A Critical Review on the Role of Food and Nutrition in the Energy Balance

Abstract

The mass media has increasingly frequently suggested to the general population that specific foods or nutritional schemes are able to affect both human metabolism and energy expenditure, thus facilitating weight loss. This critical review is aimed at assessing available evidence on the roles of nutrients, food and dietary regimens in energy intake and energy expenditure. We queried the National Library of Medicine, the Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica dataBASEand the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature database, and a search strategy was performed by using database-specific subject headings and keywords. We found that available scientific evidence on these topics is scarce, and that the limited number of available studies often have poor methodological quality. Only a few foods show beneficial effects on metabolism and energy expenditure, as the human energy balance is complex and multifactorial. Finally, microbiota may interfere with the intake, use and expenditure of energy in the human body. Conclusive evidence is still lacking, and, at present, it is not possible to identify a food or a diet with a significant impact on human energy expenditure.

Strategies for Reducing Salt and Sugar Intakes in Individuals at Increased Cardiometabolic Risk

“…However, these flavorings substantially alter the taste and aroma of food and may not be appreciated by everyone. Furthermore, the use of high amount of specific spices and herbs might lead to toxicity [ 40 ].…”

دراسة التغیرات الهستوباثولوجیة فى الفئران البیضاء المصابة بالسمنة باستخدام البابونج والجارسینیا مع تناول أوزان الأعضاء الداخلیة وبعض التغیرات الکیماویة الحیویة

“…The chemical compounds of this plant are as follows: Apigenin, apigenin-7-O-glucoside, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, luteolin, and luteolin-7-O-glucoside, terpene bisabolol farnesene, chamazulene, flavonoids (including apigenin, quercetin, patuletin, and luteolin), and coumarin (Avonto et al, 2013). Garcinia cambogia is a herbal product derived from the fruit of the Malabar tamarind tree (also called Garcinia gummi-gutta) native to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka (Bo et al, 2020). The fruit rind is ‫النوعية‬ ‫التربية‬ ‫مجاالت‬ ‫في‬ ‫البحوث‬ ‫مجلة‬ used either as food preservative, flavoring agent, food-bulking agent or traditional medicine in many Asian countries (Semwal et al, 2015).…”

“…The fruit rind is ‫النوعية‬ ‫التربية‬ ‫مجاالت‬ ‫في‬ ‫البحوث‬ ‫مجلة‬ used either as food preservative, flavoring agent, food-bulking agent or traditional medicine in many Asian countries (Semwal et al, 2015). Garcinia contains xanthones, benzophenones, amino acids and organic acids, of which hydroxy-citric acid (HCA) accounts for 10%-30% of the weight of garcinia fruit and 20%-60% of the extract (Bo et al, 2020). Studies with different duration of compounds administration and doses of Garcinia cambogia or its extract, were performed both in animals and humans with conflicting results.…”

Study The Effect of Chamomile and Garcinia herbs on Obese Rats

“…Garcinia cambogia is an herbal product derived from the fruit of the Malabar tamarind tree (also called Garcinia gummi-gutta) native to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka (Bo et al, 2020). The fruit rind is used either as food preservative, flavoring agent, food-bulking agent or traditional medicine in many Asian countries (Semwal et al, 2015).…”