Mushrooms belong to the family “Fungi” and became famous for their medicinal properties and easy accessibility all over the world. Because of its pharmaceutical properties, including anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and antioxidant properties, it became a hot topic among scientists. However, depending on species and varieties, most of the medicinal properties became indistinct. With this interest, an attempt has been made to scrutinize the role of edible mushrooms (EM) in diabetes mellitus treatment. A systematic contemporary literature review has been carried out from all records such as Science Direct, PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar with an aim to represents the work has performed on mushrooms focuses on diabetes, insulin resistance (IR), and preventive mechanism of IR, using different kinds of mushroom extracts. The final review represents that EM plays an important role in anticipation of insulin resistance with the help of active compounds, i.e., polysaccharide, vitamin D, and signifies α-glucosidase or α-amylase preventive activities. Although most of the mechanism is not clear yet, many varieties of mushrooms’ medicinal properties have not been studied properly. So, in the future, further investigation is needed on edible medicinal mushrooms to overcome the research gap to use its clinical potential to prevent non-communicable diseases.

Vitamin D is involved in the pathophysiology of anemia. This cross-sectional study was conducted using the Nationwide Nutrition and Health Survey in Pregnant Women in Taiwan database. We investigated associations among dietary patterns (DPs), vitamin D, and iron-related biomarkers in pregnant women. The principal component analysis revealed four DPs. Linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the association of DPs with anemia-related biomarkers. Plant-based, carnivore, and dairy and nondairy alternatives DPs were positively associated with serum vitamin D levels. After adjusting covariates, the pregnant women consuming plant-based DPs at the mid-tertile (T2) were associated with reduced risks of low serum folate and vitamin D levels, and those consuming carnivore DPs at higher tertiles (T2 and/or T3) were correlated with an increased risk of low serum iron levels but decreased risks of low serum transferrin saturation, vitamin B₁₂, and vitamin D levels. The pregnant women consuming dairy and nondairy alternatives DPs at the highest tertile (T3) were associated with reduced risks of low serum folate and vitamin B₁₂ levels. However, the processed food DP was not correlated with anemia-related biomarkers. Thus, plant-based, carnivore, and dairy and nondairy alternatives DPs were associated with the risk of low-serum-anemia-related variables.

Paneer is a South Asian variety of soft cheese. It is rich in protein but deficient in fibre. Efforts were initiated to prepare a fibre rich paneer by pearl millet flour (Pennisetum glaucum). For the formulation of value-added product, 10 samples variation were developed including standard, (88.90 to 100 mL) cow’s milk (CM) and pearl millet flour (PMF) (0.17 to 5.80 g). The experiment was designed by Central Composite Rotatable Design to optimize the CM, and PMF concentration for the development of value-added product with dietary fibre, and to evaluate proximal, textural and sensory characteristics of the product. For optimization, the levels of incorporation of CM and PMF were taken as variables whereas overall acceptability (OAA) as response. The optimum level of CM and PMF obtained using numerical optimization was found to be 95:3. PMF incorporated paneer had high carbohydrate (3.72g), protein (16.95g) and fibre (0.66g) content but low in fat (17.08g). Texture analysis reported higher hardness, chewiness and adhesiveness for formulations developed by addition of >4 g millet flour. Sensory scored revealed that paneer with 90 mL CM and 1g of PMF (V₂) and 92.5 mL CM and 3g of PMF (V₉) had highest overall acceptability (8.50 to 8.60). Therefore it was concluded that the incorporation of PMF for the formulation of value-added paneer was a great success and furthermore it will be helpful for developing value-added dairy products for the developing countries.

Deficiencies of iron, folate, and vitamin B12 micronutrients are considered a global public health issue. These deficiencies not only lead to anemia but are also linked to numerous short- and long-term health risks for both mothers and children. This study aimed to estimate the global prevalence of erythropoiesis-associated micronutrient deficiencies (iron, folate, and vitamin B12) in pregnant women. We systematically searched three databases, including PubMed, Embase, and Scopus, along with a manual search for observational studies published up to August 26, 2024. Data extraction was independently screened by two reviewers. Random-effects models were employed to pool data on prevalences of iron, folate, and vitamin B12 deficiencies among pregnant women. We identified 43 studies from 28 countries. Global pooled prevalences of single iron, folate, and vitamin B12 deficiencies were 28.4% (95% CI, 21.1-37%), 11.1% (95% CI, 3.9-27.5%), and 17.1% (95% CI, 8.8-30.6%), respectively. Pooled prevalences of double micronutrient deficiencies of iron or folate were 53.1% (95% CI, 49.8-56.5%) and 49.6% (95% CI, 46.2-53%), respectively; double micronutrient deficiencies of folate or vitamin B12 were 6.2% (95% CI, 1.2-25.8%) and 11.8% (95% CI, 3.3-34.1%), respectively. Pooled prevalences of triple micronutrient deficiencies of iron or folate or vitamin B12 were 36.1% (95% CI, 13.1-68%), 34.3% (95% CI, 16.9-57.3%), and 12.6% (95% CI, 7-74.8%), respectively. The findings highlight the high prevalences of erythropoiesis-related micronutrient deficiencies in pregnant women worldwide. Targeted interventions to mitigate these deficiencies during pregnancy.

Pre-pregnancy overweightness or obesity affects nutritional status and micronutrient imbalance such as folate and iron during pregnancy. We studied the relationships between micronutrient intake and dietary patterns with serum folate and iron biomarkers among pregnant population with pre-pregnancy overweightness or obesity. This cross-sectional study utilized data from 2017–2019 Nationwide Nutrition and Health Survey. Participants (n = 436) were Taiwanese pregnant women with pre-pregnancy overweightness or obesity. Dietary evaluation was conducted by food frequency questionnaire and 24-hour dietary recall. Dietary patterns were developed by principal component analysis. Serum folate and iron biomarkers were measured. Logistic and linear regression models were employed to investigate the associations of dietary patterns with serum folate and iron biomarkers. Participants with the highest tertile of serum folate were older, and had less proportion of high parity. After adjusting covariates, the intake of DP-1 (mushrooms, roots, and dairy DP) (β = 0.052; 95% CI = 0.008-0.119; p < 0.05) or DP-3 (vegetables and fruits DP) (β = 0.056; 95% CI = 0.034-0.076; p < 0.05) was associated with increased serum folate. The consumption of DP-4 (animal DP) showed a significant association with elevated serum iron, ferritin, and vitamin B-12. The consumption of DP-1 or DP-3 was linked to a decreased risk of low serum folate. However, the intake of DP-3 was correlated with an increased risk of low serum ferritin. A reduced risk of low serum iron and vitamin B-12 was observed in participants consuming DP-4. The dairy and plant dietary patterns were positively associated with serum folate, and the animal dietary pattern was positively correlated with serum iron and vitamin B-12 in pregnant women with pre-pregnancy overweightness or obesity.

Purpose Vitamin D supplementation positively impacts anemia, but the relationship between a ferritin-related dietary pattern, iron parameters, and vitamin D in anemia is unclear. Methods This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the 2017–2019 National Nutrition and Health Survey, including 1423 pregnant women over 15 years old. Dietary intake was assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and a 24-hour dietary recall. The FrDP was identified using reduced rank regression with blood parameters as response variables and 32 food groups as predictors. Linear and binomial logistic regression analyses evaluated the associations between the FrDP and serum biomarkers, adjusting for demographic and dietary variables. Risk associations between the FrDP and vitamin D concentrations were also assessed. Results The FrDP explained 18.5% of the variation in 6 response variables and was characterized by high consumption of fish, soy, gluten pasta, nuts, organ meat, pickled vegetables, and marine plants. The FrDP correlated positively with serum hemoglobin (r = 0.76), iron (r = 0.52), ferritin (r = 0.79), folate (r = 0.86), and vitamin B₁₂ (r = 0.86). Linear regression revealed a positive association between the FrDP and serum iron. Women in the highest FrDP tertile were less likely to have low serum iron (OR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.50–0.85) but more likely to have low 25(OH) vitamin D concentrations (OR = 1.79, 95% CI 1.32–2.43). Conclusions The FrDP was positively associated with serum iron but negatively associated with serum 25(OH) vitamin D in pregnant women. Graphical Abstract