Associations of Dietary Intake with Cardiovascular Disease, Blood Pressure, and Lipid Profile in the Korean Population: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE@#Previous studies have separately reported the contributions of dietary factors to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its markers, including blood pressure (BP) and lipid profile. This study systematically reviewed the current evidence on this issue in the Korean population.@*METHODS@#Sixty-two studies from PubMed and Embase were included in this meta-analysis. We performed a random-effects model to analyze pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the consumption of 14 food items, three macro- and eight micro-nutrients, two dietary patterns, and three dietary indices.@*RESULTS@#An analysis of pooled effect sizes from at least four individual study populations showed significant associations between coffee consumption and CVD (OR/HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.52–0.97) and elevated/high triglycerides (TG) (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.78–0.90), sugar-sweetened beverage intake and elevated BP (OR/HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.09–1.33), and milk and dairy intake and elevated/high TG and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (OR/HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.76–0.89 for both). Carbohydrate consumption and the low-carbohydrate-diet score were consistently related to an approximately 25% risk reduction for elevated TG and low HDL-C. A lower risk of elevated total cholesterol, but not low-density lipoprotein, was additionally observed for those with a higher low-carbohydrate-diet score. A healthy dietary pattern was only associated with a reduced risk of elevated TG in the Korea National Cancer Screenee Cohort (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67–0.98).@*CONCLUSION@#This study showed that milk and dairy and coffee had protective effects for CVD and its risk factors, such as BP and lipid profile, while sugar-sweetened beverages exerted harmful effects.

Influence of Gas Pain, Post-operative Resilience, and Body Temperature Discomfort in Laparoscopic Myomectomy Patients after Thermotherapy / 여성건강간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of thermotherapy on gas pain, post-operative resilience, and body temperature discomfort among patients who received laparoscopic myomectomies. METHODS: The experimental group consisted of 62 patients with thermotherapy and the control group consisted of 60 patients. Thermotherapy was applied individually to the experimental group four hours after surgery. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, χ²-tests, and repeated measures of analysis of variance, using IBM SPSS Statistics version 18. RESULTS: The results showed no significant interaction effect between the group and time of measurement in gas-related pain in the experimental group. For gas-related pain, there was significant difference in right shoulder pain at 24 hours (t=-4.222, p=.000), 48 hours (t=-3.688, p=.000), 72 hours (t=-2.250, p=.028), and left at 24 hours (t=-3.727, p=.000), 48 hours (t=-4.150, p=.000), and 72 hours (t=-2.482, p=.016) and both shoulders at 24 hours (t=-2.722, p=.009) and 48 hours (t=-2.525, p=.014). There was no significant difference in epigastric pain, excluding both epigastric pain at 48 hours (t=2.908, p=.005), 72 hours (t=3.010, p=.004), but there was a significant difference in objective body temperature discomfort (t=2.895, p=.008). CONCLUSION: Thermotherapy relieved shoulder gas-related pain and objective body temperature discomfort. It needs to be developed and applied to improve post-operative discomfort in patients with laparoscopic hysterectomies.

Erratum: Correction of Figure. Influence of Gas Pain, Post-operative Resilience, and Body Temperature Discomfort in Laparoscopic Myomectomy Patients after Thermotherapy / 여성건강간호학회지

The authors found a language error in the published article. The authors replace the Figure 1.

Effect of Sulgidduk containing pine needle juice on lipid metabolism in high fat-cholesterol diet induced dyslipidemic rats / 한국영양학회지

PURPOSE: Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Pine needles (Pinus densiflora seib et Zucc) are a traditional medicine used to treat dyslipidemia in clinical settings. This study examined the potential effects of sulgidduk, a Korean traditional rice cake containing pine needle juice to protect against dyslipidemia induced by a high-fat/sugidduk diet in a rat model. METHODS: Twenty one male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into three groups: normal control (NC), Sulgidduk diet (SD), Sulgidduk diet containing pine needle juice (PSD). The blood lipid levels, production of lipid peroxide in the plasma and liver, total cholesterol and triglyceride in the liver and feces, antioxidant enzyme activities in plasma and erythrocytes were measured to assess the effects of PSD on dyslipidemia. RESULTS: A high-fat/Sulgidduk diet induced dyslipidemia, which was characterized by significantly altered lipid profiles in the plasma and liver. The food intake was similar in the three groups, but weight gain and food efficiency ratio (FER) were reduced significantly in the PSD group compared to those in the SD group. The level of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and TBARS in the plasma showed tendencies to decrease in the PSD group compared to those in the SD group. The levels of high-fat/Sulgidduk diet-induced sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2) gene expression were reduced significantly in the PSD group. The supplementation of PSD reduced the hepatic triglyceride and total cholesterol levels significantly, and enhanced the fecal excretion of triglyceride and hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities compared to the SD group. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the addition of 0.4% pine needle juice to Sulgidduk may be an alternative snack to control dyslipidemia.

Predicting the Number of People for Meals of an Institutional Foodservice by Applying Machine Learning Methods: S City Hall Case

Predicting the number of meals in a foodservice organization is an important decision-making process that is essential for successful food production, such as reducing the amount of residue, preventing menu quality deterioration, and preventing rising costs. Compared to other demand forecasts, the menu of dietary personnel includes diverse menus, and various dietary supplements include a range of side dishes. In addition to the menus, diverse subjects for prediction are very difficult problems. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish a method for predicting the number of meals including predictive modeling and considering various factors in addition to menus which are actually used in the field. For this purpose, 63 variables in eight categories such as the daily available number of people for the meals, the number of people in the time series, daily menu details, weekdays or seasons, days before or after holidays, weather and temperature, holidays or year-end, and events were identified as decision variables. An ensemble model using six prediction models was then constructed to predict the number of meals. As a result, the prediction error rate was reduced from 10%~11% to approximately 6~7%, which was expected to reduce the residual amount by approximately 40%.

Effect of onion peel extract supplementation on the lipid profile and antioxidative status of healthy young women: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover trial

The consumption of fruits and vegetables that have high polyphenol content has been previously associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease. We investigated the effects of onion peel extract on plasma total antioxidant capacity, lipid peroxidation, and leukocyte DNA damage. This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. Healthy female subjects received either onion peel extract or placebo (dextrin) for two weeks, underwent a 1-week washout period, and then received the other treatment for an additional two weeks. After two weeks of onion peel extract supplementation, the total cholesterol level, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, and atherogenic index significantly decreased (P < 0.05). No changes were observed in activities of erythrocyte antioxidant enzymes or levels of lipid peroxidation markers following onion peel extract supplementation. Additionally, no significant difference was found in plasma antioxidant vitamin (retinol, tocopherols, carotenoids, and coenzyme Q10) levels or ex vivo H2O2-provoked oxidative DNA damage after onion peel extract supplementation. The present interventional study provides evidence of the health benefits of onion peel extract and demonstrates its effects in modulating lipid profiles in healthy young Korean women.

A Study on Intake of Health Functional Food and Its Related Factors in Adults Living in Busan and Gyeongnam Area

The purpose of this study was to describe the pattern of "health functional food (HFF)" intake and related factors in Busan and Gyeongnam area and provide useful information for health promotion through the use of HFF. Among subjects of this study (n = 634), about 64% of the subjects reported that they are currently taking HFFs or other health foods or had HFFs in the last year. The reason of subjects taking HFF was to maintain and promote their health. They choose HFF by their own judgement or knowledge and the main place of purchasing HFF was the HFF store. Main food sources for promoting health in study subjects were nutrient fortified foods (76.8%), fruit or vegetable extracts (64.8%), HFF (64%), herbs or oriental medicines (29.6%), folk remedies or unidentified remedies (24.9%), respectively. The preference type of the products was capsule and liquid. 60.6% of consumers thought that HFF are expensive. 9.7% of consumers experienced the side effect such as stomachache and gastroenteric trouble. Using logistic regression analysis, the use of HFF was 1.9 times higher in female than male subjects indicating strong association between gender and HFF use. Additionally higher prevalence was found in female subjects for right conception of HFF and distinction of HFF. Interestingly subjects who consume less salts exhibited a higher tendency (-1.5 folds) in HFF intake than who prefer to use salt and seasonings in diets. In total study subjects 83.9% of them have known and heard about definition of the HFF. The major route of acquiring the information about HFF was mass media such as TV, internet and newspapers. Also subjects who had taken HFF exhibited high a proper conception toward the knowledge about 'distinction of HFF'. Taken together education programs considering gender, dietary habit and life style is necessary for consumers to select proper HFF.

Effects of daily quercetin-rich supplementation on cardiometabolic risks in male smokers

Limited information from human studies indicates that dietary quercetin supplementation influences blood lipid profiles, glycemic response, and inflammatory status, collectively termed cardiometabolic risks. We tested the hypothesis that quercetin-rich supplementation, derived from onion peel extract, improves cardiometabolic risk components in healthy male smokers in a randomized, double blinded, placebo-controlled parallel design. Randomly assigned subjects were instructed to take either the placebo (n = 43) or 100 mg quercetin capsules each day (n = 49) for 10 weeks. Anthropometric parameters and blood pressure were measured, and blood lipids, glucose, interleukin-6, and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) were determined at baseline and after 10 weeks of quercetin supplementation. Quercetin-rich supplementation significantly reduced serum concentrations of total cholesterol (P < 0.05) and LDL-cholesterol (P < 0.01), whereas these effects were not shown in the placebo group. Furthermore, significant increases were observed in serum concentrations of HDL-cholesterol both in the placebo (P < 0.005) and quercetin-rich supplementation group (P < 0.001); however, changes in HDL-cholesterol were significantly greater in subjects receiving quercetin-rich supplementation than the placebo. Both systolic (P < 0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (P < 0.01) decreased significantly in the quercetin-rich supplementation group. Glucose concentrations decreased significantly after 10 weeks of quercetin-rich supplementation (P < 0.05). In contrast, no effects of quercetin-rich supplementation were observed for the inflammatory markers-IL-6 and sVCAM-1. Daily quercetin-rich supplementation from onion peel extract improved blood lipid profiles, glucose, and blood pressure, suggesting a beneficial role for quercetin as a preventive measure against cardiovascular risk.