[Importance of water in the hydration of the Spanish population: FESNAD 2010 document]. / Importancia del agua en la hidratación de la población española: documento FESNAD 2010.

For any healthy individual, thirst is an appropriate sign to drink water, except for babies, sportsmen, and most of ill and elderly people. In these instances, it is convenient to schedule appropriate times to drink water since great demands and the physiological mechanisms that determine thirst in these situations may condition water unbalances with important consequences for health and the physical and intellectual performance. The human body has a number of mechanisms that allow keeping constant the water content by adjusting intakes and wastes. Water balance is determined by intake (consumed water, beverages, and water contained in foods) and wastes (urine, stools, the skin, and expired air from the lungs). Failure of these mechanisms and subsequent impairments in water balance may produce severe disarrangements that may threaten somebody's life. In the present document, we analyze the evidences regarding the factors conditioning water needs in the different life stages and physiological situations, as well as the consequences of water unbalance under different situations. A proper hydration may be achieved by feeding and the use of water and other liquids. Although water is the beverage by excellence and represents the ideal way of restoring the losses and get hydrated, we should be aware that, from the very beginning, we have sought other liquid sources with hydration properties. In the last decades we have increased the consumption of different beverages, with a proliferation of sugar-containing beverages. Since excessive sugar consumption has been related to obesity and other chronic conditions, it is evident that the use of these caloric beverages should be rationalized, especially in children. In this document all the considerations regarding hydration are presented and different recommendations are exposed.

DFT calculation of four new potential agents muscarinic of bispyridinium type: structure, synthesis, biological activity, hydration, and relations with the potents W84 and DUO-3O.

Four new potential agents muscarinic (allosteric modulators) were synthesized and studied by using the B3LYP density functional method. The optimum conformation and geometry structure of these compounds were determined and analyzed. Solvent effects were considered including a variable number (1-15) of explicit water molecules surrounding the compound in order to simulate the first hydration shell, as well as using the Tomasi's polarized continuum model (PCM). A similar simultaneous analysis of the potents W84 and DUO-3O allosteric modulator of muscarinic receptors was also carried out. The effect of the hydration on the total atomic charges and several intermolecular distances of interest were also discussed. The biological activity against acetylcholine of our four synthesized bispyridinium salts was determined. Relationships/tendencies structure-activity were established. Several general conclusions were underlined.

[Obesity and functional foods: are the new ingredients and products effective?]. / Obesidad y alimentos funcionales: son eficaces los nuevos ingredientes y productos?

According to WHO data, obesity and overweight have reached the level of a world-wide epidemic: more than one billion adults are overweight, and at least three hundred million of them are obese. Obesity is associated with the main chronic diseases of our time. Obesity can reduce the life expectancy by 10 years and in Spain it is calculated that the health care costs account for 7% of the total. In the Spanish adult population, 14.5% are obese, and 38.5% are overweight. In the fight against obesity, the food industry has been incorporating new ingredients intended to help consumers obtain a suitable weight. In this study, we review the scientific evidence about some products and ingredients, discussing the fact that the main problem is their scant scientific support. Advertisers make much of supposed benefits which often lack a scientific basis, as in the case of products with a supposed effect on thermogenesis, metabolism and oxidation of fats, products which make people feel full, products affecting fat absorption, diuretics, laxatived, sedatives and substances affecting the central nervous system.

[Beer and cardiovascular disease. Systematic bibliographic review (meta-analysis)]. / Cerveza y enfermedad cardiovascular. Revisión bibliográfica sistemática (metaanálisis).

MAIN OBJECTIVES: The aims of the present study are: To carry out a systematic revision of the printed literature on beer consumption and its possible effects on human health. To analyze the possibility of applying techniques used in epidemiological studies considering meta-analysis as the most important element. Meta-analysis is a set of different statistical techniques that aim to get a quantitative and qualitative synthesis of the results of different independent studies on the same subject. METHODS: First we proceed to carry out the bibliographical search and compilation by means of the following Date-Bases: Medline, Embase and Toxline. Beer is used as key word, specifying the time period between January, 1998 and May, 2000. A total of 403 reference works are obtained and subjected to the corresponding criteria of inclusion and exclusion. RESULTS: The meta-analysis of the selected studies related to cardiovascular disease provides an OR of 0.89 (0.89-0.97) which shows that the group of risk falls ill in less cases than the non-exposed. CONCLUSIONS: Beer consumption: possible factor of cardiovascular protection. Nevertheless we must take this consideration with as much caution as possible. It is necessary to determine the effects of beer consumption on the Spanish population.

[Installation of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics units in Spanish hospitals and the presence of dietitians in the same]. / Implantación de unidades de Nutrición Clínica y Dietética en los hospitales españoles y presencia de dietistas en las mismas.

GOALS: The appropriate nutritional status of hospitalized patients bears a close relationship with the existence of specialized Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics units or departments at health centres. The presence at these units of professionals with specific training to carry out tasks in the sphere of nutrition and dietetics, as is the case of dietitians, implies and evident strengthening of their capacity and operation. The main goal of the present paper to identify the number of Nutrition and Dietetics Units in the leading Spanish hospitals and also the presence of graduates in dietetics or nutrition specialists. SCOPE: Spanish hospital installations selected from the national hospital index. RESULTS OF THE TRIAL: It can be inferred that the implementation of the said services is not as complete as might be desired, and the presence of specifically qualified professionals (dietitians or nutritionists) is even lower. In this context, one is struck by the growing number of outsourced catering services at Spanish hospitals and the hiring of dietitians by these private companies, often at the request of the hospital itself. CONCLUSIONS: All of the data obtained show an ever greater importance of dietitians in hospital nutrition, with an uneven geographical distribution and implementation in Spain because of the peculiar policy adopted by the health authorities with regard to the recognition of these professionals. In Spain, these departments continue to be scorned and the role of the dietitian ignored.