The moderate consumption of beer has been associated with positive effects on health, and these benefits are driven, in part, by the antioxidant properties of phenolic compounds found in this beverage. However, the potential impact of beer polyphenols on the human gut microbiome and their consequences are yet to be elucidated. In this study, our aim was to evaluate the effect of three different phenolic-content beers on the gut microbiome and the potential role of the induced shifts in the antioxidant capacity of beer polyphenols. In total, 20 subjects (10 healthy volunteers and 10 individuals with metabolic syndrome) were randomly assigned in a crossover design to consume each of the different beers (alcohol-free, lager or dark beer) during a 2-week intervention. Significant changes in the relative abundance of Streptococcaceae and Streptococcus were found after beer consumption. An increased abundance of Streptococcaceae and Streptococcus was observed after the consumption of dark beer, with no detected differences between baseline and alcohol-free/lager beer intervention. Moreover, some of the detected differences appeared to be related to the metabolic status. Finally, a decrease in porphyrin metabolism and heme biosynthesis was found after the intervention, especially after the consumption of dark beer. These results show that the antioxidant capacity of beer polyphenols may induce positive shifts in gut microbiota composition, and some of the observed changes may also boost the antioxidant capacity of these compounds.

Food systems face the challenge of maintaining adequate nutrition for all populations. Inter-individual responses to the same diet have made precision or personalized nutrition (PN) an emerging and relevant topic. The aim of this study is to analyze the evolution of the PN field, identifying the principal actors and topics, and providing a comprehensive overview. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis of the scientific research available through the Web of Science (WOS) database was performed, revealing 2148 relevant papers up to June 2024. VOSviewer and the WOS platform were employed for the processing and analysis, and included an evaluation of diverse data such as country, author or most frequent keywords, among others. The analysis revealed a period of exponential growth from 2015 to 2023, with the USA, Spain, and England as the top contributors. The field of “Nutrition and Dietetics” is particularly significant, comprising nearly 33% of the total publications. The most highly cited institutions are the universities of Tufts, College Dublin, and Navarra. The relationship between nutrition, genetics, and omics sciences, along with dietary intervention studies, has been a defining factor in the evolution of PN. In conclusion, PN represents a promising field of research with significant potential for further advancement and growth.

Aims: Obesity is a major risk factor for hypertension. The evidence on the effects of dietetic interventions to weight loss in blood pressure is scarce. Our main objective was to assess changes in blood pressure through 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in different hypocaloric diets differing in their theoretical ketogenic potential. Methods and results: In this single-centre, parallel-group randomized controlled trial (NCT04453150), participants with obesity (body mass index of more than 30 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to one of five dietetic interventions: early time-restricted eating (eTRE), evening time-restricted eating (lTRE), modified alternate-day fasting (mADF), ketogenic diet (KD), and a control group following a standard Mediterranean diet (CG). In this sub-analysis, a total of 96 participants were included and underwent 24-h ABPM before and after the intervention. All groups showed statistically significant changes in anthropometric parameters. Regarding ABPM, mADF showed greater changes with improvements in most of the ABPM parameters after the intervention. Also, lTRE showed some improvements after the intervention while the rest of the groups did not show any statistically significant change. In the linear mixed model, the mADF diet appeared to have an influence on the improvement in 24-h systolic blood pressure. Conclusion: Diets with different ketogenic potential aimed to weight loss have different effectiveness in reducing blood pressure. Modified alternate-day fasting was the best approach regardless of changes in body composition or ketone production.

Molecular mechanisms behind obesity and sex-related effects in adipose tissue remain elusive. During adipocyte expansion, adipocytes undergo drastic remodelling of lipid membrane compositions. Lipid flippases catalyse phospholipid translocation from exoplasmic to the cytoplasmic leaflet of membranes. The present study aimed to analyse the effect of sex, obesity, and their interactions on the gene expression of two lipid flippases—ATP8A1 and ATP8B1—and their possible microRNA (miR) modulators in visceral adipose tissue (VAT). In total, 12 normal-weight subjects (5 premenopausal women and 7 men) and 13 morbidly obese patients (7 premenopausal women and 6 men) were submitted to surgery, and VAT samples were obtained. Gene expression levels of ATP8A1, ATP8B1, miR-548b-5p, and miR-4643 were measured in VAT. Our results showed a marked influence of obesity on VAT ATP8A1 and ATP8B1, although the effects of obesity were stronger in men for ATP8A1. Both genes positively correlated with obesity and metabolic markers. Furthermore, ATP8B1 was positively associated with miR-548b-5p and negatively associated with miR-4643. Both miRs were also affected by sex. Thus, lipid flippases are altered by obesity in VAT in a sex-specific manner. Our study provides a better understanding of the sex-specific molecular mechanisms underlying obesity, which may contribute to the development of sex-based precision medicine.

The regular practice of physical activity is considered a health promoter and appears to be one of the main contributors to the prevention of chronic diseases. However, the potential effects of exercise on health depending on the time of day at which it is performed have not yet been fully elucidated. To evaluate the effect of physical exercise (aerobic or anaerobic) and chronobiology (morning or afternoon) on the glycemic metabolism of healthy subjects. Healthy subjects participated in aerobic or anaerobic physical exercise sessions, either in the morning or in the afternoon. Blood was drawn from the subjects before, at the end of the exercise and 2 hours after the end of the exercise. Glycemic parameters were analyzed at these time points. A general linear model test was performed after verifying the normal distribution of the raw data (as assessed by the Shapiro-Wilk test) or after a logarithmic/square root transformation, considering aerobic or anaerobic exercise and morning or afternoon exercise as independent variables. Twenty-three subjects (14 women and 9 men) were included in the study. The rate of change in glucose levels was significantly higher at the end of anaerobic exercise compared to aerobic exercise (1.19 ± 0.04 vs. 0.98 ± 0.02, respectively), with a more pronounced decrease in insulin and C-peptide levels following aerobic exercise. In addition, the increase of glucose was higher after the exercise in the morning compared with the afternoon (1.14 ± 0.03 vs. 1.03 ± 0.03, respectively). The type of exercise and chronobiology influence short-term glucose metabolism.

The consumption of low-alcohol fermented beverages has been related to cardiovascular health improvements. Although the underlying mechanism is not completely understood, (poly)phenols have been proposed as one of the mediators. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a controlled intervention with beer on (poly)phenols metabolism in individuals with and without metabolic syndrome (MetS). 20 participants (MetS and control) who consumed a standardized amount of beer during 6 weeks were recruited. Phenolic compounds were assessed in urine. Different changes in phenolic compounds associated with chronic beer consumption were found, particularly related to hesperetin conjugates and to the degradation of phenolic compounds derived from flavonoids and lignans. Noteworthily, MetS and control participants differed in baseline urine phenolic compound profiles and in their metabolization. Significant differences were found in the production and excretion of key (poly)phenols-derived metabolites, such as increased naringenin phase II conjugates in healthy subjects, or increased bacterial flavonoid catabolites. Certain relationships were observed between the phenolic compounds with metabolic and anthropometric variables. These findings suggest that beer-derived (poly)phenols are differentially metabolized according to metabolic-health status, and that they may contribute to certain metabolic health benefits through the modulation of specific metabolic pathways.