Nutrition and Healthy Aging

BACKGROUND: The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been linked with better cognitive function and brain integrity. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of modified Mediterranean diet (mMedDiet) scores from early through middle adulthood in relation to volumetric and microstructural midlife MRI brain measures. Assess the association of mMedDiet and brain measures with four cognitive domains. If variables are correlated, determine if brain measures mediate the relationship between mMedDiet and cognition...

BACKGROUND: Strategies to reduce osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms and increase physical function in persons with lower extremity (LE) OA is a public health priority. OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between diet quality and measures of physical function among overweight and obese older adults with self-reported LE OA. METHODS: 413 overweight and obese primarily African American adults ≥60 years old with LE OA were assessed. Diet quality was quantified using the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) and Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010)...

Because every species has unique attributes relevant to understanding specific aspects of aging, using a diversity of study systems and a comparative biology approach for aging research has the potential to lead to novel discoveries applicable to human health. Monogonont rotifers, a standard model for studies of aquatic ecology, evolutionary biology, and ecotoxicology, have also been used to study lifespan and healthspan for nearly a century. However, because much of this work has been published in the ecology and evolutionary biology literature, it may not be known to the biomedical research community...

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is higher among minority populations, including individuals of Mexican ethnic descent. Whether alignment to healthy dietary patterns is associated with lower risk of metabolic syndrome in this population is largely unknown. OBJECTIVE: To prospectively evaluate the associations between a priori diet quality scores and risk of metabolic syndrome and its components among postmenopausal women of Mexican ethnic descent...

 As the global population ages, there is increased interest in living longer and improving one's quality of life in later years. However, studying aging - the decline in body function - is expensive and time-consuming. And despite research success to make model organisms live longer, there still aren't really any feasible solutions for delaying aging in humans. With space travel, scientists and engineers couldn't know what it would take to get to the moon. They had to extrapolate from theory and shorter-range tests...

BACKGROUND: Red raspberries ( Rubus idaeus L.) contain varied nutrients and phytochemicals important for healthy aging. Processing berries extends their shelf-life and culinary applications, although information on nutritional content among processed forms are limited. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the project was to conduct a market basket study to characterize nutrient content and variation in processed red raspberry (RRB) products (i.e., individually quick frozen (IQF), purée, concentrates)...

BACKGROUND: Life-extending dietary restriction increases energy demands. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), at high levels, may be detrimental to healthspan by activating the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR). Whether organismal oxidation of BCAAs increases upon dietary restriction is unknown. OBJECTIVE: Test whether dietary restriction (DR, which creates an energy deficit) or supplemental dietary BCAAs (superfluous BCAAs) increases oxidation of BCAAs, potentially reducing their levels to improve healthspan...

Sleep is a conserved behavior across the evolutionary timescale. Almost all known animal species demonstrate sleep or sleep like states. Despite extensive study, the mechanistic aspects of sleep need are not very well characterized. Sleep appears to be needed to generate resources that are utilized during the active stage/wakefulness as well as clearance of waste products that accumulate during wakefulness. From a metabolic perspective, this means sleep is crucial for anabolic activities. Decrease in anabolism and build-up of harmful catabolic waste products is also a hallmark of aging processes...

BACKGROUND: Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is a NAD+ -dependent enzyme that has important roles in many biological processes involved in aging, including cell growth and repair, inflammation, and energy regulation. SIRT1 activity is modulated in response to certain nutritional interventions that increase healthspan and longevity in rodents, including calorie restriction (CR) and intermittent fasting (IF). In addition to positively influencing cardiometabolic health, SIRT1 is important for brain health and may be critical in the preservation of memory processes that deteriorate during aging...

BACKGROUND: Dietary restriction (DR) improves lifespan, metabolic fitness and resilience in many organisms, but the role of dietary macronutrient composition and timing of food intake in specific benefits remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: We sought to compare the effects of two isocaloric DR regimes differing in the timing of food intake - every other day (EOD) fasting/feeding vs. daily calorie restriction (CR) - at two different fat/carbohydrate ratios on two well-established DR benefits, improved glucose homeostasis and protection from renal ischemia reperfusion injury in mice...

Traditional animal models have been used to make seminal discoveries in biomedical research including a better understanding of the biology of the aging process. However, translation of these findings from laboratory to clinical populations has likely been hindered due to fundamental biological and physiological differences between common laboratory animals and humans. Non-human primates (NHP) may serve as an effective bridge towards translation, and short-lived NHP like the common marmoset offer many advantages as models for aging research...

This article is an invited response to a critique by industry of our published study about the impact of carrageenan supplement on the interval to relapse in ulcerative colitis patients on a no-carrageenan diet.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Time restricted feeding decreases energy intake without calorie counting and may be a viable option for weight loss. However, the effect of this diet on body weight in obese subjects has never been examined. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of 8-h time restricted feeding on body weight and metabolic disease risk factors in obese adults. DESIGN: Obese subjects ( n  = 23) participated in an 8-h time restricted feeding intervention (ad libitum feeding between 10:00 to 18:00 h, water fasting between 18:00 to 10:00 h) for 12 weeks...

BACKGROUND: Little is known about associations between dietary inflammation, age and anthropometric measurements. OBJECTIVE: In this regard, we examine how DII is related to age, anthropometrics [weight, Body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR)] and other parameters of nutrition (energy, protein, fats and cholesterol intake, Net Endogenous Acid Production (NEAP) and Phytochemical Index (PI)) in a cross-sectional study in Pakistan. DESIGN: Only men ( n  = 651, age 54-95 years) participated in the study...

BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest curcumin is a promising nutraceutical for improving important clinical and physiological markers of healthy aging, including motor and cognitive function. OBJECTIVE: To determine if curcumin supplementation improves motor and cognitive function in healthy middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: 39 healthy men and postmenopausal women (45-74 yrs) were randomized to 12 weeks of placebo ( n  = 19) or curcumin supplementation (2000 mg/day Longvida® ; n  = 20) with motor and cognitive function assessed at week 0 and 12...

BACKGROUND: There is growing interest in the use of nutrition interventions to improve cognitive function. To determine intervention efficacy, repeated cognitive testing is often required. However, performance on tasks can improve through practice, irrespective of any intervention. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated practice effects for commonly used cognitive tasks (immediate and delayed recall, serial subtractions, Stroop and the Sternberg task) to identify appropriate methodology for minimising their impact on nutrition intervention outcomes...

From a mechanical point of view, human skin appears as a layered composite containing the stiff thin cover layer presented by the stratum corneum, below which are the more compliant layers of viable epidermis and dermis and further below the much more compliant adjacent layer of subcutaneous white adipose tissue (sWAT). Upon exposure to a strain, such a multi-layer system demonstrates structural instabilities in its stiffer layers, which in its simplest form is the wrinkling. These instabilities appear hierarchically when the mechanical strain in the skin exceeds some critical values...

Resveratrol improves healthspan and lifespan in many organisms. Several different targets and mechanisms of action have been proposed to explain the beneficial effects of resveratrol on healthspan and longevity, including the activation of a family of proteins known as sirtuins and its action as a calorie restriction mimetic. In this mini-review, we discuss some of the most recent findings to date in the resveratrol field and suggest three areas of future research based on those results.

The development of human gut microbiota begins as soon as the neonate leaves the protective environment of the uterus (or maybe in-utero ) and is exposed to innumerable microorganisms from the mother as well as the surrounding environment. Concurrently, the host responses to these microbes during early life manifest during the development of an otherwise hitherto immature immune system. The human gut microbiome, which comprises an extremely diverse and complex community of microorganisms inhabiting the intestinal tract, keeps on fluctuating during different stages of life...