SM Journal of Food and Nutritional Disorders

Archive Articles

Article Image 1

Evaluation of the Effect of Some Biocides on Bacteriophage

The most efficient ways to inhibit the growth of microorganisms are the use of well-designed biocides by a rational running of the process providing good production of hygiene.

Sadik Kalayci*


Article Image 1

Perceptions and Attitudes towards Eating Behaviors and Body Image among Adolescent Females

This study presents the results of a first study on perceptions and responses of adolescent females to eating behaviors and body image. Mind-Genomics was used to create an experimental design with systematically varied messages about perceptions of eating behaviors and body image. A small representative sample of 102 adolescent females evaluated these messages testing perceptions dictated by an experimental design. Findings show that among the homogeneous experiment group, there were three distinct perception segments with respect to eating behaviors and body image. The three radically different mindset segments were: The known need of control (33%), self-condemnation and shame (46%) and feeling ugly, panicky, and a victim (24%). Findings are discussed suggesting the development of communication interventions to prevent body perception related eating problems in adolescent females.

Gillie Gabay¹*, Howard Moskowitz², Martin Braun³, and Stephen Onufrey³


Article Image 1

Develop Healthy Fiber Rich Sweet from Different Combinations of Ingredients

Objective: Dietary fiber or Roughage is a plant material that cannot be digested but that helps you to digest other food. A high-fiber diet has many benefits, which include normalizing bowel movements, lowering cholesterol levels, controlling blood sugar levels. Oranges are one of the most popular fruits, but very few consume the peel, which is arguably the healthiest part of the whole fruit. Orange peels are rich in flavonoids, like hesperidin and polymethoxyflavones (PMFs), and other phytochemicals, which contribute to health benefits. Thus present work aimed at the development of fiber rich product.

Methods: The present study was designed to prepare a fiber rich snack product and standardize the developed product. Orange peel, sesame seeds, semolina and sugar were the main ingredients used for the preparation of products with three formulations, i.e., T1 (100:25:20:120), T2 (65:50:50:100), T3 (100:50:50:65).

Results: Acceptability of the product was determined by sensory evaluation. As the mean is high and standard deviation is low for the products prepared, all the three products are statistically significant. But as the sample T1 scored high mean ± standard deviation comparing with T2 and T3 it is considered the best product among the three. Coefficient of variance of the product is also low which emphasizes the product is statistically significant. Physico-chemical composition of raw materials and experimental product were also determined. The sample T1 was subjected to nutritional composition which showed a protein (11.0%), carbohydrate (49.03%), fat (4.5%) and crude fiber (14.37%).

Conclusion: Orange peel is a very good source of dietary fiber. Thus this laddu prepared from fiber rich orange peel could be a beneficial and healthy fiber snack for kids and adults.

Silpa Somavarapu, Ramesh B*, Mahitha K, and Vijay Anand G


Article Image 1

Lactobacillus casei Strain Shirota Supplied as Beverage Regulates Gut Microbiota in High-Fat Diet Fed Hamster

The probiotic strain Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS), has been consumed in the form of beverages in many countries. This paper studies the gut microbiota regulation effect of the beverage, instead of the strain itself. The evaluation is conducted using beverage with 108 cfu mL-1 LcS and 0.2 g mL-1 sugar on high-fat-diet hamster model. High-through put sequencing of gut microbiota showed that some of the non-dominant populations were regulated positively by LcS beverage gavage, against the changes induced by high-fat diet, such as Erysipelotrichales, Lactobacillales and Burkholderiales at Class level, Erysipelotrichaceae, Lactobacillaceae and Rikenellaceae at Family level, Coprococcus, Allobaculum, Lactobacillus and Akkermansia at Genus level, and Akkermansia muciniphila and Lactobacillus reuteri at species level. There was no significant difference in core microbiome, dominant populations or α-diversity between control and treated groups, In conclusion, the LcS beverage can regulate gut microbiota composition in high-fat diet hamster model by changing non-dominant populations.

Jie Gao¹, Lingxiao Gong², Jing Sun¹, Jian Huang¹, and Junsheng Huo¹*


Article Image 1

Antioxidant Nutrient Intake in Elderly Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: A Case-Control Study

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of cognitive decline in the elderly. It is caused by oxidative stress of biomolecules that appears to be related to the increased occurrence of lesions in brain regions responsible for cognition and may lead to enzymatic inactivation, mutation, rupture, increase in the atherogenicity of low-density plasma lipoproteins, and cell death. It is believed that a diet rich in antioxidant nutrients can help reduce the cell damage caused by free radicals and minimize the deleterious effects of oxidative stress.

Objective: To identify patterns of antioxidant nutrient intake in the diet of elderly people with and without Alzheimer’s disease.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted on elderly patients managed at a public hospital in Maceió. Socio-demographic and anthropometric variables as well as the 3-day food registry were collected.

Results: The study was composed of 92 elderly patients with and without Alzheimer’s disease. No differences were observed between groups in the frequencies of the variables: gender, marital status, schooling, and income. Elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease had a higher average age. Regular physical activity was reported only in the control group. It was also observed that malnutrition was associated with the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, where the frequency of individuals with low body weight was higher in the affected group (n = 7; 20.6%) than in the control group (n = 4; 6.9%). A high frequency of subjects with intake below the recommendation was noted in both groups for all the antioxidant nutrients, except vitamin C. Intake of antioxidant nutrients showed correlations with energy and macronutrient intake in both groups.

Conclusion: The antioxidant nutrient intake in the majority of the studied elderly was below the nutritional recommendations for age, and the inadequacy of intake is even more frequent among elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Juliana Ferreira Barbosa¹*, Mayara Agna dos Anjos Machado¹, Thainá Barbosa Wanderley¹, Lydia Vanessa do Nascimento Araújo¹, Carlos Queiroz do Nascimento², Emília Maria Wanderley³, Mariana Carvalho Freitas⁴, Carolina Santos Mello¹, and João Araújo Barros-Neto¹


Article Image 1

Coffee Consumption

Coffee is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world. The consumption of coffee has been receiving a lot of attention in regards its potential health benefits and risks as well. Caffeine and phenolic compounds such as chlorogenic acids are some of the most investigated constituents from coffee. It has been attributed various properties to those compounds such as central nervous system stimulant and antioxidants respectively. Coffee is in fact a very complex mixture that varies according with the origin of the beans and roasting process.

Santos RMM* and Lima DR


Article Image 1

Food Habits and the Family and Cultural Restraints in the Druze Population Influence the Diabetes Management in the Female Population

Objective: This study analysed the narrative of the family structure, the status of Druze-women, and the ability of those women to adapt to diabetes and manage it successfully.

Design and setting: Qualitative-research, of the Druze women with Diabetes, Diabetes prevalence in the Arab population in Israel is around 20%, whereas the prevalence of diabetes in the general population in Israel approximates 7.2%.

Subjects: 15 Druze-women suffering from type 2 diabetes, aged 30-70, with varying personal and socio-demographic characteristics, who were hospitalized in the "Ziv-hospital-Safed", as well as in the community, were interview.

Results: Most of the respondents described the family structure and the Druze-society, the relationships and the communication within the family as obstacles that prevent them from managing their diabetes successfully. A small number of them indicated that the family might constitute a support factor. The obstacles impeding the women’s ability to maintain a healthy diet and to engage in physical activity, the woman’s role in the family, self-efficacy, perception of the dangers involved, culture and religion, relationships and lack of direct communication with their significant other.

Conclusions: Druze-women, suffering from diabetes, managing her diabetes are subject to the influence of her role and status within the family, her self-restraint, her position in the decision-making process, the influence of the culture and society upon her life, her perception of the disease, as well as the influence of the religion. Therefore, there is a need for empowering the Druze-women which would in turn enable them to manage their diabetes better.

Maha Kablan¹ and Ronit Endevelt²,³*


Article Image 1

Evaluation of the Nutritional Status of Sudanese Respondents in Riyadh City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Introduction: The health behaviors of children and young people have been of interest to many researchers, especially in recent years. A proper lifestyle, which includes proper eating habits, is considered the basis for the health status of adolescents and adults should be monitored to ensure children’s correct physical and psychological development

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the nutritional status of randomly selected respondents (boys and girls) living in areas around Riyadh City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A simple random sample of 400 respondents with age between 6 and 19 years (200 boys and 200 girls) were selected randomly from sampling frame using random numbers table. Two types of data were collected; socioeconomic and anthropometric data. Data about the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents' families was collected through personal interview using a questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements of the respondents were taken. Food frequency and 24-hour recall method was used to evaluate their daily food intake.

Results: The respondents’ average daily intake of dietary fiber and copper was significantly (P≤0.01) lowers than that of the DRI. For boys the average daily intake of vitamin D and E and calcium was significantly (P≤0.01) lower than that of the DRI and only folate for girls. Their intake of other nutrients was significantly higher than that of the DRI (unbalanced meals). 41.5% of boys and 46% of girls were underweight and 6.5% of boys and 4.5% of girls were suffered from severe malnutrition. Apart from the family monthly income, age, father’s education and mother’s work none of the hypothesized predictors of the respondents' nutritional status were found to be significantly correlated with the respondents' nutritional status indicators. However, mother work negatively correlated with the girls’ nutritional status.

Conclusion: The study revealed that more than 40% of the respondents were overweight due to the fact that both respondents average daily intake of carbohydrates, protein and saturated and unsaturated fat was significantly higher than that of the DRI, while the amount of some vitamins and minerals was significantly lower than that of the DRI. None of the hypothesized predictors of the respondents' nutritional status were found to be significantly and negatively correlated with the students' nutritional status indicators except mother work.

Zainab A Ali¹, Murwan K Sabahelkhier¹, and Elfadil E Babiker²*


Article Image 1

Mycotoxins, Food Safety and Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

Contamination of food and feed by fungi and the mycotoxins they produce are of common occurrence in Africa. Lifelong exposure of a large proportion of Sub-Saharan African population to food borne mycotoxins is a reality and a serious problem. Countries in Africa lack capacity to enforce food safety regulations, and so face frequent rejection of exportable products leading to economic loss.

Improving food safety is an essential element for improving food security. A brief review is made on some issues concerning food security, namely sustainable agriculture, disruptions in the food supply chain and trade. We highlight a major agricultural threat in Sub-Saharan countries which are mycotoxins. There are different types of toxicity. These toxins are among the most potent substances known to pose acute toxicity, chronic health risks due to hepatotoxicity, immunosuppression, nephrotoxicity, estrogenic, teratogenic and/or carcinogenic effects. Prolonged exposure has been linked with liver cancer, poor nutrient absorption, retarded infant growth, malnutrition and immunosuppression.

Although the literature on mycotoxins is abundant in reports investigating cellular mechanisms, cellular toxicity, associated pathology and animal performance, studies on the effect of these compounds on general sub nutrition and on the gastrointestinal tract of animals and humans is limited. The fight against mycotoxins involves the whole food chain namely the critical control points.

An innovative and promising solution of technological biocontrol for reducing mycotoxins is arising and under test. However, we question on the impact of this technology on biodiversity, food safety and nutrition security and enhance the need for more studies in order to evaluate its potential utilization.

Ferrão J¹, Bell V², and Fernandes TH³*