scholarly journals Possible Biochemical Processes Underlying the Positive Health Effects of Plant-Based Diets—A Narrative Review

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2593
Author(s):  
Zoltan Szabo ◽  
Viktor Koczka ◽  
Tamas Marosvolgyi ◽  
Eva Szabo ◽  
Eszter Frank ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Effects ◽  
Serum Insulin ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Vegan Diet ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Plant Foods ◽  
Biochemical Processes ◽  
Mechanistic Target Of Rapamycin ◽  
Trimethylamine Oxide ◽  
Whole Plant

Plant-based diets are becoming more popular for many reasons, and epidemiological as well as clinical data also suggest that a well-balanced vegan diet can be adopted for the prevention, and in some cases, in the treatment of many diseases. In this narrative review, we provide an overview of the relationships between these diets and various conditions and their potential biochemical background. As whole plant foods are very rich in food-derived antioxidants and other phytochemicals, they have many positive physiological effects on different aspects of health. In the background of the beneficial health effects, several biochemical processes could stand, including the reduced formation of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) or decreased serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels and altered signaling pathways such as mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR). In addition, the composition of plant-based diets may play a role in preventing lipotoxicity, avoiding N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), and reducing foodborne endotoxin intake. In this article, we attempt to draw attention to the growing knowledge about these diets and provide starting points for further research.

scholarly journals Contribution of plant food bioactives in promoting health effects of plant foods: why look at interindividual variability?

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (S2) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Morand ◽  
Francisco A. Tomás-Barberán
Keyword(s):  
Health Effects ◽  
Interindividual Variability ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Cardiometabolic Health ◽  
Plant Food ◽  
Health It ◽  
Plant Foods ◽  
Nutritional Needs ◽  
Main Determinants ◽  
Actual Contribution

Abstract Purpose Research has identified plant-based diets as the most protective for our health; it is now essential to focus on good food associations and the beneficial constituents in plant foods. From a growing body of evidence, some categories of food phytochemicals are increasingly considered to play a crucial role in the cardiometabolic health effects associated with plant food consumption. However, the heterogeneity in responsiveness to plant food bioactive intake that is frequently observed in clinical trials can hinder the identification of the effects of these compounds in specific subpopulations and likely lead to underestimating their actual contribution to the health effects of their food sources. Results The magnitude and the main factors responsible for this between-subject variation in response to the consumption of the major families of food phytochemicals have been poorly documented so far. Thus, research efforts in this area must be developed. More importantly, capturing the interindividual variability in response to plant food bioactive intake, together with identifying the main determinants involved, is a crucial step that will enable the development and production of plant food products, thereby satisfying the nutritional needs and conferring benefits to different categories of populations. Conclusion The development of a science-based personalised nutrition approach focusing on plant foods rich in specific bioactive compounds could contribute to alleviating the dramatic burden of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.

Preface

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 585-585
Author(s):  
WILLIAM H. FOEGE
Keyword(s):  
Health Effects ◽  
Infant Feeding ◽  
Infant Health ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Health Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Infant Feeding Decisions

In November 1981, Dr Edward N. Brandt, Assistant Secretary of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, commissioned the Task Force to examine the scientific evidence regarding infant feeding and infant health in both the United States and developing countries. In addition, the report was to include recent information on trends, infant-feeding practices, and factors associated with infant-feeding decisions. The purpose of the Task Force was to determine those areas that were reasonably well studied and well proven and also to indicate where important deficiencies in knowledge existed. Because of the enormous volume of scientific literature dealing with infant feeding, the Task Force elected to concentrate on the most recent studies. In addition, studies of health effects were reviewed if they primarily addressed clinical outcomes in infants or children as end points. This approach necessarily excluded many of the laboratory studies that provide the theoretical framework under which breast-feeding would be expected to have important positive health effects relative to other forms of infant feeding. The Task Force also realized that because of the nature of clinical and epidemiologic research in this area, few of their conclusions could be based on the gold standard of causal research, namely, the randomized clinical trial. Nevertheless, to avoid arriving at conclusions and to say merely that more research was needed, would not live up to responsibility the Task Force was given. Accordingly, the authors of this report have tried to indicate which observational studies were of sufficient quality and consistency that reasonably firm conclusions could be reached, while indicating methodologic difficulties as they were found.

scholarly journals A Whole Food Plant-Based Diet Is Effective for Weight Loss: The Evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 500-510
Author(s):  
Michael Greger
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Food Plant ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Dietary Interventions ◽  
Plant Foods ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
Whole Plant

What does the best available balance of scientific evidence show is the optimum way to lose weight? Calorie density, water content, protein source, and other components significantly influence the effectiveness of different dietary regimes for weight loss. By “walling off your calories,” preferentially deriving your macronutrients from structurally intact plant foods, some calories remain trapped within indigestible cell walls, which then blunts the glycemic impact, activates the ileal brake, and delivers prebiotics to the gut microbiome. This may help explain why the current evidence indicates that a whole food, plant-based diet achieves greater weight loss compared with other dietary interventions that do not restrict calories or mandate exercise. So, the most effective diet for weight loss appears to be the only diet shown to reverse heart disease in the majority of patients. Plant-based diets have also been found to help treat, arrest, and reverse other leading chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension, whereas low-carbohydrate diets have been found to impair artery function and worsen heart disease, the leading killer of men and women in the United States. A diet centered on whole plant foods appears to be a safe, simple, sustainable solution to the obesity epidemic.

Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics: useful for athletes and active individuals? A systematic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.D. Quero Calero ◽  
E. Ortega Rincón ◽  
P. Manonelles Marqueta
Keyword(s):  
Health Effects ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Nutritional Supplement ◽  
Exclusion Criterion ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Keywords Probiotics ◽  
Comprehensive Search ◽  
Academic Search

The purpose of this review was to synthesise available knowledge on the main health effects associated with the use of probiotics, prebiotics and/or synbiotics in athletes and active individuals, including their effects on the immune system, oxidative stress, the gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms, as well as other possible clinical outcomes. A systematic and comprehensive search in electronic databases, including Web of Science (WOS, Scielo), PubMed-MEDLINE, Biblioteca virtual de la Salud (LILACS, IBECS), EBSCO (Academic Search Complete CINAHL; SPORTDiscus) and Cochrane Library, focused on generic articles about probiotics, prebiotics and/or synbiotics and their functionality and effects on human health. The search process was completed using the keywords: ‘probiotics’, ‘prebiotics’, ‘synbiotics’, ‘athletes’ and ‘health’. The only exclusion criterion was experimental studies with animals. A total of 31 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The vast majority were experimental studies about probiotics and health effects (n=28), while only a few demonstrated the results of consuming prebiotics and/or synbiotics (n=3) in athletes and active individuals. Although most of the studies reported positive health effects in athletes and active individuals, there is still no substantial scientific evidence to suggest that probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics play an important role in improving an athlete´s performance. These studies are currently limited in number and quality, hence it is necessary to improve the selection of functional biomarkers and methodological approaches, as well as determining the specific nutritional supplement and exercise doses.

scholarly journals Plant-Based Diets for Reversing Disease and Saving the Planet: Past, Present, and Future

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. S304-S307 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L Katz
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Premature Death ◽  
Human Adaptation ◽  
Human Diet ◽  
Plant Foods ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Dietary Choices ◽  
Whole Plant

ABSTRACT The relative contributions of meat and plants to the native human diet, and human adaptation to these dietary constituents, are a matter of debate among paleoanthropologists. Indisputable, however, is the imprint of both on the anatomy and physiology of Homo sapiens: our species is constitutionally omnivorous. That means we have choices to make. At present, we are making mostly bad ones, with poor diets of highly processed plant and animal foods alike leading contributors to chronic disease, premature death, and environmental degradation. The evidence is strong, consistent, and compelling that a diet of predominantly, or even exclusively, whole plant foods can promote health, selectively treat and reverse disease, and confer comparable benefit to the planet. Omnivores have dietary choices, but the choices of nearly 8 billion hungry Homo sapiens on a small imperiled planet have narrowed. The future of food, for the sake of people and planet alike, is plant centric.

Positive Health Effects Of The Natural Outdoor Environment (Phenotype); New Approaches In Green Space Assessment

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (1) ◽  
pp. 1662
Author(s):  
Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen ◽  
Graham Smith ◽  
Marta Cirach ◽  
Chris Gidlow ◽  
Hanneke Kruize ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Effects ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
New Approaches

scholarly journals ‘The way to a man's heart is through his gut microbiota’ – dietary pro- and prebiotics for the management of cardiovascular risk

2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran M. Tuohy ◽  
Francesca Fava ◽  
Roberto Viola
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Disease ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Gut Microbiome ◽  
Blood Cholesterol ◽  
Human Gut ◽  
Cvd Risk ◽  
Plant Foods ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
The Way

The human gut microbiota has been identified as a possible novel CVD risk factor. This review aims to summarise recent insights connecting human gut microbiome activities with CVD and how such activities may be modulated by diet. Aberrant gut microbiota profiles have been associated with obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Transfer of microbiota from obese animals induces metabolic disease and obesity in germ-free animals. Conversely, transfer of pathogen-free microbiota from lean healthy human donors to patients with metabolic disease can increase insulin sensitivity. Not only are aberrant microbiota profiles associated with metabolic disease, but the flux of metabolites derived from gut microbial metabolism of choline, phosphatidylcholine andl-carnitine has been shown to contribute directly to CVD pathology, providing one explanation for increased disease risk of eating too much red meat. Diet, especially high intake of fermentable fibres and plant polyphenols, appears to regulate microbial activities within the gut, supporting regulatory guidelines encouraging increased consumption of whole-plant foods (fruit, vegetables and whole-grain cereals), and providing the scientific rationale for the design of efficacious prebiotics. Similarly, recent human studies with carefully selected probiotic strains show that ingestion of viable microorganisms with the ability to hydrolyse bile salts can lower blood cholesterol, a recognised risk factor in CVD. Taken together such observations raise the intriguing possibility that gut microbiome modulation by whole-plant foods, probiotics and prebiotics may be at the base of healthy eating pyramids advised by regulatory agencies across the globe. In conclusion, dietary strategies which modulate the gut microbiota or their metabolic activities are emerging as efficacious tools for reducing CVD risk and indicate that indeed, the way to a healthy heart may be through a healthy gut microbiota.

scholarly journals Whole-plant foods and their macromolecules: untapped approaches to modulate neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Rui Huang ◽  
Zhenjun Zhu ◽  
Qingping Wu ◽  
Alaa El-Din Ahmed Bekhit ◽  
Shujian Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Plant Foods ◽  
Whole Plant

Forgiveness Communication and Health

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas L. Kelley ◽  
Bianca M. Wolf ◽  
Shelby E. Broberg
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Affective Factors ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Health Promoting

Research on forgiveness and its health-related effects has steadily increased since the late 20th century. Most of the forgiveness-health literature demonstrates that forgiveness indirectly influences health through a variety of psychosocial affective factors. Common distinctions in this research are reflected in studies focused on reduction of negative affect and, thus, negative health effects, and studies focused on preventative and health-promoting implications of forgiveness (e.g., increased positive affect). While a lack of clarity exists regarding health implications stemming from reductions in unforgiveness (as distinct from increases in forgiving responses), current research supports the notion that forgiveness, as opposed to unforgiveness, affects psychological, physical, and relational health in overridingly beneficial ways. More specifically, forgiveness, and/or the moderation of unforgiveness, is associated with the exhibition of positive affect (e.g., sympathy, empathy, and optimism), improved self-esteem, higher life satisfaction, and better mental health ratings. Physical health effects of forgiveness include enhanced bioregulation in response to transgression stressors, as well as better self-rated health status and the exhibition of positive health behaviors. Limitations in the current literature most commonly relate to disparate definitional, methodological, and interpretative issues typical of transdisciplinary forgiveness and health research. Current trends and future directions for forgiveness-health research include consideration of additional variables thought to be associated with forgiveness processes, including religiosity, empathy, and social support. Additionally, research that focuses on communicative and relational aspects of health and well-being is warranted. Suggestions for research opportunities in forgiveness-health research framed by a communicative lens are offered.

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