(1) Background: Emotional eating is considered as the propensity to eat in response to emotions. It is considered as a critical risk factor for recurrent weight gain. Such overeating is able to affect general health due to excess energy intake and mental health. So far, there is still considerable controversy on the effect of the emotional eating concept. The objective of this study is to summarize and evaluate the interconnections among emotional eating and overweight/obesity, depression, anxiety/stress, and dietary patterns; (2) Methods: This is a thorough review of the reported associations among emotional eating and overweight/obesity, depression, anxiety/stress, and dietary patterns. We compressively searched the most precise scientific online databases, e.g., PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar to obtain the most up-to-date data from clinical studies in humans from the last ten years (2013–2023) using critical and representative keywords. Several inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied for scrutinizing only longitudinal, cross-sectional, descriptive, and prospective clinical studies in Caucasian populations; (3) Results: The currently available findings suggest that overeating/obesity and unhealthy eating behaviors (e.g., fast food consumption) are associated with emotional eating. Moreover, the increase in depressive symptoms seems to be related with more emotional eating. Psychological distress is also related with a greater risk for emotional eating. However, the most common limitations are the small sample size and their lack of diversity. In addition, a cross-sectional study was performed in the majority of them; (4) Conclusions: Finding coping mechanisms for the negative emotions and nutrition education can prevent the prevalence of emotional eating. Future studies should further explain the underlying mechanisms of the interconnections among emotional eating and overweight/obesity, depression, anxiety/stress, and dietary patterns.

Common sage (Salvia spp., with the most common species Salvia officinalis) is an important medicinal and aromatic plant due to its bioactive components, secondary products of its metabolism. These components are mainly phenolics, terpenoids, polyphenols, and flavonoids. Many studies have identified their important role in fighting oxidative stress in cells and organisms, together with their anticancer, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory role. There are many methods measuring the antioxidant activity of sage phenolic components, usually based on radical scavenging of free radical species, such as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylydrazyl and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), and determining the absorbance of the reduced product by a photometric assay. In addition, there are several in vitro and in vivo studies determining the protection of sage extracts in cells in culture or animals, respectively, after induction of oxidative stress. In this review, results from the currently available studies that unravel the significant role of sage bioactive compounds, as antioxidant compounds, and the variety of methods used have been critically analyzed and discussed.

Introduction: Obesity is a current public health concern. Higher body weight is influenced by genetic and environmental parameters, and their interplay and is associated with a greater risk for several chronic diseases. Breastfeeding has been suggested as a preventive measure against obesity, which can further reduce long-term negative health outcomes for both women and children. Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of breastfeeding on maternal and childhood overweight and obesity. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on 2515 healthy mothers and their children, aged 2–5 years, enrolled from nine different Greek rural and urban regions. Validated, standardized questionnaires were administrated that included anthropometric indices, socio-demographic characteristics of mothers and children, as well as breastfeeding practices. Results: Overall, 68% of participated women exclusively breastfed their children for at least 4 months. Mothers that exclusively breastfed showed a significantly lower prevalence of overweight and obesity after 2–5 years from delivery (p < 0.0001). Children that had exclusively been breastfed showed a significantly lower prevalence of overweight and obesity at the age of 2–5 years (p < 0.0001). Using multivariate regression analysis, exclusive breastfeeding for at least 4 months was associated with a two-fold lower risk for maternal and childhood overweight and obesity after 2–5 years from delivery, independent from maternal age, educational and economic status, and smoking habits (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Exclusive breastfeeding for at least 4 months had a positive effect on childhood overweight and obesity, also contributing beneficially to post-natal maternal weight control. The beneficial effects of breastfeeding should be communicated to future and new mothers, while supportive actions for all mothers to initiate and continue breastfeeding their offspring should be implemented.

Circadian rhythms are generated by the circadian clock, a self-sustained internal timing system that exhibits 24-h rhythms in the body. Many metabolic, cellular, behavioral and physiological processes are regulated by the circadian clock in coordination with environmental cues. The present study is a comprehensive review of the currently existing evidence concerning the relationship between circadian rhythms and sleep, metabolic, and cardiovascular disorders. We thoroughly searched the online databases PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science to find the existing clinical studies from the last twenty-three years (2000–2023). Circadian misalignment was found to be associated with an increase in the risk of metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity, as well as inadequate sleep quality. In this review article, all the included studies had a strength protocol design and all of them were conducted on humans. However, the most common limitations of them were the small sample size and the short time of the intervention. In conclusion, managing the factors that disrupt the optimal function of central and peripheral clocks can help to reduce the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, improving also sleep quality. Future studies should further explore the underlying mechanisms of the interconnections between circadian clocks and sleep, metabolic, and cardiovascular disorders. This may provide new opportunities for advance chronotherapy approach.

This study aims to explore the associations between nutritional status and health-related quality of life, physical activity, and sleep quality in older exclusively Caucasian adults from Greec who were free of any severe disease. This is a cross-sectional study. Mini Nutritional Assessment was used to assess nutritional status, health-related quality of life was assessed using the Short Form Healthy Survey questionnaire, sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and physical activity levels were assessed via the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. 3405 community-dwelling men and women, over 65 years old from14 different Greek regions were enrolled. Ten-point four percent (10.4%) of the participants were classified as malnourished, while 35.6% were “at risk of malnutrition”. A better nutritional status was significantly and independently associated with higher physical activity levels (p = 0.0011) and better quality of life (p = 0.0135), as well as better sleep quality (p = 0.0202). In conclusion, our study highlights the interrelationships between a good nutritional status, a high-quality sleep, active lifestyle, and good quality of life. Further interventional studies are needed to clarify the associations, and test the feasibility of improving the nutritional status, physical activity levels and sleep quality of the elderly, and the impact of these changes on quality of life, and healthy ageing in races beyond Caucasian populations. Public health strategies and policies should be recommended to inform older adults for the necessity to improve their nutritional status and lifestyle habits to improve their health status and to obtain better life expectancy.

Background: The ketogenic diet (KD) has become widespread for the therapy of epileptic pathology in childhood and adulthood. In the last few decades, the current re-emergence of its popularity has focused on the treatment of obesity and diabetes mellitus. KD also exerts anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties, which could be utilized for the therapy of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Purpose: This is a thorough, scoping review that aims to summarize and scrutinize the currently available basic research performed in in vitro and in vivo settings, as well as the clinical evidence of the potential beneficial effects of KD against neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. This review was conducted to systematically map the research performed in this area as well as identify gaps in knowledge. Methods: We thoroughly explored the most accurate scientific web databases, e.g., PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, to obtain the most recent in vitro and in vivo data from animal studies as well as clinical human surveys from the last twenty years, applying effective and characteristic keywords. Results: Basic research has revealed multiple molecular mechanisms through which KD can exert neuroprotective effects, such as neuroinflammation inhibition, decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, decreased amyloid plaque deposition and microglial activation, protection in dopaminergic neurons, tau hyper-phosphorylation suppression, stimulating mitochondrial biogenesis, enhancing gut microbial diversity, restoration of histone acetylation, and neuron repair promotion. On the other hand, clinical evidence remains scarce. Most existing clinical studies are modest, frequently uncontrolled, and merely assess the short-term impacts of KD. Moreover, several clinical studies had large dropout rates and a considerable lack of compliance assessment, as well as an increased level of heterogeneity in the study design and methodology. Conclusions: KD can exert substantial neuroprotective effects via multiple molecular mechanisms in various neurodegenerative and psychiatric pathological states. Large, long-term, randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trials with a prospective design are strongly recommended to delineate whether KD may attenuate or even treat neurodegenerative and psychiatric disease development, progression, and symptomatology.