Inflammation and nutritional science for programs/policies and interpretation of research evidence (INSPIRE)

An increasing recognition has emerged of the complexities of the global health agenda-specifically, the collision of infections and noncommunicable diseases and the dual burden of over- and undernutrition. Of particular practical concern are both 1) the need for a better understanding of the bidirectional relations between nutritional status and...

Walking or vitamin B for cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment? A randomised controlled trial

Objective: To examine the effects of aerobic exercise or vitamin B supplementation on cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Design: Randomised placebo-controlled trial. Setting: General community. Participants: Community-dwelling adults aged 70-80 with MCI. Interventions : The 152 participants were randomly...

Carotenoid and vitamin intake, von Hippel-Lindau gene mutations and sporadic renal cell carcinoma

Objective: We investigated whether dietary carotenoid and vitamin intake and supplemental vitamin use were inversely associated with RCC risk and with Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)-gene mutations in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: The Netherlands Cohort Study on diet and cancer (NLCS) includes 120,852 persons, who completed a self...

The effect of walking and vitamin B supplementation on quality of life in community-dwelling adults with mild cognitive impairment: A randomized, controlled trial

Objectives: To examine the effect of walking and vitamin B supplementation on quality-of-life (QoL) in community-dwelling adults with mild cognitive impairment. Methods: One year, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Participants were randomized to: (1) twice-weekly, group-based, moderate-intensity walking program (n = 77) or a light...

Effect of fortified spread on homocysteine concentration in apparently healthy volunteers

Objective: To determine the effect of folic acid, vitamin B6 and B12 fortified spreads on the blood concentrations of these vitamins and homocysteine. Design and setting: A 6-week randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel trial carried out in a clinical research center. Subjects: One hundred and fifty healthy volunteers (50% males...

Intakes of vitamins A, C and E and folate and multivitamins and lung cancer: A pooled analysis of 8 prospective studies

Intakes of vitamins A, C and E and folate have been hypothesized to reduce lung cancer risk. We examined these associations in a pooled analysis of the primary data from 8 prospective studies from North America and Europe. Baseline vitamin intake was assessed using a validated food-frequency questionnaire, in each study. We calculated study...

Research goals for folate and related B vitamin in Europe

In the past decade, the understanding of folate bioavailability, metabolism and related health issues has increased, but several problems remain, including the difficulty of delivering the available knowledge to the populations at risk. Owing to the low compliance of taking folic acid supplements, for example, among women of child-bearing age...

Effect of homocysteine-lowering nutrients on blood lipids: Results from four randomised, placebo-controlled studies in healthy humans

Background: Betaine (trimethylglycine) lowers plasma homocysteine, a possible risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, studies in renal patients and in obese individuals who are on a weight-loss diet suggest that betaine supplementation raises blood cholesterol; data in healthy individuals are lacking. Such an effect on cholesterol would...

Protocol for Project FACT: A randomised controlled trial on the effect of a walking program and vitamin B supplementation on the rate of cognitive decline and psychosocial wellbeing in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

Background: the prevalence of individuals with cognitive decline is increasing since the number of elderly adults is growing considerably. The literature provides promising results on the beneficial effect of exercise and vitamin supplementation on cognitive function both in cognitively healthy as well as in the demented elderly. Methods/Design:...

Diet, anthropometric measures and prostate cancer risk: A review of prospective cohort and intervention studies

We reviewed 37 prospective cohort and four intervention studies on potential dietary risk factors for prostate cancer, published between 1966 and September 2003. Some studies were limited by small size, crude measurement of dietary exposure and limited control for confounders. Intervention and prospective cohort studies support a protective role...

The Binding of Folic Acid and 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate to Folate-Binding Proteins during Gastric Passage Differs in a Dynamic in Vitro Gastrointestinal Model

Despite its low natural folate concentration, milk is responsible for 10-15% of the daily folate intake in countries with a high dairy consumption. Milk products can be considered as a potential matrix for folate fortification, e.g., with synthetic folic acid, to enhance the daily intake of folate. In untreated milk, the natural folate, 5...

Intestinal absorption of different types of folate in healthy subjects with an ileostomy

Our knowledge on the absorption of folate is incomplete. The deconjugation process as a possible limiting factor in the absorption of folates was investigated. The study also attempted to validate the use of the area under the serum response curve (AUC) from food compared with folic acid as a proxy variable for food folate bioavailability....

Vitamins, carotenoids, dietary fiber, and the risk of gastric carcinoma

BACKGROUND. Numerous components of fruit and vegetables are considered to decrease the risk of gastric carcinoma. In the current prospective study, the authors examined the association between the intake of vitamins, carotenoids, and dietary fiber and vitamin supplement use and the incidence rate of gastric carcinoma. METHODS. The Netherlands...

Effects of vitamin C supplementation in human volunteers with a range of cholesterol levels on biomarkers of oxygen radical-generated damage

Twenty-four men and 24 women, all nonsmoking, and maintaining normal dietary habits were assigned to 3 groups of 16. Each group comprising 4 males with "low" cholesterol levels (<6 mmol/L) matched for age and build with 4 males with "high" cholesterol levels (>6 mmol/L) and 8 similarly matched females. A three-treatment, three-treatment period,...