Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Health-promoting Effects (health-promoting + effects)
Selected AbstractsHealth-promoting effects of a multicomponent food supplementFOCUS ON ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH, Issue 1 2004Article first published online: 14 JUN 2010 [source] Raw potato starch and short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides affect the composition and metabolic activity of rat intestinal microbiota differently depending on the caecocolonic segment involvedJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2003G.M. Le Blay Abstract Aims:In vitro studies have suggested that fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and resistant starch (two fermentable non-digestible carbohydrates) display different fermentation kinetics. This study investigated whether these substrates affect the metabolic activity and bacterial composition of the intestinal microflora differently depending on the caecocolonic segment involved. Methods and Results: Eighteen rats were fed a low-fibre diet (Basal) or the same diet containing raw potato starch (RPS) (9%) or short-chain FOS (9%) for 14 days. Changes in wet-content weights, bacterial populations and metabolites were investigated in the caecum, proximal and distal colon and faeces. Both substrates exerted a prebiotic effect compared with the Basal diet. However, FOS increased lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAPB) throughout the caecocolon and in faeces, whereas the effect of RPS was limited to the caecum and proximal colon. As compared with RPS, FOS doubled the pool of caecal fermentation products, while the situation was just the opposite distally. This difference was mainly because of the anatomical distribution of lactate, which accumulated in the caecum with FOS and in the distal colon with RPS. Faeces reflected these impacts only partly, showing the prebiotic effect of FOS and the metabolite increase induced by RPS. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that FOS and RPS exert complementary caecocolonic effects. Significance and Impact of the study: The RPS and FOS combined ingestion could be beneficial by providing health-promoting effects throughout the caecocolon. [source] HPLC Analysis of Catechins, Theaflavins, and Alkaloids in Commercial Teas and Green Tea Dietary Supplements: Comparison of Water and 80% Ethanol/Water ExtractsJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 6 2006Mendel Friedman ABSTRACT:, To help meet the needs of consumers, producers of dietary tea supplements, and researchers for information on health-promoting tea compounds, we compared the following conditions for the extraction of tea leaves and green tea-containing dietary supplements: 80% ethanol/water at 60 °C for 15 min and boiled water for 5 min. The following 7 catechins, 4 theaflavins, and 3 alkaloids were separated in a 70-min single HPLC analysis: (,)-epigallocatechin, (,)-catechin, (+)-epicatechin, (,)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, (,),gallocatechin-3-gallate, (,)-epicatechin-3-gallate, (,)-catechin-3-gallate, theaflavin, theaflavin-3-gallate, theaflavin-3,-gallate, theaflavin-3,3,-digallate, caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline. The following ranges of concentrations of flavonoids (catechins plus theaflavins) in the tea leaves extracted with 80% ethanol were observed (in mg/g): in 32 black teas, 19.8 to 115.1; in 24 green teas, 12.3 to 136.3; in 14 specialty teas, 4.9 to 118.5; in 7 herbal teas, 0 to 46.0. Total alkaloids in all teas ranged from 0 to 32.6 mg/g. Significantly greater amounts of flavonoids were extracted from the tea leaves with aqueous ethanol than with boiled water. Levels of tea catechins in 10 capsules sold as dietary supplements were about 50 to 75% lower than the amounts listed on the labels. Catechin content of 4 commercial green tea extracts ranged from 96 to 696 mg/g. The results make it possible to maximize the extraction of tea compounds to better relate the flavonoid and alkaloid content of teas and dietary tea supplements to their health-promoting effects. [source] Phytoestrogen content of alfalfa cultivars grown in eastern CanadaJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 5 2006Philippe Seguin Abstract Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) contains several phytoestrogens that may have health-promoting effects in humans. In this study, the concentrations of three phytoestrogens (apigenin, coumestrol, and luteolin) of ten field-grown alfalfa cultivars were determined in the seeding and post-seeding year at two sites in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada. Herbage and phytoestrogen yield per hectare were concurrently determined. Differences between cultivars were only observed for apigenin concentration and yield and coumestrol yield. There was a 37% variation between cultivars in apigenin concentration. Site-by-harvest interactions and harvest main effects were observed for the concentration and yield of all three phytoestrogens. There was a 2- and 2.5-fold variation in coumestrol and luteolin concentrations, respectively, between harvests of both sites. Coumestrol concentration was lower in harvests of the seeding than of the post-seeding year. Luteolin concentration fluctuated during the five harvests at one site, but was greater in the seeding than in the post-seeding year at the other site. There was a 5.4-fold variation in apigenin concentration between harvests of both sites, concentrations being lower in the seeding (avg. 173 µg g,1 DM) than in the post-seeding year. Results suggest that choice of cultivars have limited impact on alfalfa phytoestrogen concentration, which, however, greatly differ between harvests and sites. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Bioactivity of falcarinol and the influenceof processing and storage on its content in carrots (Daucus carota L)JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 10 2003Susanne L Hansen Abstract The concentration-dependent activity of the polyacetylene falcarinol ((9Z)-heptadeca-1,9-dien-4,6-diyn-3-ol), isolated from carrots, was investigated in a bioassay with primary mammary epithelial cells in collagen gels and compared with that of ,-carotene, the orange pigment in carrots. Falcarinol showed biphasic activity, having stimulatory effects between 0.01 and 0.05 µg ml,1 and inhibitory effects between 1 and 10 µg ml,1, whereas ,-carotene showed no effect in the concentration range 0.001,100 µg ml,1. The results are discussed in relation to the health-promoting effects of carrots and related vegetables. Falcarinol was quantified in the carrot cultivars Bolero, Rodelika and Fancy by analytical reverse phase HPLC, subjected to various processing and storage conditions in order to study how long-term storage, blanching, freezing and boiling influence the content of falcarinol. Long-term storage of raw carrot cubes (1 cm3) reduced the falcarinol content by almost 35%. A similar reduction was found in steam-blanched carrot cubes (1 cm3). Long-term storage at ,24 °C of steam blanched carrot cubes did not reduce the falcarinol content further. A reduction of almost 70% in the falcarinol content was found in carrot pieces boiled in water for 12 min compared with raw carrots. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Personal view: food for thought , western lifestyle and susceptibility to Crohn's disease.ALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 12 2005The FODMAP hypothesis Summary Susceptibility to the development of Crohn's disease involves a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The association of Crohn's disease with westernization has implicated lifestyle factors in pathogenesis. While diet is a likely candidate, evidence for specific changes in dietary habits and/or intake has been lacking. A new hypothesis is proposed, by which excessive delivery of highly fermentable but poorly absorbed short-chain carbohydrates and polyols (designated FODMAPs , Fermentable Oligo-, Di- and Mono-saccharides And Polyols) to the distal small intestinal and colonic lumen is a dietary factor underlying susceptibility to Crohn's disease. The subsequent rapid fermentation of FODMAPs in the distal small and proximal large intestine induces conditions in the bowel that lead to increased intestinal permeability, a predisposing factor to the development of Crohn's disease. Evidence supporting this hypothesis includes the increasing intake of FODMAPs in western societies, the association of increased intake of sugars in the development of Crohn's disease, and the previously documented effects of the ingestion of excessive FODMAPs on the bowel. This hypothesis provides potential for the design of preventive strategies and raises concern about current enthusiasm for putative health-promoting effects of FODMAPs. One of the greatest challenges in defining the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease is to identify predisposing environmental factors. Such an achievement might lead to the development of preventive strategies for, and the definition of, possible target for changing the natural history of this serious disease. The present paper describes a new hypothesis for one such environmental factor. [source] | |||||||||||||