The digestion resistant fraction obtained in vivo from ileostomy patients (59.4%) is similar to that obtained by the AOAC method for measuring retrograded resistant starch (59.7%). The relative glycemic response after consumption of 50 g of RRM was 58.5% compared to glucose set as 100%. When exposed to colonic microbiota, in vitro obtained indigestible fractions behave similarly to those obtained in vivo in ileostomy patients. Fermentation of RRM and production of butyric acid is negligible during the first months of life but develops subsequently during weaning. In adults, RRM fermentation results in a high yield of SCFA, with butyrate representing 21-31 mol % of total SCFA. The high yield of SCFA during colonic fermentation, observed from weaning age on, as well as the potential to help reduce glycemic load may be of benefit to a number of health-related functions in the host. Further study on clear clinical end points is warranted.

The development of the sports food market and industrial involvement have led to numerous nutritional studies to define the type of nutrients that are most suited to support energy metabolism, fluid balance and muscle function. The key question in many of these studies was: ‘Does the product lead to a significant product/consumer benefit that can be used as a claim on the package?’ New methods and techniques have been developed, partly with sponsorship of the food industry, with the goal of measuring the effects of specific nutrients and supplements on athletic performance and metabolism. In line with this development, a wide variety of supplements and sports foods/drinks labelled with various performance or health benefit statements have been launched on the sports nutrition market. Although a variety of products have been tested clinically, there are also many products on the market with benefit claims that cannot be supported by sound nutritional and sports physiological science. The current short review highlights some of the methods and biomarkers that are used to substantiate product/consumer benefit claims for foods and drinks that are marketed as functional foods for athletes.

Background and aim Diagnostic guidelines for the investigation of dyspepsia for patients <50 years have been implemented. However, it is unsure whether these guidelines are used appropriately. We aimed to investigate the adherence to the national guidelines of uninvestigated dyspepsia and to examine the prevalence of upper gastrointestinal pathology in patients 18–50 years. We also aimed to detect any possible risk factors for pathology in esophagogastroduodenoscopy referrals and to evaluate differences between referrals from the hospital and primary health care. Method This is a retrospective review of medical records including patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy between January 2019 and April 2020 (n = 1809). Odds ratios (OR), positive predictive values (PPV), negative predictive values (NPV), chi-square and Mann–Whitney U-tests were applied. Results In total 1708 patients were included, of whom 43.6% (n = 744) had a pathologic finding. Age group 41–50 years showed the highest prevalence with an OR 1.34 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.07–1.69]. Helicobacter pylori testing was performed in 21.1% (n = 167) of patients with dyspepsia lacking alarm symptoms (n = 791). PPV and OR were generally low for a pathologic esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The absence of alarm symptoms showed a high NPV for significant pathology (98.7–99.6%). Significant pathology was almost exclusively found in hospital-based referrals. Conclusions Esophagogastroduodenoscopy is widely performed in young adults, often without significant findings. Adherence to the national guidelines was poor. No referral factors were associated with a significant risk for a pathologic finding. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy based on primary healthcare referrals demonstrated almost exclusively benign pathology. Significant pathology was only found via hospital-based referrals.