Fortification of industrialized foods with vitamins

Vitamin E deficiency in childhood: a narrative review

Vitamin E is an important nutrient from the earliest stages of life. It plays key roles as an antioxidant and in the maintenance of the immune system, among others. Vitamin E deficiency (VED), which occurs more frequently in children, is rarely addressed in the literature. This narrative review aims to summarise the chemistry, biology, serum indicators and clinical trials that have evaluated the impact of fortification and other relevant aspects of vitamin E, in addition to the prevalence of its deficiency, in children worldwide. Vitamin E intake in recommended amounts is essential for this nutrient to perform its functions in the body. Serum α-tocopherol is the most widely used biochemical indicator to assess the prevalence of VED. VED has been associated with symptoms secondary to fat malabsorption and may lead to peripheral neuropathy and increased erythrocyte haemolysis. Reduced concentrations of α-tocopherol may be caused by the combination of diets with low amounts of vitamin E and inadequate consumption of fats, proteins and calories. The lowest prevalence of VED was found in Asia and the highest in North America and Brazil. High proportions of VED provide evidence that this nutritional deficiency is a public health problem in children and still little addressed in the international scientific literature. The planning, evaluation and implementation of health policies aimed at combatting VED in the paediatric population are extremely important.

B-vitamins and heat processed fermented starchy and vegetable foods in sub-Saharan Africa: A review

Micronutrient deficiency still occurs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) despite the availability of several food resources, particularly fermented foods and vegetables, with high nutritional potential. Fermentation enhances the quality of food in several aspects. Organoleptically, certain taste, aroma, and textures are developed. Health and safety are improved by inhibiting the growth of several foodborne pathogens and removing harmful toxic compounds. Furthermore, nutrition is enhanced by improving micronutrient contents and bioavailability from the food, especially vitamin B content. However, during processing and before final consumption, many fermented foods are heat treated (drying, pasteurization, cooking, etc.) to make the food digestible and safe for consumption. Heat treatment improves the bioavailability of B-vitamins in some foods. In other foods, heating decreases the nutritional value because some B-vitamins are degraded. In SSA, cooked starchy foods are often associated with vegetables in household meals. This paper reviews studies that have focused fermented starchy foods and vegetable foods in SSA with the potential to provide B-vitamins to consumers. The review also describes the process of the preparation of these foods for final consumption, and techniques that can prevent or lessen B-vitamin loss, or enrich B-vitamins prior to consumption.

Ultra-processed food intake is associated with children and adolescents with congenital heart disease clustered by high cardiovascular risk factors

The excessive intake of ultra-processed foods (UPF) is associated with an increase in cardiovascular risk. However, the effect of UPF intake on cardiovascular health in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) is unknown. The aim of the present study was to describe UPF intake and evaluate associations with isolated cardiovascular risk factors and children and adolescents with CHD clustered by cardiovascular risk factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 232 children and adolescents with CHD. Dietary intake was assessed using three 24-hour recalls. UPF were categorised using the NOVA classification. The cardiovascular risk factors evaluated were central adiposity, elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and subclinical atherosclerosis. The clustering of cardiovascular risk factors (waist circumference, hs-CRP and carotid intima-media thickness) was performed, allocating the participants to two groups (high v. low cardiovascular risk). UPF contributed 40·69 % (sd 6·21) to total energy intake. The main UPF groups were ready-to-eat and take-away/fast foods (22·2 % energy from UPF). The multivariable logistic regression revealed that an absolute increase of 10 % in UPF intake (OR = 1·90; 95 % CI: 1·01;3·58) was associated with central adiposity. An absolute increase of 10 % in UPF intake (OR = 3·77; 95 % CI: 1·80, 7·87) was also associated with children and adolescents with CHD clustered by high cardiovascular risk after adjusting for confounding factors. Our findings demonstrate that UPF intake should be considered as a modifiable risk factor for obesity and its cardiovascular consequences in children and adolescents with CHD.

Micronutrient Fortification in Foods and Soy Milk, Plant Based Milk Substitute, as a Candidate Vehicle

Background:

Background: Food fortification is an effective intervention strategy to combat micronutrient malnutrition, hidden hunger, and improvement of public health and nutritional status. Choice of a cost-effective, widely consumed, compatible, and stable candidate vehicle is essential for a successful fortification.

Objective:

Objective: This comprehensive review discusses the aspects of food fortification along with the suitability of soy milk, plant based milk substitute as a candidate vehicle for fortification.

Methods:

Methods: Literature mining was done in food research journals, Pubmed, Scopus for collection of adopted fortification strategies and preferred vehicles for fortification.

Results:

Results: Soy milk is a popular health beverage, globally consumed and preferred amongst lacto-vegetarians and especially those with bovine milk allergy and lactose intolerance. This plant-based milk alternative is enriched in polyunsaturated fatty acids, phytoestrogens, and isoflavones along with different macro-and micronutrients. As a candidate vehicle, soy milk offers the advantage of incorporating a wide range of fortificants, is widely consumed, stable, and is compatible with fortificants.

Conclusion:

Conclusion: Successful implementation of the fortification strategy and its global scale-up need to overcome different scientific and technological hurdles, socio-economic, ethical, and political barriers as well as legislative issues. Public-private, multi-stake holder and global partnerships, boosting of small-scale food industries, and developing tie-ups with large scale industries, promoting public awareness about the need of fortification are other necessary requisites.

Influence of cooking process on the content of water-soluble B vitamins in rice marketed in Iran

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of cooking method on thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), and pyridoxine (B6) vitamin content of rice samples consumed in Iran by using high-performance liquid chromatography technique. The amount of B1, B2, and B6 obtained ranged from 2.98 to 15.89, 1.15 to 22.19, and 0.96 to 4.44 μg/g, respectively, for the boiling method. In the traditional method, these vitamins had a concentration between 4.09 and 29.55, 4.87 and 16.19, and 1.52 and 12.18 μg/g, respectively. However, limit of detection (LOD) values for B1, B2, and B6 vitamins were 0.159, 0.090, and 0.041 μg/ml, respectively. Multivariate methods and heatmap visualization were applied to estimate the correlation among the type and amount of vitamins and cooking methods. According to heatmap findings, B1 and B6 vitamins and the cooking method had the closest accessions, representing that this variable had similar trends. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that the traditional cooking method can maintain more vitamins in rice samples.

Biological Properties of Vitamins of the B-Complex, Part 1: Vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B5

This review summarizes the current knowledge on essential vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B5. These B-complex vitamins must be taken from diet, with the exception of vitamin B3, that can also be synthetized from amino acid tryptophan. All of these vitamins are water soluble, which determines their main properties, namely: they are partly lost when food is washed or boiled since they migrate to the water; the requirement of membrane transporters for their permeation into the cells; and their safety since any excess is rapidly eliminated via the kidney. The therapeutic use of B-complex vitamins is mostly limited to hypovitaminoses or similar conditions, but, as they are generally very safe, they have also been examined in other pathological conditions. Nicotinic acid, a form of vitamin B3, is the only exception because it is a known hypolipidemic agent in gram doses. The article also sums up: (i) the current methods for detection of the vitamins of the B-complex in biological fluids; (ii) the food and other sources of these vitamins including the effect of common processing and storage methods on their content; and (iii) their physiological function.

Differential Thermal Isomerization: Its Role in the Analysis of Vitamin D3 in Foods

Background

For nutritional purposes, the measurement of vitamin D3 (defined as the sum of vitamin D3 and previtamin D3) is required to obtain an accurate and reliable estimate of its content in foods. An often neglected aspect in the development of methods for the analysis of vitamin D3 is accounting for any potential analytical bias in the results associated with differential thermal isomerization between previtamin D and vitamin D.

Conclusions

For LC-UV methods using a vitamin D2 internal standard, cold saponification, or direct lipid extraction techniques should be avoided, unless chromatographic separation of vitamin D2, vitamin D3, and their previtamin forms is achieved so that UV absorbance corrections can be made. For both LC-UV and LC-MS methods using calciferol internal standards, the simplest solution to avoid analytical bias due to the presence of previtamin D is to utilize heating conditions (typically during saponification) such that previtamin D and vitamin D in the sample and the internal standard reach an equivalent equilibrium state prior to instrumental analysis. Only under such circumstances is the integration of previtamin D unnecessary to obtain accurate results for vitamin D3.

Highlights

A detailed discussion of the quantitation of vitamin D3 in food with concise recommendations for avoiding measurement bias as a consequence of differential thermal isomerization.

Processed and ultra-processed foods are associated with high prevalence of inadequate selenium intake and low prevalence of vitamin B1 and zinc inadequacy in adolescents from public schools in an urban area of northeastern Brazil

Changes in eating behavior of adolescents are associated with high consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods. This study evaluated the association between these foods and the prevalence of inadequate micronutrient intake in adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 444 adolescents from public schools in the city of Natal, northeastern Brazil. The adolescents' habitual food consumption was evaluated using two 24-hour dietary recalls. Foods were categorized according to the degree of processing (processed and ultra-processed) and distributed into energy quartiles, using the NOVA classification system. Inadequacies in micronutrient intake were assessed using the estimated average requirement (EAR) as the cutoff point. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the relationship between energy percentage from processed and ultra-processed foods and prevalence of inadequate micronutrient intake. The mean (Standard Deviation (SD)) consumption of total energy from processed foods ranged from 5.8% (1.7%) in Q1 to 20.6% (2.9%) in Q4, while the mean consumption of total energy from ultra-processed foods ranged from 21.4% (4.9%) in Q1 to 61.5% (11.7%) in Q4. The rates of inadequate intake of vitamin D, vitamin E, folate, calcium, and selenium were above 80% for both sexes across all age groups. Energy consumption from processed foods was associated with higher prevalence of inadequate selenium intake (p < 0.01) and lower prevalence of inadequate vitamin B1 intake (p = 0.04). Energy consumption from ultra-processed foods was associated with lower prevalence of inadequate zinc and vitamin B1 intake (p < 0.01 and p = 0.03, respectively). An increase in the proportion of energy obtained from processed and ultra-processed foods may reflect higher prevalence of inadequate selenium intake and lower prevalence of vitamin B1 and zinc inadequacy.

Solar ultraviolet B exposure and global variation in tuberculosis incidence: an ecological analysis

Epidemiological evidence supports vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for tuberculosis. Differences in solar ultraviolet B (UV-B) exposure, the major source of vitamin D, might therefore partially explain global variation in tuberculosis incidence.In a global country-based ecological study, we explored the correlation between vitamin D-proxies, such as solar UV-B exposure, and other relevant variables with tuberculosis incidence, averaged over the period 2004-2013.Across 154 countries, annual solar UV-B exposure was associated with tuberculosis incidence. Tuberculosis incidence in countries in the highest quartile of UV-B exposure was 78% (95% CI 57-88%, p<0.001) lower than that in countries in the lowest quartile, taking into account other vitamin D-proxies and covariates. Of the explained global variation in tuberculosis incidence, 6.3% could be attributed to variations in annual UV-B exposure. Exposure to UV-B had a similar, but weaker association with tuberculosis notification rates in the multilevel analysis with sub-national level data for large countries (highest versus lowest quartile 29% lower incidence; p=0.057).The potential preventive applications of vitamin D supplementation in high-risk groups for tuberculosis merits further investigation.

[Esthetic nutrition: body and beauty enhancement through nutritional care]

Nowadays, there is an increasing quest for beauty and the models proposed by fashion goods and service segments, to achieve the perfect body. The standard of beauty corresponds to a thin body, without considering health aspects. The number of women who go on diets to control weight is increasing; and taking this into consideration the objective of this study is to conduct a bibliographical review and extract data on esthetics and body image to support the practice of nutritional care. Socio-cultural aspects, which motivate the quest for the perfect body, as well as body, beauty, esthetics, nutritional counseling and cognitive behavior therapy were examined in this survey. On the basis of this work, it is possible to conclude that the continuing obsession with the body may lead the person to go on diets and other drastic methods to control weight, such as surgical procedures. In this respect, nutritional care is far more than merely recommending a standard diet or giving information, as it represents providing an effective model for nutritional reeducation, prioritizing improvement in the style and quality of life. This article provides data about enhancing esthetics and beauty by means of appropriate nutrition.

Níveis de ácido fólico sérico em lactentes eutróficos, alimentados com leite materno, leite de vaca ou fórmula modificada

OBJETIVO: Verificar os níveis de ácido fólico em três grupos de lactentes e comparar os valores encontrados; avaliar a necessidade de suplementação dessa vitamina aos quatro meses, quando as reservas teciduais são escassas e as fontes dietéticas pobres em folatos, em um período no qual a alimentação é exclusivamente láctea. MÉTODOS: Foram analisados os níveis de ácido fólico sérico, obtidos pelo método de radioimunoensaio, em 120 lactentes eutróficos, aos quatro meses, com alimentação láctea exclusiva, sendo 40 com aleitamento materno, 40 com leite de vaca pasteurizado e fervido e 40 com fórmula láctea industrializada e enriquecida com ácido fólico. RESULTADOS: Os níveis de ácido fólico sérico nos lactentes alimentados exclusivamente com leite de vaca pasteurizado e fervido foram significativamente menores do que os dos lactentes alimentados com leite materno e os alimentados com fórmula láctea modificada, enriquecida com folatos. Estes dois últimos grupos não mostraram diferenças entre si. CONCLUSÕES: O estudo ressalta a necessidade de suplementação de ácido fólico nos lactentes aos quatro meses alimentados exclusivamente com leite de vaca. A pasteurização e a fervura do leite de vaca, habitualmente utilizadas, levam à deficiência dessa vitamina, tão importante na nutrição humana.