Pros & cons of some popular extreme weight-loss diets

The Use of Herbs, Dietary Products, and Different Types of Diet for Weight Loss Purposes

Background

Obesity is a global pandemic health problem. Attempting weight reduction, excess weight people commonly seek herbal products in addition to claim diets. We aimed to assess the prevalence of consuming herbal and dietary products for weight loss purposes and to assess weight reduction attitudes and beliefs among a group of excess-weight adults in Jordan.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 477 Jordanian adults (81.6% females), between Feb-Apr/2021. The study data collection was completed by using a validated online structured questionnaire.

Results

28.9% of the male participants reported that the most common source of diets they followed was by themselves (43.2%) and by dietitians (25%). Whereas female participants followed the weight reduction diets prescribed by dietitians, by themselves, and on the internet (31.1%; 26.5%, and 23.7; respectively, P=0.011). The majority of participants from both genders do not believe in using weight reduction herbs alone for losing weight; it must be done along with diet and exercise (P=0.018). Females who use herbs for weight reduction were more than males. In addition, green tea was the most used herb by all participants (8%). The main advisor for using weight reduction herbs and dietary products in females was the internet (30.1%) followed by their own (24.2%). However, in males, it was by their own (21.6%), then by a dietitian (12.6%), and by the internet (12.5%) (P=0.001). Moreover, a quarter of male participants and 21.6% of females did not feel that using herbs to lose weight was efficient.

Conclusion

The excess weight adults in Jordan seek to use diet, herbs, and dietary products for weight reduction, advised by unreliable sources. Although the majority are convinced that it is not effective alone, further studies are needed to assess the side effects and safety of such consumption among the population.

Association of Plant-Based Diet Indices and Abdominal Obesity with Mental Disorders among Older Chinese Adults

We aimed to explore the correlation between plant-based diet indices and abdominal obesity with depression and anxiety among older Chinese adults. This study used a cross-sectional design using data from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). We used a simplified food frequency questionnaire to evaluate the overall plant-based diet index (PDI), the healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI), and the unhealthful plant-based diet index (uPDI) separately, based on the potential health effects of the foods. Waist circumference (WC) was used to define abdominal obesity. The 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10) and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) were applied to estimate depression symptoms and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Multi-adjusted binary logistic regression models were conducted to explore the effects of the three plant-based diet indices, abdominal obesity status, and their interaction on depression and anxiety. We enrolled a total of 11,623 participants aged 83.21 ± 10.98 years, of which 3140 (27.0%) participants had depression and 1361 (11.7%) had anxiety. The trend in the prevalence of depression/anxiety across increasing quartiles of the plant-based diet indices was statistically significant after controlling for potential confounders (p-trend < 0.05). Abdominal obesity was related to a lower prevalence of depression (OR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.77-0.95) and anxiety (OR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.69-0.90) compared with non-abdominal obesity. The protective effects of the PDI and hPDI against depression (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.41-0.64; OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.48-0.73, respectively) and anxiety (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.57-1.00; OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.39-0.70, respectively) were more pronounced in non-abdominally obese participants. The harmful effects of the uPDI against depression (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.42-2.23) and anxiety (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.16-2.10) were more pronounced in non-abdominally obese participants. In addition, a significant interaction between the plant-based diet indices and abdominal obesity was observed in terms of causing the prevalence of depression and anxiety. Consuming more of a healthful plant-based diet and less of an animal-based diet is related to a lower prevalence of depression and anxiety. A healthful plant-based diet plays a vital role in non-abdominally obese individuals.

Global Scientific Trends on Healthy Eating from 2002 to 2021: A Bibliometric and Visualized Analysis

Diet has been recognized as a vital risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), climate changes, and increasing population, which has been reflected by a rapidly growing body of the literature related to healthy eating. To reveal a panorama of the topics related to healthy eating, this study aimed to characterize and visualize the knowledge structure, hotspots, and trends in this field over the past two decades through bibliometric analyses. Publications related to healthy eating between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2021 were retrieved and extracted from the Web of Science database. The characteristics of articles including publication years, journals, authors, institutions, countries/regions, references, and keywords were assessed. The analyses on co-authorship, co-occurrence, and co-citation were performed and network visualization maps were constructed by VOSviewer. Major subdomains identified by bibliometrics were further discussed and analyzed. A total of 12,442 articles on healthy eating were identified. Over the past two decades, the annual global publications increased from 71 to 1764, showing a nearly 25-fold growth. The journal Nutrients published the most articles and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition possessed the highest citations. The United States, Harvard University, and Hu, Frank B. were identified as the most productive and influential country, institution, and author, respectively. The co-occurrence cluster analysis of the top 100 keywords formed four clusters: (1) the food insecurity environment for youths highlighting the necessity and significance of implementing healthy eating in early life; (2) sustainable advantages of the Mediterranean diet; (3) the importance of an overall healthy lifestyle optimization leveraged by eHealth; (4) the challenges during the course of healthy eating against obesity, which are prominent in reflecting the knowledge structure, hotspots, and trends. Moreover, COVID-19, orthorexia nervosa, sustainability, microbiota, food insecurity, and e-health are identified keywords that represented the latest high-frequency keywords and indicated the emerging frontiers of healthy eating. This study indicates that the number of publications on healthy eating will increase in the future and that healthy dietary patterns and clinical applications of healthy eating will be the next hotspots in this research field.

Machine-learning prediction of BMI change among doctors and nurses in North China during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a major public health concern over the past 3 years, leading to adverse effects on front-line healthcare workers. This study aimed to develop a Body Mass Index (BMI) change prediction model among doctors and nurses in North China during the COVID-19 pandemic, and further identified the predicting effects of lifestyles, sleep quality, work-related conditions, and personality traits on BMI change.

Methods

The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted in North China, during May-August 2022. A total of 5,400 doctors and nurses were randomly recruited from 39 COVID-19 designated hospitals and 5,271 participants provided valid responses. Participants' data related to social-demographics, dietary behavior, lifestyle, sleep, personality, and work-related conflicts were collected with questionnaires. Deep Neural Network (DNN) was applied to develop a BMI change prediction model among doctors and nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

Of participants, only 2,216 (42.0%) individuals kept a stable BMI. Results showed that personality traits, dietary behaviors, lifestyles, sleep quality, burnout, and work-related conditions had effects on the BMI change among doctors and nurses. The prediction model for BMI change was developed with a 33-26-20-1 network framework. The DNN model achieved high prediction efficacy, and values of R ², MAE, MSE, and RMSE for the model were 0.940, 0.027, 0.002, and 0.038, respectively. Among doctors and nurses, the top five predictors in the BMI change prediction model were unbalanced nutritional diet, poor sleep quality, work-family conflict, lack of exercise, and soft drinks consumption.

Conclusion

During the COVID-19 pandemic, BMI change was highly prevalent among doctors and nurses in North China. Machine learning models can provide an automated identification mechanism for the prediction of BMI change. Personality traits, dietary behaviors, lifestyles, sleep quality, burnout, and work-related conditions have contributed to the BMI change prediction. Integrated treatment measures should be taken in the management of weight and BMI by policymakers, hospital administrators, and healthcare workers.

Mediterranean Diet versus Very Low-Calorie Ketogenic Diet: Effects of Reaching 5% Body Weight Loss on Body Composition in Subjects with Overweight and with Obesity-A Cohort Study

The best nutritional strategy to fight the rise in obesity remains a debated issue. The Mediterranean diet (MD) and the Very Low-Calorie Ketogenic diet (VLCKD) are effective at helping people lose body weight (BW) and fat mass (FM) while preserving fat-free mass (FFM). This study aimed to evaluate the time these two diets took to reach a loss of 5% of the initial BW and how body composition was affected. We randomized 268 subjects with obesity or overweight in two arms, MD and VLCKD, for a maximum of 3 months or until they reached 5% BW loss. This result was achieved after one month of VLCKD and 3 months of MD. Both diets were effective in terms of BW (p < 0.0001) and FM loss (p < 0.0001), but the MD reached a higher reduction in both waist circumference (p = 0.0010) and FM (p = 0.0006) and a greater increase in total body water (p = 0.0017) and FFM (p = 0.0373) than VLCKD. The population was also stratified according to gender, age, and BMI. These two nutritional protocols are both effective in improving anthropometrical parameters and body composition, but they take different time spans to reach the goal. Therefore, professionals should evaluate which is the most suitable according to each patient's health status.

Protecting the blossoming brain - Neurocritical care in children

This special issue of the Biomedical Journal is entirely dedicated to the latest updates regarding the medical efforts to preserve the fragile young brain after injury. Thereby, we learn about symptoms and diseases such as different forms of epilepsy, acute encephalopathy, increased intracranial pressure, and posthaemorrhagic hydrocephalus, as well as about their origins, such as infection, autoimmune diseases, preterm birth, or abusive head trauma. Moreover, diagnosis and surveillance techniques are discussed, including ultrasound of the optic nerve sheath diameter and multimodal monitoring. Finally, we discover various established and emerging therapeutic approaches, comprising target temperature management, ketogenic diet, and immunomodulation.