Current Nutrition & Food Science - Volume 7, Issue 2, 2011

There is great concern about the high prevalence of and increasing trend toward obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) worldwide. Around one-third of women of reproductive age are classified as obese. Maternal size before conception plays a key role in determining not only maternal health during and after pregnancy, but also perinatal outcomes. Being overweight or obese can reduce fertility and increase the risk of developing gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and delivery complications in pregnancy. Being underweight before becoming pregnant can have its own health implications, including increased risk of small-forgestational age deliveries. A reproductive-age woman's nutritional status has a profound impact on her own health, and it can impact fertility and reproductive outcomes for short- and long-term health. However, many childbearing age women do not maintain a healthy diet before conception or during pregnancy. Folic acid is a nutrient currently recognized as important prior to and during pregnancy because of its proven preventive properties against neural tube defects. In addition, inadequate folate levels have been linked to increased risks of macrocytic anaemia, atherosclerotic disease, stroke, cancer and psychiatric disorders in later life. Promoting women's health during preconception and pregnancy is a key public health strategy. Women of childbearing age should maintain good nutritional status through their lifestyles. Most women can benefit from advice on general dietary improvements, while the remainder should seek advice on how to promote the quality and quantity of nutritional intake. Health interventions are needed to help women obtain a healthy body weight and to educate them about the importance of eating a healthy diet ‘before’ becoming pregnant. This special issue is based on discussions of the necessity of folate intake and appropriate weight before conception and during pregnancy and aims to highlight the importance of maintaining good health. A critical goal is for women to make behaviour changes to achieve good nutritional status before, during and beyond their pregnancies, which may lead to improved mental and physical health in later life for both themselves and their family members.

Although the use of folic acid supplements before and in the early stages of pregnancy is becoming increasingly well known, messages about the importance of obtaining a healthy body weight ‘before’ becoming pregnant do not appear to be as widely known and significantly add to financial stains placed upon health services. For women, being overweight or obese can reduce fertility, and increase the risk of developing gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and delivery complications in pregnancy. Equally, being underweight before becoming pregnancy can has its own health implications, including increased risk of small-for-gestational age (SGA) deliveries. Consequently, body weights outside recommended reference ranges before pregnancy may contribute to a cycle of poor intergenerational health. Health interventions are needed to help women obtain a healthy bodyweight and educate them about the importance of eating a healthy diet ‘before’ becoming pregnant.

After the publication of the results of Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome study (HAPO study) in 2008, the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) proposed the International Standardized Definition and Diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in 2010. The number of patients diagnosed as having GDM is expected to increase with the use of the revised new diagnostic criteria for GDM. Although the difference in the diagnostic yield would depend on the old diagnostic criteria in each region, the diagnosis rate of GDM is expected to increase by 1.5- to 4-fold with the use of the new revised criteria. In the conventional management system, the significant increase in the time that would need to be devoted for nutritional instruction will put a great burden on registered dietitians. There is an urgent need to create an adequate system to handle the increase in the number of women with GDM diagnosed according to the revised diagnostic criteria for GDM.

The term folate intake is used to represent folate that occurs naturally in food as well as folic acid from fortified foods and dietary supplements. Mothers have an increased risk for giving birth to infants with spina bifida and other neural tube defects if their folate status is inadequate during early pregnancy. Improved total folate intake is warranted in targeted subgroups, which includes women of childbearing age. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the folate intake based on the recommended total folate from natural foods, fortified foods and supplements for reproductive aged females. Studies, conducted in the United States and internationally, published between 2002 -2010 were identified through a library search of databases and an examination of reference lists of relevant publications. Studies included those that involved females 15 years and older and examined their folate intake. Only articles published in peer reviewed journals in English were included in this review. Ten studies were identified that met the review criteria. Findings from this review suggest that there has been some progress since the 1998 implementation of fortification of cereal products and the recommendation for women who are planning a pregnancy to take 400 μg of folic acid a day in supplements. However given that consumption of folic acid is an important public health goal to prevent neural tube defect and as many pregnancies are unplanned, an evaluation of strategies including those targeting specific cultural and ethnic groups is needed for females of reproductive age.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common metabolic disorder during pregnancy. GDM can cause significant problems including some perinatal complications, neonatal complications, and metabolic disorders to offspring in later life. The primary management mode for women with GDM is nutritional therapy. Some women with GDM need diet therapy alone, and some women require both diet therapy and insulin. Thus far, there is no universal dietary management of GDM, because there have been no universal diagnostic criteria and genomic backgrounds differ according to ethnicity. However, some consensus guidelines exist. This review details these consensus guidelines for the optimal nutritional management for GDM.

Folate is a water-soluble B-vitamin necessary for the proper biosynthesis of the monoamine neurotransmitters serotonin, epinephrine, and dopamine. Epidemiological and biological evidence suggests that low folate appears to be most closely linked to depressive disorders among individuals with epilepsy, people suffering from neurological and psychiatric problems, as well as the elderly. Folic acid influences the rate of synthesis of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin and acts as a cofactor in the hydroxylation of phenylalanine and tryptophan. A disturbance of biogenic amine metabolism may lead to various psychiatric disorders. Folic acid deficiency may contribute to pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders such as mental confusion, memory changes, cognitive slowing, and mood disorder. However, since almost all published studies have been conducted with the elderly or with persons with dementia disease, the effects of folate on the mental health of people of reproductive age are not yet known. Findings from this review suggest that low folate status can be a key factor in the expression of depressive symptoms. However, it is difficult to evaluate whether folate deficiency is a substantial contributor to depressive symptoms in reproductive-age women in scan data compared to the numerous data for older women. A critical goal is for women to make behavior changes for good nutritional status before, during, and beyond pregnancy, as this may lead to improved mental and physical health in later life for both themselves and their family members.

Epidemiological studies have shown a positive relation between diet and good health. Seeds, like soybeans, considered in the past as detrimental to health due to some anti-nutritional factors, are studied now with a new perspective. Since the last decade, many studies have been published relating some soy components such as isoflavones, saponines, trypsin inhibitors, used for the prevention of specific illnesses. The same effect has been attributed to some proteins. Soy proteins present higher nutritional values as compared to cereals and other legumes, but they do not produce as good results as casein when subject to biological analysis. Germination has been proposed to increase this relation, as well as to promote the generation of some bioactive peptides, that could be associated to a decrease of some malign tumour cells. These nutraceutical properties have increased the interest in adding soybean proteins to food, but the effect that these materials have in the product establishes the level of addition. Bread has been one of the products where this kind of proteins has been tested. This review deals with the different kinds of soy compounds added to bread products and their effect on technological properties, looking for obtaining of a nutraceutical product.

Epidemiological studies have suggested many potential health benefits of consumption of soy foods. Earlier studies in animals and humans have also suggested that dietary soy protein containing isoflavones have beneficial effects on blood pressure and lipid parameters. Recently, there is growing interest into the effects of soy isoflavones against endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis, and myocardial ischemic reperfusion (I/R) injury. Soy isoflavones exert antiatherosclerotic effects through diverse mechanisms including reversal of endothelial dysfunction, decreasing inflammatory biomarkers, and providing antioxidant action. Soy isoflavones have also been reported to have beneficial effects on I/R injury in animal models. It is noteworthy that clinical studies involving dietary products and dietary supplements are fraught with multiple complexity and confounding factors. Therefore, it is deem necessary to understand the effects of pure isolated active constituents of dietary supplement to extrapolate the cardioprotective or deleterious effects of high consumption soy as dietary supplements. This review will focus on discussing the latest research on the cardioprotective effects of soy isoflavones and their underlying molecular mechanisms. A rigorous assessment of the effects of pure isolated soy isoflavones in well-controlled human trials will be required for better understanding of the effects of soy isoflavones in cardiovascular health.

Cardiovascular diseases, first cause of morbility and mortality in developed countries, are influenced by nutritional habits. The aim of our study, DORICA, is to identify the most frequent dietary patterns in the Occidentalized societies that contribute to the cardiovascular risk and to establish how they influence in the health of the population. For that purpose we made a transversal study taking aleatory samples from different Spanish regions from 1990 until 2000. We identified three patterns: high-protein one, Mediterranean diet and unbalanced diet. The first one is the most prevalent among men, active smokers and young individuals and is associated with obesity and hypercholesterolemia. People that followed the unbalanced diet had a mean of two cardiovascular risk factors. Most of the individuals from the Mediterranean pattern had a high cultural and socioeconomic level, low index of cholesterol and practiced more physical activity but this group had the highest proportion of members suffering from hypertension.

Boron (B) and molybdenum (Mo), two of the seven essential micronutrients, also known as trace elements, are required for the normal growth of most plants. The Principal functions of B include its role in membrane integrity, seed production, root elongation and sugar metabolism. During recent years, B has also been found to be implicated in human health. Detailed studies need to be undertaken to monitor and promote the concentration of B in vegetables and other food crops as it may be related to human and animal health. The chief biochemical functions of Mo include its role in N fixation in legumes, and regulation of nitrate reduction and protein content. The role of Mo in humans, in general, is less well understood. Plants can have very high levels of Mo before its toxicity symptoms appear. It is well known that feeding crops, high in Mo, to the cattle, results in Mo toxicity, often referred to as molybdenosis or Mo induced Cu deficiency. In humans, B deficiency has been found to be linked to calcium metabolism, bone health, prostate cancer, enhancing the effect of estrogen ingestion, cognitive functions, thyroids function and some other ailments. Some of the B deficiency diseases include arthritis, osteoporosis and abnormal bone growth, reduced estrogen ingestion, rapid heart rate and muscle cramping. In general, Mo deficiency in humans is not common. Deficiency of Mo in humans has been reported in patients receiving prolonged parenteral nutrition. Chief symptoms of Mo deficiency include tachycardia, headache, mental disturbances and coma.

Epidemiological studies have emphasized the importance of Enterococcus spp. in regard to positive and negative role of these bacteria. Presented work investigated a relationship among some factors (cytolysin, gelatinase, esp and biofilm formation) on phenotypic and genotypic level in relation to antibiotic resistance (gentamicin -GEN, streptomycin- STR, and vancomycin-VAN) in 82 enterococcal isolates (18 isolates of Enteroccus faecium, 26 of E. faecalis, 35 of E. casseliflavus and 3 of E. gallinarum) taken from cloacal swabs of poultry and from the water intended for livestock breeding. For phenotypic determination, commercial cultivation methods were used. Genes for appropriate factors were detected by polymerase chain reaction. Among tested isolates, 53 (65%) carried gelE gene and consequently 43 (52%) isolates produced gelatinase. The presence of cyl operon was detected in 53 (65%) and production of haemolysin on horse blood agar was determined in 37 (45%). In 14 (17%) isolates, esp gene was detected, but 28 (34%) isolates including those without esp gene detection were considered as strong biofilm producers. In 11 isolates (13%), all three genes (esp/gelE/cylA) were present contrary to 18 (22%) strains with negative PCR reaction. Resistance to GEN and STR was detected in 1 and 3 isolates respectively. All enterococci tested were susceptible to VAN. No relationship between virulence factors and resistance to antimicrobials was found. The data of this study proved relatively wide distribution of virulence factors among enterococci of animal and environmental origin and suggested that such isolates can be a reservoir of virulence trait.