Sarcobesity: new paradigms for healthy aging related to taurine supplementation, gut microbiota and exercise.

Enigmatic sarcopenic obesity is still a challenge for science and adds to the global public health burden. The progressive accumulation of body fat combined with a dysfunctional skeletal muscle structure and composition, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and anabolic resistance, among other aggravating factors, together represent the seriousness and complexity of treating the metabolic disorder of sarcobesity in aging. For this reason, further studies are needed that encourage the support of therapeutic management. It is along these lines that we direct the reader to therapeutic approaches that demonstrate important, but still obscure, outcomes in the physiological conditions of sarcobesity, such as the role of taurine in modulating inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms in muscle and adipose tissue, as well as the management of gut microbiota, able to systemically re-establish the structure and function of the gut-muscle axis, in addition to the merits of physical exercise as an instrument to improve muscular health and lifestyle quality.

[Maternal factors associated with habitual consumption of ultra-processed foods during pregnancy]. / Fatores maternos associados ao consumo usual de alimentos ultraprocessados na gestação.

The scope of the study was to investigate the relationship between maternal sociodemographic, obstetric and lifestyle characteristics and the habitual consumption of ultra-processed foods. It included a cross-sectional study of n = 784 pregnant women attended by the Unified Health System. Diet was estimated using two 24-hour recall surveys, using the multiple-pass method. Ultra-processed foods were classified using the UN NOVA food classification and their habitual consumption was expressed as the contribution to the total energy percentage. Adjusted linear regression models were used to investigate the relationship between maternal characteristics and the percentage of energy (%E) derived from ultra-processed foods. The %E of ultra-processed foods in the diet was 32.1%. Maternal age (-0.45[-0.62; -0.29] p < 0.001), economic bracket D+E in relation to A+B (-2.95[-5.59; -0.32] p = 0.03) and energy underreporting (-6.95[-8.86; -5.04] p < 0.001) were inversely associated with the %E of ultra-processed foods, whereas the pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI) (0.41[0.22; 0.60] p < 0.001) was directly associated. This would suggest that maternal age, economic status, energy underreporting and pre-gestational anthropometric status are associated with the consumption of ultra-processed foods during pregnancy.

O objetivo do estudo foi investigar a relação entre as características sociodemográficas, obstétricas e de estilo de vida maternas e o consumo usual de alimentos ultraprocessados. Estudo transversal, n = 784 gestantes, assistidas pelo Sistema Único de Saúde. A dieta foi estimada utilizando dois inquéritos recordatórios de 24 horas, pelo método de passagens múltiplas. Os alimentos ultraprocessados foram classificados empregando-se a classificação NOVA e seu consumo usual foi expresso como a contribuição no percentual energético total. Modelos de regressão linear ajustados foram empregados para investigar a relação entre as características maternas e o percentual energético proveniente (%E) de ultraprocessados. O %E de ultraprocessados na dieta foi de 32,1%. A idade materna (-0,45 [-0,62; -0,29] p < 0,001), estrato econômico D+E em relação a A+B (-2,95 [-5,59; -0,32] p = 0,03) e sub-relato energético (-6,95 [-8,86; -5,04] p < 0,001) foram inversamente associados ao %E de ultraprocessados, enquanto o índice de massa corporal (IMC) pré-gestacional (0,41 [0,22; 0,60] p < 0,001) foi diretamente associado. Sugere-se que a idade materna, o estrato econômico, a subnotificação energética e o estado antropométrico pré-gestacional estejam associados ao consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados durante a gestação.

Fatores maternos associados ao consumo usual de alimentos ultraprocessados na gestação / Maternal factors associated with habitual consumption of ultra-processed foods during pregnancy

Resumo O objetivo do estudo foi investigar a relação entre as características sociodemográficas, obstétricas e de estilo de vida maternas e o consumo usual de alimentos ultraprocessados. Estudo transversal, n = 784 gestantes, assistidas pelo Sistema Único de Saúde. A dieta foi estimada utilizando dois inquéritos recordatórios de 24 horas, pelo método de passagens múltiplas. Os alimentos ultraprocessados foram classificados empregando-se a classificação NOVA e seu consumo usual foi expresso como a contribuição no percentual energético total. Modelos de regressão linear ajustados foram empregados para investigar a relação entre as características maternas e o percentual energético proveniente (%E) de ultraprocessados. O %E de ultraprocessados na dieta foi de 32,1%. A idade materna (-0,45 [-0,62; -0,29] p < 0,001), estrato econômico D+E em relação a A+B (-2,95 [-5,59; -0,32] p = 0,03) e sub-relato energético (-6,95 [-8,86; -5,04] p < 0,001) foram inversamente associados ao %E de ultraprocessados, enquanto o índice de massa corporal (IMC) pré-gestacional (0,41 [0,22; 0,60] p < 0,001) foi diretamente associado. Sugere-se que a idade materna, o estrato econômico, a subnotificação energética e o estado antropométrico pré-gestacional estejam associados ao consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados durante a gestação.

Abstract The scope of the study was to investigate the relationship between maternal sociodemographic, obstetric and lifestyle characteristics and the habitual consumption of ultra-processed foods. It included a cross-sectional study of n = 784 pregnant women attended by the Unified Health System. Diet was estimated using two 24-hour recall surveys, using the multiple-pass method. Ultra-processed foods were classified using the UN NOVA food classification and their habitual consumption was expressed as the contribution to the total energy percentage. Adjusted linear regression models were used to investigate the relationship between maternal characteristics and the percentage of energy (%E) derived from ultra-processed foods. The %E of ultra-processed foods in the diet was 32.1%. Maternal age (-0.45[-0.62; -0.29] p < 0.001), economic bracket D+E in relation to A+B (-2.95[-5.59; -0.32] p = 0.03) and energy underreporting (-6.95[-8.86; -5.04] p < 0.001) were inversely associated with the %E of ultra-processed foods, whereas the pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI) (0.41[0.22; 0.60] p < 0.001) was directly associated. This would suggest that maternal age, economic status, energy underreporting and pre-gestational anthropometric status are associated with the consumption of ultra-processed foods during pregnancy.

Taurine as a possible antiaging therapy: A controlled clinical trial on taurine antioxidant activity in women ages 55 to 70.

OBJECTIVE: Based on the antioxidant effects of taurine, which are capable of controlling oxidative stress in the aging process, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of taurine supplementation on biomarkers of oxidative stress in women 55 to 70 y of age. METHODS: A double-blind study was conducted with 24 women (61.4 ± 4.2 y, body mass index 31.4 ± 5.1 kg/m²). The participants were randomly assigned to either a control group (GC, n = 11), supplemented with placebo (1.5 g of starch); or a taurine group (GTAU, n = 13), supplemented with taurine (1.5 g), for 16 wk. As primary outcomes, taurine and oxidative stress marker levels were determined in plasma samples. Anthropometry, functional capacity testing, and plasma mineral levels were evaluated as secondary outcomes. The evaluations were performed pre- and postintervention. Food consumption was assessed before, during, and after the intervention. The results were analyzed by two-way repeated analysis of variance measures mixed model, with the Sidak post hoc (P < 0.05). RESULTS: Taurine and superoxide dismutase (SOD, antioxidant enzyme) plasma levels were increased in the GTAU group. SOD levels also were higher than in the GC group after supplementation. Glutathione reductase levels decreased regardless of the intervention. Malondialdehyde levels increased only in the GC participants. CONCLUSION: Taurine supplementation prevented the decrease in the antioxidant enzyme SOD, suggesting taurine as a strategy to control oxidative stress during the aging process.