Science Shorts: Synbiotics' multiple health benefits and nuts' healthy ageing effects among the latest scientific findings on nutrition
Prebiotics' and probiotics' anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties useful to NAFLD patients: Iranian study
Daily prebiotic and probiotic supplementation can decrease inflammation and increase antioxidant capacity in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients, according to an Iranian population study.
Inflammation and oxidative stress are closely associated with NAFLD, while prebiotics and probiotics are thought to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties.
Based on this, researchers at Iran’s Tabriz University of Medical Sciences and Road Traffic Injury Research Centre conducted a study to assess the impact of prebiotics and / or probiotics on oxidative stress and inflammatory markets in NAFLD patients.
Endurance exercise maximises impact of vitamins C and D on metabolic syndrome: Iranian RCT
Vitamin C and D consumption can alleviate metabolic syndrome, but combining supplementation with exercise maximises the impact against the condition, say researchers in Iran.
The body's levels of vitamins C and D are inversely correlated with components of metabolic syndrome, and the two vitamins are therefore often used as antioxidant supplements during endurance exercises.
Researchers at Iran's Tehran University of Medical Science and Sulaimani Polytechnic University conducted an RCT to assess if vitamin C and / or D intake, together with endurance exercise, would lower the risk of metabolic syndrome.
Synbiotics against sepsis: Can treatment help prevent enteritis and pneumonia?
Prophylactic synbiotic therapy could prevent the incidence of enteritis and ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients with sepsis, researchers in Japan have discovered.
Critically ill patients tend to experience commensal microbiota deterioration, but the impact of probiotic or synbiotic therapy on microbiota and septic complications patients with sepsis have yet to be clearly determined.
Based on this, researchers at Osaka University, Osaka General Medical Centre and the Yakult Central Institute conducted a study to evaluate whether synbiotics had any effect on gut microbiota, or managed to reduce complications in mechanically ventilated patients with sepsis.
Synbiotics may have dose-dependent effect against IBS symptoms: South Korean RCT
Synbiotics can alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms and fatigue associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), depending on the dosage administered, according to a South Korean RCT.
Researchers at the Ajou University School of Medicine and CHA University School of Medicine conducted a double-blind RCT to determine the dose-dependent effects of synbiotics on gastrointestinal symptoms of and fatigue in IBS.
They recruited 30 subjects with IBS, and randomly assigned them to three groups: subjects in the placebo group each received two capsules of placebo daily, those in the first treatment group each received a high dose of synbiotics daily, and those in the second treatment group were given a low dose of synbiotics daily.
To be or nut to be: How to maximise the health benefits of nuts for under-nourished seniors
Nuts may be able to help prevent and even reverse under-nutrition in older adults, but clinical studies are needed to test their efficacy, according to a joint Australian and New Zealand study.
Globally, the proportion of adults aged above 60 years is expected to reach 20% by 2050. As ageing is linked to certain physiological changes that increase the risk of malnutrition, this problem is likely to be more common in the near future.
Malnutrition is characterised by insufficiencies and deficiencies of micro- and macronutrients, and negatively affects overall health, well-being and quality of life in older adults.
