Dietary intake of pistachios or mixed nuts results in higher systemic antioxidant capacity with minimal effects on bone in adolescent male rats.

Nutrition is a key determinant of bone health and attainment of peak bone mass. Excess oxidative stress induces bone loss while increasing antioxidant capacity promotes protective effects on bone. Nuts are rich in antioxidants; therefore, we tested the hypothesis that compared to a control diet high in fat (40 % energy) and cholesterol, diets containing isocaloric amounts of pistachios (8·1 % g/g) or mixed nuts (7·5 % g/g) for 8 weeks would result in greater bone health in male adolescent (3 weeks; a state of continued skeletal growth) Sprague-Dawley rats. We found no difference in bone mechanical properties among groups. Tibial apparent density was ~5 % higher in the pistachio and mixed nuts groups v. control (P < 0·05) with no clear difference detected for the femur. Expressions of genes known to impact bone turnover and serum bone turnover biomarkers were unaffected by either diet relative to control. Serum antioxidant capacity was ~2-fold higher in the pistachio and mixed nuts groups compared with control (P < 0·05) but were similar between groups. Therefore, pistachios and mixed nuts may increase tibial density, in part, due to increasing antioxidant capacity. Longer dietary interventions may be necessary to elicit detectable changes in other bones (e.g. femur) and to detect potential mechanisms for the possible bone protective effects of nuts.

Dietary Management of Heart Failure: DASH Diet and Precision Nutrition Perspectives.

Heart failure (HF) is a major health care burden increasing in prevalence over time. Effective, evidence-based interventions for HF prevention and management are needed to improve patient longevity, symptom control, and quality of life. Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet interventions can have a positive impact for HF patients. However, the absence of a consensus for comprehensive dietary guidelines and for pragmatic evidence limits the ability of health care providers to implement clinical recommendations. The refinement of medical nutrition therapy through precision nutrition approaches has the potential to reduce the burden of HF, improve clinical care, and meet the needs of diverse patients. The aim of this review is to summarize current evidence related to HF dietary recommendations including DASH diet nutritional interventions and to develop initial recommendations for DASH diet implementation in outpatient HF management. Articles involving human studies were obtained using the following search terms: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH diet), diet pattern, diet, metabolism, and heart failure. Only full-text articles written in English were included in this review. As DASH nutritional interventions have been proposed, limitations of these studies are the small sample size and non-randomization of interventions, leading to less reliable evidence. Randomized controlled interventions are needed to offer definitive evidence related to the use of the DASH diet in HF management.

Correction: A diet containing high- versus low-daidzein does not affect bone density and osteogenic gene expression in the obese Zucker rat model.

Correction for 'A diet containing high- versus low-daidzein does not affect bone density and osteogenic gene expression in the obese Zucker rat model' by Eric Rochester et al., Food Funct., 2019, 10, 6851-6857.

A diet containing high- versus low-daidzein does not affect bone density and osteogenic gene expression in the obese Zucker rat model.

Phytoestrogens are nonsteroidal plant compounds with similar chemical structures to mammalian estrogen capable of mimicking the effect of estrogen in selective tissues. A diet rich in phytoestrogens is associated with a variety of health benefits including decreased risks for heart disease, breast cancer, and osteoporosis. Obesity has long thought to be associated with improved bone density due to increased mechanical loading, but recent literature suggests obesity may actually decrease bone health. Daidzein, a soy-derived phytoestrogen, has been shown to improve parameters of bone health in lean animal models of osteoporosis but has not been tested in obese animals. Following a one-week acclimation to a standard AIN-93G diet, 19 five-week-old female obese Zucker rats (OZR) were randomly assigned to a modified AIN-93G diet containing either high daidzein (HD, 0.121 g kg-1 feed) or low daidzein (LD, 0.01 g kg-1 feed). After 8 weeks, tibias and femurs were removed to assess true density (Archimedes principal), mechanical strength (three-point bending test), and femoral osteogenic gene expression. Serum was collected to assess osteocalcin and deoxypyridinoline. Our results indicated that there were no significant differences between the measures for tibial or femoral true density or mechanical strength for the rats in the HD and LD diet groups. Similarly, there were no significant differences in gene expressions related to osteogenic pathways, or serum biomarkers of bone formation and resorption. Overall, an increased dose of daidzein from soy protein supplementation does not elicit an improvement in markers of bone health in obese Zucker rats.