Does a longer life mean a healthier life? The number of adults over 65 in the United States is growing, but many may not be aware that they are at greater risk from foodborne diseases and their nutritional needs change as they age. The IOM's Food Forum held a workshop October 29-30, 2009, to discuss food safety and nutrition concerns for older adults.
Of the many dietary factors associated with inflammation and oxidative stress, a specific group are food-derived pro-inflammatory and pro-oxidant compounds, so-called advanced glycation end products (AGEs). While AGEs have been recognized as factors in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, the importance of AGEs of dietary origin as a factor in human disease is of more recent concern. This book presents data from the past two decades on the role of AGEs in causing chronic disease. It starts by defining the compounds passing through all the clinical diseases that have been associated with them and finishes by offering different therapeutic options to deal with the problem.
What foods should Americans eat to promote their health, and in what amounts? What is the scientific evidence that supports specific recommendations for dietary intake to reduce the risk of multifactorial chronic disease? These questions are critically important because dietary intake has been recognized to have a role as a key determinant of health. As the primary federal source of consistent, evidence-based information on dietary practices for optimal nutrition, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) have the promise to empower Americans to make informed decisions about what and how much they eat to improve health and reduce the risk of chronic disease. The adoption and widespread translation of the DGA requires that they be universally viewed as valid, evidence-based, and free of bias and conflicts of interest to the extent possible. However, this has not routinely been the case. A first short report meant to inform the 2020 review cycle explored how the advisory committee selection process can be improved to provide more transparency, eliminate bias, and include committee members with a range of viewpoints. This second and final report recommends changes to the DGA process to reduce and manage sources of bias and conflicts of interest, improve timely opportunities for engagement by all interested parties, enhance transparency, and strengthen the science base of the process.
Degenerative diseases linked to ageing populations are a growing problem for the developed world. Edited by two authorities, this important collection reviews the role of functional foods in helping to prevent a number of such degenerative conditions, from osteoporosis and obesity to immune system disorders and cancer.The book begins with a number of introductory chapters which discuss the regulation of functional foods in the EU, the role of diet generally in preventing degenerative disease. Part one then examines bone and oral health with chapters on the use of diet to control osteoporosis, the use of functional ingredients to improve bone strength, and ways of maintaining dental health. Part two discusses how obesity can be controlled, whilst part three looks at gut health and maintaining the immune function using functional ingredients such as probiotics and prebiotics. The final part of the book reviews research on functional foods and cancer with chapters on synbiotics, anti-angiogenic functional foods, glucosinolates, dietary fibre and phytoestrogens.Functional foods, ageing and degenerative disease is a standard reference for all those concerned with the role of functional foods in the prevention and control of degenerative disease. - Explores diet strategies for preventing diseases including osteoporosis - Summarises key management techniques for obesity, irritable bowel syndrome and oral health - Presents the role of functional foods in promoting good health
For more than two decades, the practice of risk assessment has been applied to human public health issues, and policy makers have used the results of risk assessments in their decision-making process. Approaches for risk assessment have been developed for nonnutrients such as drugs, food additives, and pesticides, but approaches for risk assessment have received less attention in the nutrition area. Some aspects of the risk assessment approach used for nonnutrients are applicable to the assessment of risks related to nutrition. The overall approach, however, must be adapted and modified to take into account the unique aspects of nutrients, including the fact that both high and low nutrient intakes are associated with risk. Experience with the application of a risk assessment process to the setting of upper levels of intake for essential nutrients, for example, has uncovered a number of challenges. Adapting and developing risk assessment strategies for application in nutrition science could lead to improved approaches to the development of dietary and nutritional recommendations and thus is a topic of considerable interest. One nonscientific but overall challenge to nutritional risk assessment relates to increasing and improving communication among experts from key disciplines in ways that could inform the nutritional risk assessment process. Among these key disciplines are nutrition, toxicology, dietary exposure assessment, economics, risk analysis, and epidemiology. How can the perspectives and methods of these diverse fields be brought together to develop more effective approaches for quantitative nutritional risk assessment? How can they be applied to a spectrum of topics related to food and nutrition-micronutrients, macronutrients, dietary supplements, whole foods, food groups, and dietary patterns? How can they help overcome the data challenges that confront nutritional risk assessors? As a step toward improving the communication and sharing methods and information across disciplines, members of the Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium, the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the Institute of Medicine's Food Forum, and the International Life Sciences Institute planned the Nutritional Risk Assessment Workshop. The workshop was held on February 28 and March 1, 2007, in Washington, D.C. This workshop, which was envisioned as one in a series, focused on opening a dialogue to explore the unique questions and challenges faced by nutritionists and the potential use of risk assessment methodologies to answer them. Nutritional Risk Assessment : Perspectives, Methods, and Data Challenges, Workshop Summary summarizes the happenings of this workshop.
Results from the National Research Council's (NRC) landmark study Diet and health are readily accessible to nonscientists in this friendly, easy-to-read guide. Readers will find the heart of the book in the first chapter: the Food and Nutrition Board's nine-point dietary plan to reduce the risk of diet-related chronic illness. The nine points are presented as sensible guidelines that are easy to follow on a daily basis, without complicated measuring or calculatingâ€"and without sacrificing favorite foods. Eat for Life gives practical recommendations on foods to eat and in a "how-to" section provides tips on shopping (how to read food labels), cooking (how to turn a high-fat dish into a low-fat one), and eating out (how to read a menu with nutrition in mind). The volume explains what protein, fiber, cholesterol, and fats are and what foods contain them, and tells readers how to reduce their risk of chronic disease by modifying the types of food they eat. Each chronic disease is clearly defined, with information provided on its prevalence in the United States. Written for everyone concerned about how they can influence their health by what they eat, Eat for Life offers potentially lifesaving information in an understandable and persuasive way. Alternative Selection, Quality Paperback Book Club
Divided into four main sections, Dietary Sugar, Salt and Fat in Human Health explores the biochemical, pharmacological and medicinal aspects related to the overindulgence of dietary salt, sugar, and fat, along with possible remedies. Beginning with a general overview, the text outlines aspects associated with advancing age and human physiology, such as different aspects of insulin resistance, the advancing age phenomenon, central fat accumulation and metabolic perturbations and the role of the modern Western diet and the influence of dietary sugar, salt, and fat, with particular focus on their relation to multiple biochemical pathophysiological pathways. The second section of the book focuses on the roles of dietary sugars and their correlation with the chronic disease epidemic, with an emphasis on carbohydrate metabolism and its biochemistry, GI absorption, the glycemic index and the influence of fructose. The historical background of dietary sugars is discussed alongside Atkin's hypothesis, and an overview of the correlation between dietary fibre and the glycemic index, including a chapter on sugar addiction. Section three contains an exhaustive review of the influence of dietary salt and its diverse mechanistic aspects, including salt-sensitive hypertension, contribution of two steroid receptor pathways, vascular NO, intrarenal RAAS system and angiotensin. The fourth section highlights the biochemistry of dietary saturated, polyunsaturated and trans fat and its influence on human health and various diseases, and further explores NAFLD and gender specific problems. Chapters in this section also investigate the benefits of the Mediterranean diet as well as myths related to cholesterol. Collected and carefully organized for researchers in nutrition, physiology, epidemiology, or sensory science, this book will also benefit general practitioners, surgeons, nurses, health professionals and practitioners, and students studying the role of diet in cardiometabolic disorders and disease. - Demonstrates how a healthy lifestyle impacts lifespan - Provides a general overview and outlines aspects associated with advancing age and human physiology - Focuses on the roles of dietary sugars and their correlation with the chronic disease epidemic - Contains an exhaustive review of the influence of dietary salt and its diverse mechanistic aspects - Highlights the biochemistry of dietary saturated, polyunsaturated and trans fat and its influence on human health and various diseases
Diet and Health examines the many complex issues concerning diet and its role in increasing or decreasing the risk of chronic disease. It proposes dietary recommendations for reducing the risk of the major diseases and causes of death today: atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (including heart attack and stroke), cancer, high blood pressure, obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, liver disease, and dental caries.
During the past decade, tremendous growth has occurred in the use of nutrition symbols and rating systems designed to summarize key nutritional aspects and characteristics of food products. These symbols and the systems that underlie them have become known as front-of-package (FOP) nutrition rating systems and symbols, even though the symbols themselves can be found anywhere on the front of a food package or on a retail shelf tag. Though not regulated and inconsistent in format, content, and criteria, FOP systems and symbols have the potential to provide useful guidance to consumers as well as maximize effectiveness. As a result, Congress directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to undertake a study with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to examine and provide recommendations regarding FOP nutrition rating systems and symbols. The study was completed in two phases. Phase I focused primarily on the nutrition criteria underlying FOP systems. Phase II builds on the results of Phase I while focusing on aspects related to consumer understanding and behavior related to the development of a standardized FOP system. Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols focuses on Phase II of the study. The report addresses the potential benefits of a single, standardized front-label food guidance system regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, assesses which icons are most effective with consumer audiences, and considers the systems/icons that best promote health and how to maximize their use.
More children born today will survive to adulthood than at any time in history. It is now time to emphasize health and development in middle childhood and adolescence--developmental phases that are critical to health in adulthood and the next generation. Child and Adolescent Health and Development explores the benefits that accrue from sustained and targeted interventions across the first two decades of life. The volume outlines the investment case for effective, costed, and scalable interventions for low-resource settings, emphasizing the cross-sectoral role of education. This evidence base can guide policy makers in prioritizing actions to promote survival, health, cognition, and physical growth throughout childhood and adolescence.
