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Louro T, Castelo PM, Simões C, Capela E Silva F, Luís H, Moreira P, Lamy E. Adherence to mediterranean diet and aromatic plants intake are related with gustatory function: A case-study from a Portuguese region. Appetite 2024; 201:107581. [PMID: 38945368 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2024] [Revised: 05/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
The Mediterranean Diet has been recognized as one of the healthiest and most sustainable dietary patterns and is flavor rich due to the use of different seasonings, such as aromatic plants, in dish confection. Based on the hypotheses that: 1) gustatory function will affect food choices; 2) seasoning flavors may be differently accepted according to individuals' gustatory functions; the aim of the present study was to assess the association between taste sensitivity and/or preference with Mediterranean Diet adherence and seasoning consumption. A total of 383 adults (18-59 years old; 198 female, 185 male) from North Alentejo region of Portugal were enrolled in this study, with 291 (145 female and 146 male) also evaluated for gustatory function. Recognition thresholds were obtained for four tastes (sweet, sour, salty, and bitter) and astringency, as well as preference level for the highest concentration of each stimulus tested. A validated Food Frequency Questionnaire was filled out, and MD adherence was extrapolated from the answers of the Food Frequency Questionnaire according to the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) score. In total, 20.8% of the individuals presented low, 58.2% medium, and 21.0% high adherence. Adherence was higher in women than men and in older individuals than younger adults. Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet was positively correlated with aromatic plants consumption but not spices. Seasonings were associated with gustatory function, and the cluster with higher consumption presented higher preferences for bitter and salty tastes. Total sodium intake was also higher in this cluster, suggesting that these individuals prefer stronger oral sensations. In conclusion, this study shows that MD adherence is not high, even in regions with rural characteristics. The observed association of MD and seasoning intake with gustatory function do underline the usefulness of this information in strategies aimed at promoting healthy and sustainable eating patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Louro
- MED - Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Institute for Advanced Studies and Research, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554, Évora, Portugal
| | - Paula Midori Castelo
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Diadema, 09972-270, Brazil
| | - Carla Simões
- MED - Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Institute for Advanced Studies and Research, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554, Évora, Portugal
| | - Fernando Capela E Silva
- MED - Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Institute for Advanced Studies and Research, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554, Évora, Portugal; Department of Medical and Health Sciences, School of Health and Human Development, Universidade de Évora, Rua Romão Ramalho nº 59, 7000-671, Évora, Portugal
| | - Henrique Luís
- Oral and Biomedical Sciences Research Unit (UICOB), Faculdade de Medicina Dentária, Universidade de Lisboa, 1600-277, Lisboa, Portugal; Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciThecCare), Politécnico de Leiria, 2411-901, Leiria, Portugal
| | - Pedro Moreira
- Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Universidade do Porto, 4150-180, Porto, Portugal
| | - Elsa Lamy
- MED - Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Institute for Advanced Studies and Research, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554, Évora, Portugal.
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Hill A, Nara D, Sorscher S, Musicus AA, Lurie P. How Salty Is Too Salty? Designing Sodium Warning Label Policies to Identify High-Sodium Items on Restaurant Menus in the United States. Nutrients 2024; 16:1797. [PMID: 38931152 PMCID: PMC11206306 DOI: 10.3390/nu16121797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2024] [Revised: 06/04/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Two U.S. cities require chain restaurants to label menu items that exceed 100% of the Daily Value (DV) for sodium, informing consumers and potentially prompting restaurant reformulation. To inform policy design for other localities, this study determined the percentage of the top 91 U.S. chain restaurants' menu items that would be labeled if a warning policy were established for menu items exceeding the thresholds of 20%, 33%, 50%, 65%, and 100% of the sodium DV for adults. We obtained U.S. chain restaurants' nutrition information from the 2019 MenuStat database and calculated the percentage of items requiring sodium warning labels across the food and beverage categories at all the restaurants and at the full- and limited-service restaurants separately. In total, 19,038 items were included in the analyses. A warning label covering items with >20%, >33%, >50%, >65%, and >100% of the sodium DV resulted in expected coverage of 42%, 30%, 20%, 13%, and 5% of menu items at all the restaurants, respectively. At each threshold, the average percentage of items labeled per restaurant was higher among the full-service restaurants than the limited-service restaurants. These results suggest that restaurant warning policies with a threshold of 100% of the sodium DV per item would cover a minority of high-sodium menu items and that lower thresholds should be considered to help U.S. consumers reduce their sodium consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alla Hill
- Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1250 I Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005, USA; (D.N.); (S.S.); (A.A.M.); (P.L.)
| | - DeAnna Nara
- Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1250 I Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005, USA; (D.N.); (S.S.); (A.A.M.); (P.L.)
| | - Sarah Sorscher
- Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1250 I Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005, USA; (D.N.); (S.S.); (A.A.M.); (P.L.)
| | - Aviva A. Musicus
- Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1250 I Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005, USA; (D.N.); (S.S.); (A.A.M.); (P.L.)
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Peter Lurie
- Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1250 I Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005, USA; (D.N.); (S.S.); (A.A.M.); (P.L.)
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Rosa A, Pinna I, Piras A, Porcedda S, Masala C. Sex Differences in the Bitterness Perception of an Aromatic Myrtle Bitter Liqueur and Bitter Compounds. Nutrients 2023; 15:2030. [PMID: 37432169 DOI: 10.3390/nu15092030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023] Open
Abstract
We evaluated sex differences in the perception of bitter compounds and an aromatic bitter herbal liqueur (Mirtamaro) obtained by the infusion of myrtle leaves/berries together with a mixture of Mediterranean herbs/plants as flavoring/bittering ingredients. In a healthy population (n = 231 participants), using bivariate correlations and multivariate linear regression analyses, significant sex differences emerged in quinine bitterness perception, with women showing a higher bitter taste intensity rating than men. Among all participants, 40 subjects (subpopulation) were randomly selected for the evaluation of sex differences in Mirtamaro gustatory and olfactory perception using a hedonic Likert-type scale. Women showed higher ratings in Mirtamaro aroma (odor intensity) and bitterness (taste intensity) perception than men, with a superior capacity to perceive/describe its sensory attributes. 1,8-Cineole and methyl chavicol were the main contributors to the bitter liqueur aroma. A significant correlation (r = 0.564, p < 0.01) between Mirtamaro odor pleasantness/taste pleasantness was observed in women, indicating a positive contribution of aromatic herbs to bitter taste acceptability. Moreover, a higher bitter intensity rating of 6-n-propylthiouracil was evidenced in women than men. Our results highlighted sex differences in bitter taste acuity and the role of aromatic herbs/plants in modulating bitter taste acceptance, which is useful information in the field of precision nutrition and medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Rosa
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, SS 554, Km 4.5, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
| | - Ilenia Pinna
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, SS 554, Km 4.5, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
| | - Alessandra Piras
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, SS 554, Km 4.5, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
| | - Silvia Porcedda
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, SS 554, Km 4.5, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
| | - Carla Masala
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, SS 554, Km 4.5, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
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Du W, Zhang P, Zhang J, Li Y, He FJ, Zhang X, Su C, Jia X, Li L, Song J, Zhang B, Wang H. Sodium Reduction in Restaurant Food: A Randomized Controlled Trial in China. Nutrients 2022; 14:nu14245313. [PMID: 36558472 PMCID: PMC9781955 DOI: 10.3390/nu14245313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Restaurant food is one of the important sources of sodium intake in China. We aimed to determine whether a restaurant-based comprehensive intervention program may induce lower sodium content in restaurant food. A randomized controlled trial was implemented between 2019 and 2020 in 192 restaurants in China. After baseline assessment, the restaurants were randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control group (1:1). Comprehensive activities designed for intervention restaurants were conducted for one year. The primary outcome was the difference in change of sodium content estimated by the mean values of five best-selling dishes for each restaurant, from baseline to the end of the trial between groups. In total, 66 control restaurants and 80 intervention restaurants completed the follow-up assessment. The average sodium content of dishes at baseline was 540.9 ± 176.8 mg/100 g in control and 551.9 ± 149.0 mg/100 g in intervention restaurants. The mean effect of intervention after adjusting for confounding factors was -43.63 mg/100 g (95% CI: from -92.94 to 5.66, p = 0.08), representing an 8% reduction in sodium content. The restaurant-based intervention led to a modest but not significant reduction in the sodium content of restaurant food. There is great urgency for implementing effective and sustainable salt reduction programs, due to the rapid increase in the consumption of restaurant food in China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenwen Du
- National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition, National Health Commission, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Puhong Zhang
- George Institute for Global Health, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100600, China
- Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 1466, Australia
| | - Jiguo Zhang
- National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition, National Health Commission, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Yuan Li
- George Institute for Global Health, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100600, China
- Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 1466, Australia
| | - Feng J. He
- Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Xiaofan Zhang
- National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition, National Health Commission, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Chang Su
- National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition, National Health Commission, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Xiaofang Jia
- National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition, National Health Commission, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Li Li
- National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition, National Health Commission, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Jing Song
- Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Bing Zhang
- National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition, National Health Commission, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Huijun Wang
- National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Element Nutrition, National Health Commission, Beijing 100050, China
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +86-10-66237089
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Role of Aromatic Herbs and Spices in Salty Perception of Patients with Hyposmia. Nutrients 2022; 14:nu14234976. [PMID: 36501005 PMCID: PMC9740803 DOI: 10.3390/nu14234976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Herbs and spices represent a possibility for the improvement of anosmia and ageusia. In this work we evaluated the role of Mediterranean aromatic herbs and spices in the salty taste perception of patients with hyposmia compared to healthy controls. To this goal, the salty taste perception in response to pure salt and different types of commercial flavored sea salt was assessed in patients with hyposmia, with or without a post-acute coronavirus syndrome, and healthy controls. Myrtle berries and leaves, a mixture of Mediterranean herbs and plants such as helichrysum, rosemary, liquorice, fennel seeds and myrtle leaves, oranges and saffron were used as salt flavoring ingredients. Differences in gustatory perception between 57 patients with hyposmia and 91 controls were evaluated considering the rate of the gustatory dimensions of pleasantness, intensity, and familiarity, using a 7-point hedonic Likert-type scale. At a dose of 0.04 g/mL, saline solutions of flavored salts, with an average 15% less NaCl, were perceived by patients with hyposmia as equally intense but less familiar than pure salt solution, with similar scores in the pleasantness dimension. Our study highlighted the central role of Mediterranean aromatic plants in the enhancement of salty perception in patients with hyposmia.
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