Uncovering culinary medicine research themes: Current status and future direction.

Background: Culinary medicine (CM), an emerging discipline, is a novel approach that focuses on the art of food and cooking to prevent or improve health outcomes among chronic patients suffering from lifestyle diseases. The concept originated in the USA, gaining interest from scholars in medicine, nutrition, nursing, and the gastronomic discipline. Notably, in the last five years, there has been exponential growth in CM literature. In this regard, this study sought to examine the growth, performance and distinct research themes of CM literature over time. Methods: To achieve the study's objectives, this study employs descriptive, performance and bibliometric analysis. The descriptive analysis was applied to examine the growth of the CM literature since its emergence. The performance analysis was used to identify the most influential journals, articles, and authors in the CM domain. The bibliographic coupling analysis was adopted to discover the various research themes of the CM knowledge base. Results: This study identifies three stages of literature development: Early stage, modest growth stage, and emerging stage. Further, the results indicate that most of the studies on CM had been conducted in developed countries. Our findings reveal a clear interest in integrating the CM curriculum into medical/nutrition education programs in recent years. Additionally, the study discovers four distinct main research themes: knowledge assessment, impact measurement, acceptance and efficacy, and implementation of CM. Conclusions: These findings are helpful for scholars in medicine, nutrition, nursing, and gastronomy as they provide an overview of CM's development and research focus. Future studies could focus on expanding the geographical distribution of research on CM and further exploring the identified research themes to gain a deeper understanding of the potential of this approach for improving health outcomes among chronic disease patients.

Impact of counseling in knowledge, attitude and practice and association of nutritional status with CD4 count and opportunistic infections of HIV patients of Udupi, India.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: HIV infection and insufficient nutritional intake form a malicious cycle which leads to immunodeficiency and malnutrition. Thus, this research was done to see the effect of nutritional counseling on knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of HIV patients of Udupi district. Also, the rational evidence of association of nutritional status with CD4 counts and opportunistic infections combined are limited which led to design of this study. METHODS: This interventional study was done in ART Centre, Udupi, India with a sample size of 66 with 33 each in experimental and control group (EG and CG). At first, the biochemical parameters, KAP, 3 day dietary intake and food group intake over Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) were recorded. PG-SGA (Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment) scoring was used to categorize patients' nutritional status. Individual nutritional counseling was provided to EG and change in KAP of EG and CG were recorded after 1 month. RESULTS: Pre-KAP mean of EG was 151.56 which increased to 169.13 after intervention. The mean KAP score of EG was statistically different from CG after counseling, P < 0.001. Of the total, 15 (22.7%) patients were found to be malnourished. The dietary intake of nutrients and food group was significantly lower than RDA. Tukey HSD post hoc analysis showed significant statistical difference for the CD4 count between moderate and severe malnourished category with P = 0.017. Statistically significant nutrient intake differences were also observed between PGSGA groups while odds ratio showed no significant association. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in KAP and poor nutritional status indicates that individual Nutrition and Health Education Counseling be made an integral part in the management of HIV in Udupi. Also, the difference in CD4 count across two PG-SGA stages depicts an association between nutritional status and immune status of HIV patients.

Dietary Intake, Physical Activity and Body Mass Index among Postmenopausal Women.

CONTEXT: Nutrition plays a vital role in the quality of life in postmenopausal women. AIM: The aim is to determine the dietary intake, physical activity, and assess the body mass index (BMI) among postmenopausal women. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A community-based sample survey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study included 140 postmenopausal women (40-70 years) from Udupi, Manipal areas of Karnataka. The study was carried out between July and December 2013. Sociodemographic data were collected using a questionnaire. Anthropometric data included height, weight, waist, and hip circumference. Dietary intake was determined using 24 h dietary recall. Physical activity information was collected. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 software. Paired t-test was performed to determine the dietary adequacy. RESULTS: Obesity was 42.1% among the study participants. Increased WHR and waist circumference were 82.1% and 77.1%. Mean daily intake of calcium and saturated fatty acids were significantly higher than recommended dietary allowance (RDA) (P < 0.001). Mean intake of energy, protein, carbohydrate, mono and poly unsaturated fatty acid, fiber and sodium were significantly lower than RDA (P < 0.001). Average daily intake of cereals, pulses, roots and tubers, meat and products, fats and oils, green leafy, and other vegetables were significantly (P < 0.001) lower than RDA. Intake of fruits, milk and milk products, and sugar was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than RDA. Only 37.1% of women performed moderate or active exercises regularly. CONCLUSIONS: Even though, nutrient and food group deficiencies were observed among postmenopausal women physical inactivity and effects of menopausal transition instigate increased BMI imposing a need to educate on nutrition and physical activity.