Nutritional characterisation of Zambian Moringa oleifera: acceptability and safety of short-term daily supplementation in a group of malnourished girls.

In Zambia, chronic malnutrition still is one of the most common problem among children. To fight against malnutrition, the easiest short-term solution could be to combine specific types of food with affordable local plants. A large variety of natural food resources grow in Zambia, such as Moringa oleifera (MO), whose leaves are known for their health benefits, but are not consumed much by local populations. We analysed Zambian MO powder obtained from dried leaves and found that it contains large amounts of protein, minerals and vitamins, such as iron, calcium and carotenoids. These characteristics make MO a good and sustainable complementary solution to malnutrition. We also evaluated the acceptability and the safety of dietary supplementation with MO powder in malnourished children for 30 days. A daily dose of 14 g daily was safe and well accepted. Its regular use in the menu of local populations may be viable proposition.

Dietary habits in Parkinson's disease: Adherence to Mediterranean diet.

INTRODUCTION: Our objective is to describe the dietary habits, food preferences and adherence to Mediterranean diet (MeDi) of a large sample of Italian Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients compared to a group of controls. METHODS: Dietary habits of 600 PD patients from throughout Italy and 600 controls matched by gender, age, education, physical activity level and geographical residence, were collected using the ON-GP Food Frequency Questionnaire. Then, we compared patients by disease duration and the presence of swallowing disturbances. RESULTS: Overall, adherence of PD patients (males, 53.8%; mean disease duration, 9.2 ± 7.0 years) to MeDi was similar to controls (score, 4.8 ± 1.7 vs. 4.9 ± 1.6; P = 0.294). Patients consumed less alcohol and fish and drank significantly less water, coffee, and milk which resulted also in lower total fluids intake. On the contrary, they ate more fruit, cooked vegetables, cereals and baked items, more dressings and more sweets in general. Disease duration was associated with increased intake of several food groups but it was not associated with changes in MeDi score (P = 0.721). Patients with swallowing disturbances (n = 72) preferred softer and more viscous food but preferences did not result in differences in dietary pattern. However, patients with dysphagia drank less fluids (P = 0.043). DISCUSSION: PD patients presented different dietary habits and food preferences compared to the general population and adherence to MeDi was not associated with disease duration. Self-reported dysphagia was associated with reduced intake of fluids. These aspects may be amenable to change in order to improve the management of nutritional issues in this patient population.

Dietary habits and neurological features of Parkinson's disease patients: Implications for practice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Parkinson's disease (PD) patients can benefit considerably from appropriate nutritional care, particularly from diet. However, there is limited evidence on the eating habits of PD patients and their relationship with the features of the disease. METHODS: We conducted a large case-control study. Consecutive PD patients (N = 600) receiving systematic nutritional care and healthy controls (N = 600) matched (1:1) for age, gender, education, physical activity level and residence were studied using a 66-item food frequency questionnaire. The relationship between dietary habits and the following features of PD were investigated in patients: body weight, energy balance, constipation, and levodopa therapy (dose) and its related motor complications. RESULTS: PD patients had lower BMI and reported higher food intake than controls. BMI was found to be inversely associated with disease duration and severity, and levodopa-related motor complications, whereas energy intake was positively associated with these variables. An increase in protein intake by 10 g over physiological requirements (0.8 g/kg/day) corresponded to a mean increase in levodopa dose of 0.7 mg/kg/day. Constipation was also associated with higher levodopa requirements. Finally, protein intake and its distribution throughout the day influenced levodopa-related motor complications. CONCLUSION: The management of protein intake and the treatment of constipation should be considered to be an integral part of the care of PD patients. Attention should always be focused on energy intake also. This would result in the maintenance of nutritional status, the optimization of levodopa-therapy and the minimization of its related motor complications.