Investigating the Role of Nutrition in Enhancing Immunity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Twitter Text-Mining Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the spotlight the critical role played by a balanced and healthy diet in bolstering the human immune system. There is burgeoning interest in nutrition-related information on social media platforms like Twitter. There is a critical need to assess and understand public opinion, attitudes, and sentiments toward nutrition-related information shared on Twitter. OBJECTIVE: This study uses text mining to analyze nutrition-related messages on Twitter to identify and analyze how the general public perceives various food groups and diets for improving immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. METHODS: We gathered 71,178 nutrition-related tweets that were posted between January 01, 2020, and September 30, 2020. The Correlated Explanation text mining algorithm was used to identify frequently discussed topics that users mentioned as contributing to immunity building against SARS-CoV-2. We assessed the relative importance of these topics and performed a sentiment analysis. We also qualitatively examined the tweets to gain a closer understanding of nutrition-related topics and food groups. RESULTS: Text-mining yielded 10 topics that users discussed frequently on Twitter, viz proteins, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy-related, spices and herbs, fluids, supplements, avoidable foods, and specialty diets. Supplements were the most frequently discussed topic (23,913/71,178, 33.6%) with a higher proportion (20,935/23,913, 87.75%) exhibiting a positive sentiment with a score of 0.41. Consuming fluids (17,685/71,178, 24.85%) and fruits (14,807/71,178, 20.80%) were the second and third most frequent topics with favorable, positive sentiments. Spices and herbs (8719/71,178, 12.25%) and avoidable foods (8619/71,178, 12.11%) were also frequently discussed. Negative sentiments were observed for a higher proportion of avoidable foods (7627/8619, 84.31%) with a sentiment score of -0.39. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified 10 important food groups and associated sentiments that users discussed as a means to improve immunity. Our findings can help dieticians and nutritionists to frame appropriate interventions and diet programs.

Revisiting the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment in depression, again.

Following on from the publication of the Royal Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry Mood Disorder Clinical Practice Guidelines (2020) and criticisms of how these aberrantly addressed repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment of depression, questions have continued to be raised in the journal about this treatment by a small group of authors, whose views we contend do not reflect the broad acceptance of this treatment nationally and internationally. In fact, the evidence supporting the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment in depression is unambiguous and substantial, consisting of an extensive series of clinical trials supported by multiple meta-analyses, network meta-analysis and umbrella reviews. Importantly, the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment in depression has also been subject to a series of health economic analyses. These indicate that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is a cost-effective therapy and have been used in some jurisdictions, including Australia, in support of public funding. An argument has been made that offering repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment may delay potentially effective pharmacotherapy. In fact, there is considerably greater danger of the opposite happening. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is as, if not more effective, than antidepressant medication after two unsuccessful medication trials and should be a consideration for all patients under these circumstances where available. There is no meaningful ongoing debate about the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment in depression - it is a safe, effective and cost-effective treatment.

Usual Dietary Intake of Resistant Starch in US Adults from NHANES 2015-2016.

BACKGROUND: Resistant starch (RS) confers many health benefits, mostly due to nonenzymatic human digestion and gut microbiota fermentation capacity. The usual intake of naturally occurring dietary RS in US adults is unclear. OBJECTIVES: This study estimated usual daily RS intake in grams per 1000 kcal in US adults by sex, age, and ethnic group, as well as the most frequent food category contributing to RS intake using data from the NHANES 2015-2016. METHODS: RS content of foods consumed was matched with Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies food codes. The National Cancer Institute method was used to estimate adults' usual RS intake from 2 24-h dietary recalls. Day 1 RS contribution from food groups to overall RS intake was ranked for the total sample, across age-sex categories, and across ethnic groups. RESULTS: In total, 5139 US adults (48.4% male) had a mean daily usual intake of RS of 1.9 ± 0.0 g/(1000 kcal⋅d). Males and females had a similar intake of RS [2.0 ± 0.0 g compared with 1.9 ± 0.0 g/(1000 kcal⋅d)] with no differences between sexes within the same age category. When comparing ethnic groups within each age category, the non-Hispanic white males and females had significantly lower RS intake than all other ethnic groups [range: 1.7-1.8 compared with 2.1-2.3 g RS/(1000 kcal⋅d), respectively], with no differences among the other ethnic groups. French fries and other fried white potatoes, rice, and beans, peas, and legumes were the most frequently consumed food categories contributing to RS intake in all adults. CONCLUSIONS: US adults should improve the intake of natural RS food sources. Increasing RS intake will improve gastrointestinal health as a prebiotic and potentially increase insulin sensitivity with adequate consumption (e.g., ∼15 g/d).