Nutrition and Metabolic Insights

OBJECTIVE: The study was aimed at assessing the self-care practices and the associated socio-demographic variables of persons with T2DM in South East, Nigeria. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study involving 382 persons with T2DM proportionately selected from 4 tertiary health institutions in South Eastern, Nigeria. Data was collected using the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) and a researcher-developed questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to persons with T2DM who attended a diabetic outpatient clinic...

Iron and folic Acid (IFA) supplementation is an effective intervention for reducing the incidence of anaemia during pregnancy. The WHO recommends at least 6 months intake of IFA to pregnant women. However, in Ghana some women experience challenges with adhering to IFA supplementation. The main objective of the study was to assess the level of adherence to iron and folic acid supplementation and its associated factors among pregnant women in a peri-urban municipality in Northern Ghana. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to December 2021 among 400 pregnant women who attended ANC in Sagnarigu municipality in Ghana and were selected through a 3-stage random sampling technique...

OBJECTIVE: The reported hypocalcemia in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who received Denosumab was low (0.05%-1.7% to 7.4%). The major prediction factors were vitamin D and calcium levels and renal function. The objective is to evaluate the incidence of hypocalcemia in patients with osteoporosis, normal renal function, and vitamin D who received Denosumab. METHOD: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the medical records (2022-2023). We looked for hypocalcemia (albumin-adjusted calcium lower than 2...

BACKGROUND: Poor dietary diversity and undernutrition is a major public health concern for pregnant mothers. Optimal dietary diversity is essential during pregnancy since nutritional deficiencies may have a significant impact on both the mother's and the fetus's health. Pregnant women in Ambo district had inadequate dietary diversity and were undernourished, but their status during the first trimester of pregnancy was not known. As a result, the objective of this research was to assess the dietary diversity, nutritional status, and associated factors among pregnant women in the Ambo district...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the pharmacological efficacy of 3 functional foods (Water spinach, Wood apple, and Linseed) against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and oxidative stress in rat models. METHODS: Twenty-five Wistar Albino rats (male and female) were equally classified into 5 groups. Except for the normal control (NC) group, the animals received 2.5 mg/kg doxorubicin (DOX) intra-peritoneal injection at 48 hours intervals to create a dose of 15 mg/kg overall for 14 days...

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of Mangifera indica (mango) on dental caries. The entire plant, including the leaves, fruit, roots, and flowers, has various therapeutic characteristics used for centuries to cure various illnesses. This systematic review aimed to identify an inexpensive, simple, and effective method of preventing and controlling dental caries. The search was performed among the studies written in English, the database of abstracts concentrating on the effects of Mangifera indica (Mango) on dental caries detected in Pubmed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Central...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to assess the association of eating habits with the dietary patterns of people with diabetes. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology (NIDE), Dow University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. A total 301 patients aged >18 with type 2 diabetes came to Outpatient department were recruited. Structured questionnaire was used to assess general characteristics, Anthropometric measurements, biochemical markers, and dietary intake...

BACKGROUND: Sleep quality is defined as an individual's consent to sleep experience. Poor sleep quality has important adverse health outcomes. There are drugs to treat sleep disorders but consumption of these drugs is accompanied by adverse effects whereas herbal treatments have fewer side effects. Saffron is spice obtained from Crocus sativus flower. Several articles have been done on its effects on the quality of sleep and its safety. This review for the first time critically evaluates effect of saffron on sleep quality improvement...

BACKGROUND: Various studies have shown an inverse relationship between the quality of protein intake based on essential amino acids (EAAs) with obesity and its complications. We assumed that increasing EAAs-based protein intake quality improves glycemic and metabolic markers and anthropometric measurements in obese and overweight people. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 180 obese and overweight participants aged 18 to 35. Dietary information was obtained using an 80-item food frequency questionnaire...

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease that can result in bone erosion, lean mass lowering, and increase of fat mass without changes in body weight. The dietary consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) has been assessed in many studies due to their potential anti-inflammatory effect. AIM: The aim of this research was to identify if dietary intake of PUFAs associates with bone mineral density (BMD) and limb structural changes in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) compared to a population-based control group...

OBJECTIVES: Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease, which requires a level of confidence among the sufferers in its management. This study investigated the effect of an educational intervention program on self-efficacy (SE) in diabetic individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus in South-East, Nigeria. METHODS: The study was a quasi-experimental controlled study, comprising 382 individuals with type 2 DM selected, and assigned to intervention (IG) and control groups (CG)...

BACKGROUND: Milk contains essential nutrients that help can improve the growth and development of adolescent girls. OBJECTIVES: The study determined the effect of milk consumption on the nutritional status of schoolgirls ages 10 to 12 years old in Magdalena, Laguna, Philippines. METHODOLOGY: A quasi-experimental study design was used to determine the impact of daily consumption of 200 ml buffalo milk on the prevalence of undernutrition among the 57 schoolgirl participants before and after 160 days...

BACKGROUND: Under nutrition among pregnant women is common public health problem in developing countries including Ethiopia. It leads to poor maternal and neonatal outcomes. Despite its consequences there is shortage of research evidence to support intervention in this regard in the southern part of the country. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess the determinates of under nutrition among pregnant women visiting antenatal care clinics at selected health facilities in Hawassa town...

Vitamin A deficiencies is a becoming persistent among young children and a growing concern to parents in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in crisis-affected areas. Fermented cereal paste from maize, millets, and sorghum grains are significant food for young children. Thus, the study focuses on food fortification using orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) as fortifier as studies have confirmed the presence of nutrients that can help meet the Vitamin A dietary requirement. The cereals were soaked ambient temperature (27 ± 1°C) for 72 hours and were blended with OFSP (90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50), and the formulated products were studied for Vitamin A, β-carotene, proximate composition, physicochemical, functional properties, and storage...

BACKGROUND: The rapid biological and physical changes during adolescence require adequate nutrient intake. This study assessed dietary diversity and nutritional status of adolescents living in selected rural areas in Ghana. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 137 young adolescents, aged 10 to 14 years were recruited. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data on sociodemographic, household size and food intake practices. A multiple past 24-hour recall was used to estimate the micronutrients intake...

OBJECTIVE: To measure changes in micronutrient adequacy and diet quality in healthcare and university employees who underwent a 10-week teaching kitchen program. METHODS: Thirty-eight healthcare and university employees participated in a 10-week teaching kitchen program. Twenty-seven completed self-administered, 24-hour dietary recalls to measure dietary intake at baseline and 3-months. Micronutrient adequacy and diet quality was assessed using Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)...

BACKGROUND: Males are more likely than females to suffer from cardiovascular disease (CVD). So, sex hormones may modify these variations and affect the lipid profile. We examined the relationship between sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and CVD risk factors among young males in this study. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, we measured total testosterone, SHBG, lipids, glucose, insulin, antioxidant parameters, and anthropometric factors in 48 young males in the age range of 18 to 40 years...

Dietary malpractice is a risk factor for obesity. This study tested the hypothesis that consumption of a high-fat diet alters mammary metabolome in pubertal mice. We performed untargeted metabolomic analysis of primary metabolism on mammary glands from pubertal mice fed the AIN93G standard diet or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 3 weeks. We identified 97 metabolites for statistical comparisons. The HFD altered the amino acid metabolism considerably. This included elevated expression of branched-chain amino acids, non-essential amino acids (aspartic acid and glutamic acid), and methionine sulfoxide (oxidized methionine) and an alteration in the aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis pathway...

BACKGROUND: We conducted a prospective placebo-controlled double-blind randomized Study to assess the impact of a single dose of a nutritional Supplement (AB001) on alcohol absorption in healthy subjects. Other objectives were the impact on breath alcohol content, cognitive function 1 hour after alcohol uptake and tolerability. METHOD: A total of 24 healthy volunteers were enrolled into the study (12 male, 12 female, age: 28.3 ± 10.8 years, BMI: 23...

The use of synthetic drugs has increased in recent years; however, herbal medicine is yet more trusted among a huge population worldwide; This could be due to minimal side effects, affordable prices, and traditional beliefs. Lemongrass ( Melissa officinalis ) has been widely used for reducing stress and anxiety, increasing appetite and sleep, reducing pain, healing wounds, and treating poisonous insect bites and bee stings for a long time. Today, research has shown that this plant can also fight viruses including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) through various mechanisms such as inhibiting HSV-1 from binding to host cell, inhibiting HSV-1 replication during the post-adsorption or inhibiting main protease and spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, furthermore, be effective in treating related diseases...