room temperature (NW~22°C) or cold (CW~4°C). In Experiment 2, rats were offered room temperature (N) or cold (C) sweetened-water [10% Sucrose CSu (n=7) and NSu (n=8); or 0.05% Acesulfame-K CAk (n=6) and NAk (n=8)] for 12 hours, followed by plain-water. Our results show that in Experiment 1, CW had higher lean body mass (P<0.001) and lower body fat gain (P=0.004) as compared to NW. In Experiment 2, body weight (P=0.013) and fat (P=<0.001) gains were higher in the non-caloric sweetened groups, while lean body mass was not affected by the type of sweeteners or temperature. In conclusion, cold-water ingestion improved lean body mass gain and decreased fat gain because of increased energy expenditure, while non-caloric sweetener (acesulfame-K) increased body fat gain due to improved energy efficiency. Internal cold exposure failed to increase energy intake in contrast to that of external cold exposure.

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in integrating pulse flours into pastries and baked products to improve their nutritional and health benefits. “Mankoushe,” a popular Lebanese pastry made up of refined wheat flour was enriched with chickpea flour that is of better nutritional value, and its postprandial glycemia, insulinemia, lipidemia and appetite measures were monitored. A randomized cross-over study was performed on sixteen healthy Lebanese females, age (years): 22.90 ± 3.00, and BMI (kg/m2): 22.70 ± 2.65. Over-night fasted females were asked to consume two iso-energetic meals (201 g; 681 kcal) on two separate days, three days apart. One meal was the “Regular Mankoushe” (RM) made with white flour 100%, and the second meal was the “Chickpeas Mankoushe” (CM) made with a mixture of wheat/chickpea flour (70/30). Blood samples were collected 15 min before meal ingest and at 30, 90, 150 and 210 min postprandial. Glucose, insulin, triglycerides (TG), ghrelin, and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) plasma levels were measured. Subjective appetite rating and food intake were also assessed. Incorporation of pre-processed chickpea flour into “Mankoushe” as 30% of the dough was associated with a modest reduction in both glucose and insulin levels, and TG was minimally affected. At the level of appetite hormones, changes in GLP-1 were similar, whereas the reduction in ghrelin was significantly lower after the RM meal and thus favored a higher satiating effect compared to CM. This was not paralleled by a similar change in subjective appetite scores and subsequent energy intake. In conclusion, findings suggest that pre-processed chickpea flour could be a promising functional ingredient of traditional pastries to improve their nutritional quality. Nevertheless, further investigations are warranted regarding its satiating effect.

The significant worldwide rise in obesity has become a major health problem. Excess adiposity has been extensively linked to inflammation. Recently, studies have shown that dietary intake and microbiota dysbiosis can affect the health of the gut and lead to low-grade systemic inflammation, worsening the state of obesity and further exacerbating inflammation. The latter is shown to decrease iron status and potentially increase the risk of anemia by inhibiting iron absorption. Hence, anemia of obesity is independent of iron intake and does not properly respond to increased iron ingestion. Therefore, countries with a high rate of obesity should assess the health impact of fortification and supplementation with iron due to their potential drawbacks. This review tries to elucidate the relationship between inflammation and iron status to better understand the etiology of anemia of obesity and chronic diseases and wisely design any dietary or medical interventions for the management of anemia and/or obesity.

Introduction Urinary excretion of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), iodine and fluoride is used to assess their statuses and/or the existence of metabolic abnormalities. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the urinary concentration of these minerals among children have not been documented. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study, including 593 subjects (232 boys and 361 girls), was conducted among healthy 6 to 11-year-old Emirati children living in Dubai. Non-fasting morning urine samples and anthropometrical measurements were collected and analyzed. Results were expressed as per mg of creatinine (Cr). Results On average, estimated Cr excretion was 17.88±3.12 mg/kg/d. Mean urinary Ca/Cr, Mg/Cr and P/Cr excretions were 0.08±0.07 mg/mg, 0.09±0.04 mg/mg, and 0.57±0.26 mg/mg respectively. Urinary excretion of Ca, Mg and P were found to decrease as age increased. Urinary excretion and predicted intake of fluoride were lower than 0.05 mg/kg body weight per day. Surprisingly, more than 50% of the children were found to have urinary iodine excretion level above adequate. Conclusion The Emirati schoolchildren had comparable levels of urinary Ca, Mg and P excretion to other countries. The 95% percentile allows the use of the current data as a reference value for the detection of mineral abnormalities. Fluoride excretion implies that Emirati children are at low risk of fluorosis. The level of urinary iodine excretion is slightly higher than recommended and requires close monitoring of the process of salt iodization to avoid the harmful impact of iodine overconsumption.