Analysis of the Current Agricultural Production System, Environmental, and Health Indicators: Necessary the Rediscovering of the Pre-hispanic Mesoamerican Diet?

Castillo, A.; Alavez, Valeria; Castro-Porras, Lilia; Martínez, Yuriana; Cerritos, René

doi:10.3389/fsufs.2020.00005

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Undoubtedly, our eating habits and food production systems, both primary and secondary, must be evaluated from nutritional and sustainable perspectives (Castillo et al, 2020). Obtain animal protein, efficiently converting food into body mass (i.e., FCR ≈ 1) and minimizing economic costs, could significantly reduce environmental impact .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Matter Flow Through an Animal Model Feed With Grasshopper Sphenarium purpurascens: Evidence of a Sustainable and Nutritious Protein Production System

Meza-Cureño

Sánchez

Castillo

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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The demand for food and the environmental damage linked to its production will increase significantly; thus, the need for protein sources that are nutritious, digestible, and sustainable in environmental terms is rising. Many bromatological studies show that insects possess high protein amounts, becoming an alternative to conventional livestock. However, in vivo studies on digestibility are scarce (either on humans or laboratory animals), particularly when analyzing assimilation efficiency. In this work, we measured weight gain, food intake, feces and urine quantification, protein assimilation efficiency, and food conversion ratio in Wistar rats fed with five different diets for 5 weeks. Three diets were based on different concentrations of orthopteran protein (Sphenarium purpurascens) and were compared against a control diet and a highly caloric treatment, which was heavy in sugar and refined flours. The diet based on 23% of S. purpurascens protein resulted in 2.0 and 20.8% more biomass accumulation than the control and the highly caloric diet, respectively. The diets with 18% and 23% insect protein exhibited an average feed conversion of 6.3, while the control group resulted in 8.5 and the caloric diet in 42.7. These results show that S. purpurascens protein yields higher or equal conversion values than a conventional diet, indicating that grasshoppers can be a sustainable and nutritious food for humans and an alternative to livestock. On the other hand, even if feeding insects to farm animals for human consumption is considered an option, it seems highly inefficient, mainly because this practice increases one trophic level in the energy flow. Therefore, incorporating insect protein into human diets represents a sustainable alternative to face future feeding and environmental challenges. Proposals like the one we present here have yet to be evaluated; however, our findings in laboratory animals project a promising future for human populations, where low environmental cost proteins could be obtained sustainably.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Matter Flow Through an Animal Model Feed With Grasshopper Sphenarium purpurascens: Evidence of a Sustainable and Nutritious Protein Production System

Meza-Cureño

Sánchez

Castillo

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…HC contained high amounts of sugars and saturated oils, which have been associated to a large number of non-infectious diseases [57][58][59][60]. Diets of this type have spread to a large part of the Western population, causing serious health problems, especially in children [28,61,62]. In this study, HC works as a proxy for the poor diets adopted by a large part of the Western population.…”

Section: Feed Intake Strongly Influenced Weight Gain In All Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Biochemical and Morphometric Parameters Support Nutritional Benefits in Laboratory Rats Fed With an Orthopteran-Based (Sphenarium purpurascens) Diet

2022

Food Nutr J

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Edible insects are considered a sustainable food source for humans, mainly due to their high protein content and low environmental footprint. Generally, knowledge about the nutritional composition of insects stems from bromatological studies; however, in vivo assays are lacking. This study evaluated the nutritional benefits of consuming Sphenarium purpurascens (Orthoptera) as a protein source on an animal model. Over a 5-week experiment, five Wistar rat groups (7-8 week old males) were fed ad libitum with different diets: three based on varying concentrations of S. purpurascens (i.e., hypoproteic or LPD, standard or SPD, and hyperproteic or HPD), a Control Diet (CT), and a low protein Hypercaloric diet (HC). Grasshopper diets had 18.1%, 23.1%, and 28.7% of total protein, respectively, and 7.19%, 13.44%, and 20.71% of grasshopper protein. Weekly, we assessed morphometric (e.g., weight, length, abdominal circumference, BMI, and Lee's index) and biochemical parameters. In addition, we daily calculated the food consumed per individual. Our results did not show significant differences in morphometric parameters since CT exhibited the highest net weight gain, but SPD showed the best weight gain/food intake ratio. According to biochemical test results, LPD, HPD, and SPD showed significant statistical differences with the control group in hemoglobin, albumin, triglycerides, cholesterol, and glucose content; however, all biochemical parameters remained within the normal range expected for Wistar rats. Our results support the hypothesis that the addition of grasshopper protein to the diet of rats has acceptable nutritional effects (similar to conventional protein) without causing adverse effects on their health. This type of experiment may become essential to develop trials in human populations that evaluate the nutritional benefits of insect protein to support its inclusion in our usual diet.

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“…MyPlate's emphasis on fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts is well-suited to immigrants raised on a traditional Mesoamerican diet of maize, beans (e. g., black, pinto), and squash (e.g., pumpkin, acorn squash) [18]. Furthermore, as this study and others have found, having bilingual, bicultural community health workers (i.e., promotores de salud) as change agents, rather than masters-level health educators, is consistent with community health practices in low-income Latinx communities [19].…”

Section: Myplate-based Recipesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Ancestral recipes”: a mixed-methods analysis of MyPlate-based recipe dissemination for Latinos in rural communities

et al. 2023

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Background The Latinx population experiences some of the highest rates of chronic disease, including obesity and type II diabetes. Such conditions may be especially burdensome in rural Latinx communities that often face barriers to accessing disease prevention resources and public health programs. Methods Diverse stakeholders (i.e., patients, community members, system of healthcare clinics, community food bank) tailored an existing cookbook, based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture MyPlate healthy eating and dietary guidelines, for local ingredients, health literacy, and language for rural Latinx and Indigenous Latin Americans. The cookbook recipes were disseminated widely via virtual cooking demonstrations, food distribution events, and social media. Pre- and posttest surveys were used to assess changes in diabetes knowledge measured by the 24-item American Diabetes Association Diabetic Knowledge Questionnaire and confidence in dietary behavior change over time measured by 4 questions of the 17-item Mediterranean Diet Index. A mixed effects, repeated measures analysis was conducted with gender ID, age range and educational attainment included as covariates and assessment interval as the predictor (pretest vs posttest) and change in confidence about adhering to four specific components of the Mediterranean diet. Focus groups elicited information on participants’ motivation and ability to use the recipes and eat healthy foods following the virtual cooking demonstration participation. Results A total of 20 virtual cooking demonstrations were conducted and 60 participants completed a pretest survey and 54 a posttest survey, a subsample (n = 19) participated in one of three focus groups. Most participants were female, identified as Latinx/Hispanic, were between the ages of 40-49, and spoke Spanish. 17% identified as Indigenous Latin American specifically as Purépecha, an indigenous group from Michoacán, Mexico. Survey and focus group findings indicated at posttest an increase in diabetes knowledge among participants with no prior diagnosis of chronic health conditions and more confidence in limiting sugary beverages and refined wheat pasta/white rice among indigenous participants. Focus group discussions explicated the quantitative findings. Conclusion This study brought together patients and key stakeholders committed to addressing the social determinants of health and it mobilized the community to develop culturally vetted health education materials. The findings indicate the need for increased access to evidence-based nutrition education and to culturally appropriate food products that can be easily incorporated into daily food preparation.

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Analysis of the Current Agricultural Production System, Environmental, and Health Indicators: Necessary the Rediscovering of the Pre-hispanic Mesoamerican Diet?

Cited by 9 publications

References 41 publications

Matter Flow Through an Animal Model Feed With Grasshopper Sphenarium purpurascens: Evidence of a Sustainable and Nutritious Protein Production System

Matter Flow Through an Animal Model Feed With Grasshopper Sphenarium purpurascens: Evidence of a Sustainable and Nutritious Protein Production System

Biochemical and Morphometric Parameters Support Nutritional Benefits in Laboratory Rats Fed With an Orthopteran-Based (Sphenarium purpurascens) Diet

“Ancestral recipes”: a mixed-methods analysis of MyPlate-based recipe dissemination for Latinos in rural communities

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