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Functional Foods

The term 'functional foods' is not a standard nutritional term in nutrition textbooks. Regulatory agencies and professional associations of nutrition scientists and dieticians all use different definitions. ILSI Europe, an industry-sponsored forum in which representatives from industry, academia and government address nutrition issues, proposed a definition which in abbreviated form runs A food can be regarded as 'functional' if it is satisfactorily demonstrated to affect beneficially one or...

Iron is mainly absorbed in the duodenum and the upper jejunum of the small intestine Fig. 6.1 . Both haeme iron and soluble complexes of iron are absorbable. Iron absorption from the gut lumen across the enterocytes to the circulation occurs in two stages uptake across the apical membrane and transfer across the basolateral membrane Fig. 6.2 . The mechanisms of apical iron uptake from intestinal lumen to the enterocytes depend on the source of iron Fe II or Fe III complexes. Haeme is absorbed...

SCD is usually defined as death from a cardiac cause occurring within one hour from the onset of symptoms.1 In many studies, however, investigators used quite different definitions, with a time frame of 3 or even 24 hours in the old World Health Organization definition. The magnitude of the problem is considerable since SCD is a very common, and often the first, manifestation of CHD, and it accounts for about 50 per cent of cardiovascular mortality in developed countries.1 In most cases, SCD...

Proteins27 should account for 15-20 per cent of total caloric intake, 0.8-1 gram per kilogram of body weight. This amount should increase during pregnancy, breast feeding, infancy and childhood, illness and diseases. Proteins, unlike fats and carbohydrates, contain nitrogen. They are usually large molecules composed of amino acid, nine of which are 'essential' Table 7.7 as they cannot be synthesized and must be supplied by the diet. Foods that have all nine essential amino acids present are...

Endothelial dysfunction and intimal-media thickness are considered the early steps in atherosclerosis. Rassel Ross8 has modified atherosclerosis patho-genetical theories because numerous pathophysiological observations in humans and animals have led to the formulation of the response-to-injury hypothesis of atherosclerosis. Each characteristic lesion of atherosclerosis represents a different stage in a chronic inflammatory process in the artery. The lesions of atherosclerosis represent a series...

Disorders in the iron homeostasis may lead to either iron deficiency or iron overload. Iron deficiency is a condition where the iron intake does not meet the body's demands. Its manifestations are paleness, lethargy, palpitations and shortness of breath. Iron overload, also termed haemochromatosis, on the other hand, is characterised by a progressive increase in the total amount of body iron followed by an abnormal iron deposition in multiple organs Fig. 6.3 . In advanced cases, it also causes...

Ubiquinone or CoQ is a lipid-soluble micronutrient present in animal cells and in many plants. Ubiquinol is the reduced form of CoQ and it functions as an antioxidant as further detailed below Frei et al., 1990 . CoQ can be synthesized in vivo and is not, therefore, a true vitamin. There are, however, circumstances in which the utilization of CoQ surpasses its rate of synthesis. For example, the use of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A reductase HMG-CoA inhibitors for the treatment of...

Compared with vitamin E, there has been only very limited research on the potential cardiovascular benefits of CoQ1O. Singh et al. 1998 have reviewed the role of CoQ1O in CVD. CoQ1O deficiency has been observed in a wide variety of cardiovascular disorders, e.g. congestive heart failure, angina pectoris, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, mitral value prolapse Singh et al., 1998 . In the apoE gene knockout mice an excellent model of human atherosclerosis supplementation with...

Secondary haemochromatosis may be caused by several other conditions leading to iron overload. These include excess of dietary iron intake, chronic haemolysis and frequent blood transfusions. Phlebotomy is mostly impossible in these cases. The treatment most commonly used is a continuous administration of an iron-chelating agent. Chronic anaemia such as aplastic anaemia, sickle cell anaemia, and thalassaemia cause iron overload mostly because of frequent blood transfusions. Each 250 ml...

In the early course of iron overload, numerous homeostatic mechanisms prevent damage from accumulating iron. These include increased ferritin production needed to sequester the labile iron, and increment in individual antioxidants and or antioxidant enzymes to protect against radical damage promoted by iron. However, these mechanisms might fail as more iron accumulates. Measurement of iron toxicity is crucial for diagnosis and management of patients with iron overload from such disorders as...

The extent of iron absorption is mainly affected by the level of body iron, the degree of erythropoiesis, the amount of iron in the diet, and the composition of the diet itself. Other conditions, such as hypoxia, pregnancy and inflammation, may also alter the absorption. Furthermore, iron absorption is inappropriately increased in primary haemochromatosis. The iron stores regulator induces a moderate increase in iron absorption as the body iron stores fall, and vice versa. It is still an...

The red, violet or blue anthocyanins, found in most berries and fruits, belong to the group of flavonoids. The anthocyanins consist of an aglycon, the antho-cyanidin, linked to a sugar moiety. The six most frequently found aglycons in fruits and berries are seen in Fig. 9.3. These aglycons may be glycosylated or acylated by different sugars and acids in different positions. The most common glycoside moieties found in anthocyanins are the 3-monosides, 3-biosides, 3-triosides and 3,5-diglycosides...

Fig. 9.2 In vivo metabolism of dietaryflavonoids. and sugar moiety Hertog et al., 1997 see Fig. 9.2 . This was supported by the findings that incubations of flavonoid glycosides with intestinal micro-flora resulted in the release of the free aglycons, and in germ-free rats the flavonoid glycosides were excreted unchanged with faeces Griffiths, 1982 . It was later demonstrated that human intestinal bacteria are in fact capable of hydrolysing flavonoid glycosides to the free aglycons and sugar...

Although an extensive number of studies have reported effects of flavonoids on enzymatic, biological and physiological processes, only very few researchers have attempted to determine the actual compound metabolite responsible for the observed effects. It has generally been assumed that the biological activities originated from the flavonoids investigated, although they may be bio-transformed into one or more structurally quite different compound in vivo. Investigations on in vitro metabolism...

Clinical observations, basic science and several epidemiological studies have contributed to an emerging body of evidence for a potential role of flavonoids in the prevention of cardiovascular disease CVD Hollman and Katan, 1999 . Flavonoids have been shown to inhibit the oxidation of plasma low-density lipoprotein LDL , decrease platelet function and to modulate cytokines and eicosanoids involved in inflammatory responses De Whalley et al., 1990 Murphy et al., 2003 . Several epidemiological...

According to the so-called thrifty phenotype hypothesis, conditions such as disturbed nutrition during foetal time or early infancy could cause structural or functional changes in muscles, liver or pancreas and therefore predispose to later disorders of glucose and insulin metabolism Hales amp Baker 1992 . Low birth weight and birth thinness reflect foetal growth disturbance and have been related to an adverse profile of later glucose and insulin metabolism and to an increased risk of type 2...