Apart from advances in pharmaceutical antidiabetic agents, efforts are being made toward hypoglycemic agents derived from natural sources. Cinnamon has been reported to have significant benefits for human health, particularly as an anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anti-hypertriglyceridemic agent. The phytochemicals in cinnamon can be extracted from different parts of plant by distillation and solvent extraction. These chemicals help in decreasing insulin resistance and can act against hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia, inflammation and oxidative stress, obesity, overweight, and abnormal glycation of proteins. Cinnamon has shown to improve all of these conditions in in vitro, animal, and/or human studies. However, the mechanism of action of active ingredients found in cinnamon remains unclear. The current review presents the outstanding ability of cinnamon derivatives to control diabetes by various pathways modulating insulin release and insulin receptor signaling. It was also found that the type and dosage of cinnamon as well as subject characteristics including drug interactions are likely to affect the response to cinnamon. Future research directions based on this review include the synergistic usage of various cinnamon derivatives in managing and/or preventing diabetes and possible other relevant chronic diseases.
6 September 2022 in Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update
An interventional study was conducted to enhance the knowledge of school going children of seventh grade. School age is the best age to provide nutrition knowledge because at this age eating habits are being developed. Nutrition education is an approachable and effective tool for healthy living. Nutrition knowledge helps students to become aware of healthy choices and also helps to prevent the onset of different diseases. ‘My Plate’ is a tool that is used to provide knowledge to students. Every food group on My Plate has equal importance and health benefits. In this research, a self-made questionnaire was used and the knowledge of students about food groups was assessed using SPSS. The results indicated a major difference between pre-test and post-test knowledge. In introduction, knowledge student’s knowledge increased from 4% to 76.7%. Regarding grains, group knowledge increased from 25.3% to 72.6%. Regarding fruits and vegetables and proteins, student knowledge increased up to 97.3% and 90.4%, respectively. Regarding dairy products, group knowledge increased up to 84.9%.
28 June 2023 in Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine
This study is a review of articles from 1999 to 2023 that present how circadian rhythm and factors have created an impact on individuals. Chrononutrition is the latest concept of sleeping patterns and eating behaviors along with it. It includes meal frequency, regularity, and timing. Alteration in these can be a reason for healthy eating or risk of diseases. The pros and cons of chronotypes (morning and evening) and their relation with modernization are being studied. Meal skipping and its influence on body weight are deleterious for health and breakfast skipping and late dinners have a higher association with weight gain. Disruption in sleep and high-calorie consumption before bedtime causes disturbed and insufficient sleep. Nutrient intake is low in individuals who have poor sleep-wake cycles. Also, irregularity in the sleep-wake cycles and meal timings have an association with poor academic performance of students of school, college, and university levels. In conclusion, eating with a biological clock can help individuals reverse or recover from a disease and create a positive impact on academic performance.
Purpose: Snacking is quite a common preference in this busy world. Increasing the availability of healthier snack alternatives might help consumers view snacks as foods that support health. Design/Methodology/Approach: The current experimental study aimed to determine the nutritional, functional and sensory properties of home-baked cupcakes encouraged with six variants with indigenous flaxseed flour (FF) and flaxseed oil (FO) in 10, 15 and 30% of batter substitution. A one-way ANOVA, least significant difference and Pearson’s correlation were applied using IBM SPSS version 21.0. Findings: Proximate analysis indicated an increase in ash, fiber and protein contents as compared to the standard formulation. The highest ash (1.91±0.26%), fiber (1.09±0.01%) and protein contents (3.08±0.30%) were observed in the sample FF30 (30% flaxseed flour). The cupcakes with 30% flaxseed oil had a significantly greater fat content (35.91±0.55%) and hence a total calorie value of 221.00±3.17%. Antioxidant activity and phenol content of fortified cupcakes ranged from 32.88–76.02% and 22–80 mgGAE/100 gms respectively. The sensory evaluation proved FF15 and FO30 to be the most acceptable recipes. Conclusion: Minor recipe alterations to snacks may yield large and long-term health benefits especially promoting immunity and reducing the risk of inflammatory chronic illnesses. Flaxseed oil might be used in snacks substituting for other vegetable oils to enhance the essential fatty acid content without compromising its acceptability. New formulations could therefore be tested to develop foods fortified with higher proportions of functional and nutritious ingredients especially given the ever-increasing prevalence of chronic illnesses.