This cross-sectional study evaluated the nutritional composition and labelling of commercial foods in Canada targeted to infants up to 18 months of age. Front-of-package labelling requirements were assessed based on daily values identified by Health Canada for saturated fatty acids, sugars, and sodium for children aged one year and older. Infant commercial food products were identified from online and in-person records of retailers across Canada. A total of 1,010 products were identified. Products aimed at older infants (12–18 months) contained significantly more calories, macronutrients, sugars, saturated fat, and trans fat compared to those targeted at younger infants (<12 months). In addition, 40% of products for children aged 12–18 months required a ‘high in sugar’ front-of-package label, while less required a ‘high in saturated fats’ (13%) and ‘high in sodium’ (5%) label. Organic products had higher added sugar and fibre, while they were lower in calories, total fat, saturated fat, and protein. Plant-based products, including vegetarian/vegan products, contained fewer calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, and protein, but more fibre. Gluten-containing products had more calories, macronutrients, sugar, fibre, and saturated fat. Non-GMO labelled products had more calories, carbohydrates, and sugar, but less saturated fat. Significant differences were observed for vitamins and minerals across food categories (p < 0.05). Our findings offer valuable guidance for parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals on infant nutrition, highlighting the importance of selecting foods that align with infants’ specific dietary needs.

Although numerous clinical studies suggest that ginseng supplementation may benefit CVD risk factors, results remain inconclusive. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the effects of ginseng supplementation on CVD-related risk factors. Relevant studies were identified through electronic searches in Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed and CENTRAL up to August 2024. Statistical analyses, including a random effects model, meta-regression and non-linear modelling, were used to assess heterogeneity, dose–response relationships and the overall effects of ginseng supplementation. A total of 70 studies, published between 1998 and 2024 and involving 4506 participants, were included. Ginseng supplementation significantly affected several biochemical markers, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (standardised mean difference (SMD): −0·23; 95 % CI: −0·38, −0·08; P = 0·002), gamma-glutamyl transferase (SMD: −0·20; 95 % CI: −0·36, −0·04; P = 0·015), glutathione reductase (SMD: 0·90; 95 % CI: 0·38, 1·42; P = 0·001), reactive oxygen species (SMD: −0·94; 95 % CI: −1·27, −0·60; P < 0·001) and superoxide dismutase (SMD: 0·48; 95 % CI: 0·10, 0·87; P = 0·014). Meta-regression analysis showed significant linear associations between ginseng dosage and Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (P = 0·044) and between supplementation duration and malondialdehyde (P = 0·007). Dose–response analysis revealed significant associations between ginseng dose and fasting blood glucose (P < 0·001), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (P = 0·043), IL-6 (P = 0·041), diastolic blood pressure (P = 0·022), IL-10 (P = 0·048), fasting insulin (P = 0·012) and total protein (P = 0·010). Supplementation duration was positively associated with malondialdehyde levels (P = 0·008). Ginseng supplementation was associated with improvements in inflammatory markers, liver function and oxidative stress parameters. No significant effects were observed on anthropometric indices, blood pressure, glycaemic profile, lipid profile, adipokines or heart rate.

A national food guide for the UK, providing food based dietary guidelines was first issued in 1995. It was last revised and published as the Eatwell Guide in 2016. The Guide is a pie chart indicating the proportions of foods from different food groups that should make up the ideal diet from a health perspective. The number of segments for the pie chart, the names of the food groups that comprise those segments and the list of individual foods that fit into the wider food groups was in essence decided in around 1995 and have remained essentially unchanged since then. The 2016 edition of the guide – the Eatwell Guide – was the first to employ optimisation modelling to calculate the angles of the segments of the pie chart. This was a significant improvement to the scientific basis to the guide. But still the Eatwell Guide leaves much to be desired and it is time for its revision. This review paper outlines the aims of the guide, provides a brief history of the Eatwell Guide, outlines its strengths and weaknesses and suggests some ways by which the Eatwell Guide might be improved.

This pilot study evaluated the effect of an online cooking intervention: Up for Cooking. Seventy-three Dutch families participated in four 1.5-hour sessions, before which they received ingredients and intervention materials. Parental questionnaires (pre-post) assessed food literacy skills (planning, selecting and making a healthy meal), knowledge and self-efficacy towards cooking and healthy eating (quantitative). Interviews assessed whether families changed their cooking behaviour at home (qualitative). A Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and inductive thematic coding were used. Thirty-nine parents completed questionnaires and eleven parents participated in interviews. Scores on food literacy items related to selecting and making a healthy meal improved significantly post-intervention. Parents’ knowledge of healthy eating and self-efficacy in cooking with their children also improved significantly. Interviews revealed an increased involvement of children in meal preparation and positive changes in family cooking behaviour. This online cooking intervention is a promising nutrition intervention, but implementation and long-term changes need further exploration.

Unhealthy diets are a leading cause of preventable ill health. Healthy diets tend to be more expensive than less healthy diets and as such are more likely to be consumed by individuals with a higher income. This review paper discusses the development of the Eatwell Guide, evaluates the affordability of a diet consistent with the Eatwell Guide (‘the Eatwell Guide diet’) and explores how food pricing can be leveraged to encourage and support healthier dietary choices. The Eatwell Guide is the UK’s food-based dietary guidelines. It provides healthy eating advice that is intended to facilitate policy cohesion but is also used as a public-facing health promotion tool. The cost of food has increased and recent estimates suggest that the Eatwell Guide diet is now more expensive than the current average diet. There is strong evidence that subsidies would be effective at increasing the uptake of healthy diets. Monitoring the cost of a healthy diet is important for policy development; however, we should exercise caution when considering how to incorporate costs into food-based dietary guidelines and be mindful of the limitations of the data that could support this.

Healthy diets are unaffordable for billions of people worldwide, with food prices rising in high-, middle- and low-income nations in recent times. Despite widespread attention to this issue, recent actions taken to inform policy prioritisation and government responses to high food inflation have not been comprehensively synthesised. Our review summarises (i) innovative efforts to monitor national food and healthy diet price, ii) new policy responses adopted by governments to address food inflation and (iii) future research directions to inform new evidence. Evidence synthesis. Global. None. We describe how timely food and beverage pricing data can provide transparency in the food industry and identify key areas for intervention. However, government policies that improve food affordability are often short-lived and lack sustained commitment. Achieving meaningful impact will require long-term, cross-sectoral actions that are led by governments to support food security, healthy diets and resilient sustainable food systems. This will necessitate a better understanding of how the political economy enables (or hinders) policy implementation, including through coherent problem framing, mitigating conflicts of interest in policymaking, working together as coalitions and developing and utilising evidence on the food security and related impacts of food pricing and affordability policies. Diverse actors must be better equipped with robust data platforms and actionable policy solutions that improve the affordability of healthy and sustainable diets, including by lowering food prices and addressing the broader socio-political determinants of food insecurity.

Eating disorders (ED) are psychiatric conditions with profound impacts on physical health, emotional well-being and quality of life. They are associated with reduced employment participation and increased healthcare costs, representing a significant public health concern. Major ED, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder and other specified feeding and eating disorders, are closely linked to oral health complications, which serve as both diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets in ED management. This narrative review explores twenty-two studies, organised around transdiagnostic behavioural and physiological risk factors, including caloric restriction, purging behaviours, binge episodes and oral hygiene neglect. Evidence indicates that malnutrition, vomiting-induced acid exposure, high intake of cariogenic foods and inconsistent hygiene practices contribute to the deterioration of dental and periodontal health. The review highlights the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of oral assessments in ED management, underscoring the importance of early detection. A dedicated section addresses the role of dental professionals, proposing individualised care pathways and the use of clinical indices such as the Basic Erosive Wear Examination and Schiff air index, alongside emerging tools like tele dentistry. The findings advocate for a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating nutritional support, psychological therapy and targeted dental treatment, which is crucial for developing comprehensive care plans. Such collaboration enhances the effectiveness of interventions, addressing both the physiological and psychological dimensions of ED to improve patient outcomes.

The current study aims to assess associations between trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) levels and mortality and to investigate modification effects of genetics. A total of 500 participants from a family-based cohort study were enrolled from 2005 to 2017 and followed up until 2020 in Fangshan District, Beijing, China. Serum TMAO levels were measured using the ELISA kit. The primary outcomes were all-cause mortality and deaths from CVD and stroke. During a median follow-up time of 7·38 years, thirty-eight deaths were recorded, including twenty deaths due to CVD and nineteen deaths due to stroke. Compared with the lowest TMAO quartile group, the HR for all-cause mortality was 1·35 (95 % CI: 0·44, 4·15), 1·65 (95 % CI: 0·58, 4·64) and 2·45 (95 % CI: 0·91, 6·57), respectively, in higher groups. No association was observed between TMAO and CVD mortality. However, compared with the lowest TMAO concentration group, the HR for stroke mortality was 1·93 (95 % CI: 0·40, 9·39), 1·91 (95 % CI: 0·41, 8·96) and 4·16 (95 % CI: 0·94, 18·52), respectively, in higher groups (Pfor trend = 0·046). Furthermore, polygenic risk score (PRS) for longevity modified the association of TMAO with all-cause mortality (Pfor interaction = 0·008). The risk of mortality (HR = 2·20, 95 % CI: 1·06, 4·57) was higher among participants with lower PRS compared with higher PRS (HR = 1·00, 95 % CI: 0·71, 1·40). The study indicates that elevated serum TMAO levels are potentially associated with long-term mortality risk in rural areas of northern China, especially for stroke deaths. Additionally, it provides novel evidence that genetic variations might modify the association.

High BMI is an important risk factor for female colon and rectal, ovarian and uterine cancers. Current comprehensive studies on its effects on these cancers are limited. This paper aims to explore regional and age differences in the impact of high BMI on these cancers and the commonalities among the three by using the Global Burden of Disease 2021. Deaths, disability-adjusted life years and their age-standardised rates for these cancers were retrieved from 1990 to 2021, and burden trends were assessed using the estimated annual percentage change and percentage changes. The study also analysed the correlation between age-standardised rate and socio-demographic index across twenty-one regions and projected future disease burden trends using the Bayesian Age-Period-Cohort model. Results showed that the global burden of female colon and rectal cancer declined since 1990 but remained at the highest level among the three cancers in 2021. At the same time, these three cancers had high burdens in high-income areas. Since 1990, ovarian and uterine cancer burdens attributable to high BMI increased, and all three burdens grew fastest in low-middle-income regions and among younger people. The burden of all three is projected to continue increasing through 2050. This study confirms that high BMI’s impact on these cancers is regional and age-specific, with long-term effects. Therefore, subsequent public health interventions should adopt more targeted obesity prevention and control strategies based on national and regional situations to effectively mitigate the adverse effects of high BMI on these cancers.

Age is the main risk factor for many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and frontotemporal dementia. Despite our limited understanding of cellular mechanisms of ageing-associated neuronal loss, an increasing number of studies demonstrate that oxidative stress and inflammation are key drivers. Epidemiological studies indicate that diet during middle adulthood can influence the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases later in life, so it is important to investigate dietary interventions to combat oxidative stress and inflammation. In this study, we hypothesised that treatment with fucoxanthin, a marine carotenoid with strong antioxidant properties, prevents ageing-associated oxidative stress that is known to be related to natural brain ageing. Treatment with fucoxanthin protected rat primary hippocampal neurons against oxidative stress and ageing in vitro. In our in vivo study, middle-aged male Sprague-Dawley rats were gavaged with fucoxanthin (1 mg/kg, 5 d/week, n 6) or vehicle (n 6) for 4 weeks. After supplementation was completed, brain samples were harvested and subjected to quantitative and bioinformatic analyses. Fucoxanthin was detected and shown to decrease lipid peroxidation in the brains of the animals supplemented with fucoxanthin. Microarray analysis showed that treatment with fucoxanthin changed 5602 genes. Together, our results suggest that treatment with fucoxanthin prevents ageing-associated oxidative stress and is capable of regulating genes that potentially ameliorate age-related changes to the brain.

This review comprehensively examines the current evidence on the dietary management of chronic constipation, and the dietary recommendations presented in clinical guidelines for chronic constipation. Several randomised controlled trials (RCT) have investigated the effect of dietary supplements, foods and drinks in chronic constipation. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of these RCTs have demonstrated that psyllium supplements, specific probiotic supplements, magnesium oxide supplements, kiwifruits, prunes, rye bread and high mineral water content may be effective in the management of constipation. However, despite the plethora of evidence, current clinical guidelines only offer a limited number of dietary recommendations. The most commonly recommended dietary strategy in clinical guidelines is dietary fibre, followed by senna supplements and psyllium supplements. The least commonly recommended dietary strategies are magnesium oxide, Chinese herbal supplements, prunes and high mineral-content water. Several evidence-based dietary strategies are omitted by current clinical guidelines (e.g. kiwifruits), while some strategies that are recommended are not always supported by evidence (e.g. insoluble fibre supplement). Dietary recommendations in clinical guidelines can also be ambiguous, lacking outcome-specific recommendations and information for appropriate implementation. Future RCTs are needed to assess currently under-investigated dietary approaches that are nevertheless commonly recommended, and future clinical guidelines should include dietary recommendations supported by available evidence.

This study examines the influence of fish oil on brain amyloidogenesis in hyperglycaemic Alzheimer’s disease animal models, emphasising the potential of omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil to prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Thirty males of Wistar rats were divided into five groups: 1) control rats (NS); 2) rats supplemented with 3 g/kg of fish oil (NS+FO3); 3) rats injected via intraperitoneal (i.p) with Streptozotocin-Lipopolysaccharide (STZ-LPS); 4) rats injected with STZ-LPS (i.p) and supplemented with 1 g/kg of fish oil (STZ-LPS+FO1), and 5) rats injected with STZ-LPS (i.p) and supplemented with 3 g/kg of fish oil (STZ-LPS+FO3). The cerebral brain was extracted for examination, and the αβ precursor protein (APP) level was measured using an immunoassay kit, while αβ 42 expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry staining. Brain amyloidosis-related genes were quantified using real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The results revealed that fish oil supplementation significantly increased APP levels and reduced αβ 42 accumulations in STZ-LPS rats. Moreover, the Apolipoprotein E, ε4 isoform (ApoE-4) and Beta-site APP-cleaving enzyme 1 (Bace-1) genes were downregulated while the Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (Lrp-1) gene was upregulated in STZ-LPS rats treated with fish oil, thereby elucidating the impact of fish oil on diminishing αβ buildup in the brain. Therefore, this study contributes to a growing body of evidence supporting dietary interventions as adjunctive strategies for the prevention or delay of Alzheimer’s disease progression in metabolic dysfunction.