Macroalgae, commonly known as seaweeds, are a valuable source of polysaccharides known to modulate gut microbiota. In this work, the impact of polysaccharide structural features on gut microbiota was explored. The low molecular weight algae polysaccharides showed better degradation by gut bacteria. Moreover, the content of sulfate and carboxylic groups seem to promote high fermentation, triggering an increase in gut microbiota health. The effect of ramification degree of algae polysaccharides on fermentability is still unclear. Agar polysaccharides with low molecular weight and a higher degree of sulfation have been shown to produce higher amounts of SCFA, and decrease in Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. An increase of sulfation degree of porphyran showed to increase the total SCFA production and a decrease on the ratio of butyric to propionic acid. Carrageenan's molecular weight does not seem to affect SCFA production, and the effect of sulfation degree is not clear. The consumption of these polysaccharides was shown to decrease the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. Fucoidans of low molecular weight seem to promote a lower Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. Alginate consumption both of high and low molecular weight has been shown to increase Bacteroidetes. Low molecular weight laminarans are highly fermented and significantly increase the production of SCFA. Ulvan and sulfated rhamnan polysaccharides have been shown to increase the production of SCFA, although microbiota modulation data are still undisclosed. Overall, seaweed polysaccharides have shown several health benefits, which have been related with gut microbiota modulation.

Understanding sustainable food choices is key to shifting consumer behavior toward sustainable food consumption. This study aimed to determine the validity and reliability of the Sustainable Food Choice Questionnaire (SUS-FCQ) in 602 Turkish adults. The linguistic equivalence of the SUS-FCQ was provided using the standard translation–back translation method, content validity, and pilot testing. Then, the convergent, discriminant, and construct (exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)) validity and reliability (test–retest and internal consistency) were evaluated. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found to be excellent (0.961) and the intraclass correlation coefficient was found to be moderate (0.689) using the test–retest method. As a result of the EFA, two-factor structures were found, and the factor loadings of the items were 0.651 and 0.878. These factors explained 79.17% of the total variance, and discriminant and convergent validity was provided for both factors. The results of this study suggest that the adapted SUS-FCQ is valid and reliable for determining sustainable food choice motives in the Turkish population. Therefore, the SUS-FCQ can be a useful instrument to encourage people to shift toward and adhere to sustainable food consumption.

Aim: The aim is to adapt the Water Balance Questionnaire (WBQ), to Turkish society, assess its validation and reproducibility. Materials and Methods: 301 healthy adult individuals were included in the methodological study. First, linguistic equivalence was ensured, and expert opinions were obtained before piloting. For validation, 24-hour dietary recall (24HR), urine pH and urine specific gravity (USG) were used. To assess reliability, it was administered twice with a two-week interval. Results: The questionnaire had strong and significant correlation with 24HR (r=0.771; p<0.001), and strong, negative, and significant correlation with USG (r=-0.630; p<0.001), and strong, positive and significant correlation with urine pH (r=0.604; p<0.001). The test-retest correlation was 0.98. Conclusion: The WBQ, is a valid and reliable questionnaire. In the future, studies can be conducted to determine the hydration status of larger populations and groups suffering from dehydration by using WBQ. Amaç: Bu çalışmada Su Dengesi Ölçeği’ni (SDÖ) Türk toplumuna uyarlamak, validasyonu ve tekrar elde edilebilirliğini değerlendirmek amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Metodolojik tipteki bu çalışmaya 301 sağlıklı yetişkin birey katılmıştır. İlk aşamada ölçeğin dil eşdeğerliği sağlanıp uzman görüşleri alınmış, ardından pilot uygulama yapılmıştır. Validasyan aşamasında 24 saatlik geriye dönük besin tüketim kaydı, idrar pH’ı ve idrar özgül ağırlığı kullanılmıştır. Güvenirliğin değerlendirilmesinde ölçek örnekleme 2 hafta ara ile ikinci kez uygulanmıştır. Bulgular: Ölçek ile yirmi dört saatlik geriye dönük besin tüketim kaydı arasında güçlü düzeyde (r=0,771; p<0,001), idrar özgül ağırlığı ile negatif yönde, güçlü düzeyde (r=-0,630; p<0,001), idrar pH’sı ile pozitif yönde, güçlü düzeyde (r=0,604; p<0,001) anlamlı ilişki olduğu belirlenmiştir. Ölçeğin test-tekrar test korelasyonu 0,98 olarak bulunmuştur. Sonuç: Su Dengesi Ölçeği, genel popülasyon için geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçektir, SDÖ kullanılarak daha geniş popülasyonlar ve dehidrasyondan muzdarip grupların hidrasyon durumunun saptanabileceği çalışmalar yapılabilecektir.

In recent decades interest in food and health issues has not ceased to increase globally. Consumers typically obtain information on issues related to food, nutrition, and health via a wide variety of media channels, including TV, radio, newspapers, internet, and social media. Unfortunately, the messages that reach consumers through these different channels can be conflicting, inaccurate, or confusing. The “For Accurate Science Platform” of the Sabri Ülker Food Research Foundation aims to disseminate current and reliable information to the public about health and nutrition. Since 2017, the Sabri Ülker Food Research Foundation has also organized a 2-day education program, entitled the “Nutrition and Health Education Program,” with the aim of educating and providing a better understanding of nutrition science and science communication to participants from the media and influencers who are interested in area of nutrition and health. This program is also accredited by the Society of Nutrition and Food Science (SNFS) as an international nutrition communication training program. This year the theme of the program was “Popular Diets: Health Effects and Effective Communication.” Popular diets is one of the most frequent topics in nutrition communication, sought by millions of people, and where the available information is not always evidence based. A recent meta-analysis by the British Medical Journal on the role of food in weight management found that no dietary method has been shown to achieve superior results in terms of long-term weight maintenance. Many popular diets limit food groups and/or nutrients to achieve faster results. However, these limitations might cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies and lead to hidden hunger in the short and long term. Thus, inaccurate and non-scientific news about popular diets can negatively affect the worldwide burden of hidden hunger.

Rapid advances in technology, particularly the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technology into our lives, have increased interest in digital twin (DT) technology, which is a dynamic virtual model of a physical system. In the healthcare sector, DT is also seen as having the potential to bring about lasting transformation in areas such as drug development, advanced diagnostics and preventive treatment, clinical research, and personalized medicine. In the coming years, DT is expected to enable personalized nutrition by integrating genetic, epigenetic, microbiome, metabolic, immunological, and lifestyle data into comprehensive virtual models. This new paradigm has the potential to provide groundbreaking opportunities for the management and prevention of various nutrition-related diseases, obesity, and support healthy aging. Although early research in the field of nutrition is promising, various challenges and limitations persist, including data standardization, privacy, data quality and security, ethical concerns, high costs, scalability, and clinical validation issues. Currently, the use of DT in the field of nutrition and dietetics remains in the proof-of-concept stage. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that as these limitations are overcome over time, this technology will transform and guide global healthcare systems. This narrative review defines the concept of DT from a healthcare perspective, summarizes its current applications in nutrition and dietetics, and outlines its high potential, key limitations, and challenges.

Background/Objectives: Evidence on eating behaviors and dietary characteristics in children with ADHD is limited by clinical heterogeneity and narrow assessment approaches. This exploratory matched case–control study compared eating behaviors, diet quality, highly processed food consumption, and empirically derived dietary patterns between newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve children with ADHD and age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Methods: The study included 64 children with ADHD without major comorbidities and 64 healthy controls individually matched by sex and age (±6 months). Eating behaviors were assessed using the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire and Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale. Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire; diet quality, highly processed food consumption, and dietary patterns were evaluated using the MIND Diet Index, the Screening Questionnaire of Highly Processed Food Consumption (sQ-HPF), and principal component analysis, respectively. Each exposure was examined separately using conditional logistic regression, with maternal education included in the primary adjusted models and Holm correction applied across exposure analyses. Results: Children with ADHD had higher desire to drink and sQ-HPF scores and lower MIND Diet Index and healthy dietary pattern scores than matched controls. In the primary adjusted models, higher desire to drink scores (OR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.37–2.58) and sQ-HPF scores (OR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.61–3.71) were associated with higher odds of ADHD, whereas higher MIND Diet Index scores were associated with lower odds (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.66–0.89); these associations remained significant after Holm correction. The healthy dietary pattern association did not remain significant after correction. Conclusions: In this exploratory matched study, children with ADHD had higher desire to drink and sQ-HPF scores and lower MIND Diet Index scores; however, the observational design precludes temporal or causal inference, and larger independent prospective studies are needed.