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Background: Anticancer therapies are associated with significant adverse side effects and few treatments that alleviate symptoms exist. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) have been investigated as an intervention for reducing anticancer therapy side effects, although a review of the literature results has yet to be published. Aim: The current review summarizes evidence surrounding this topic and suggests both support and caution in using BCAAs as a treatment for patients receiving anticancer therapies. Methods: In this review, two literature searches were completed. Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCOhost, and Cochrane databases were searched using the terms “branched-chain amino acids and cancer” and “BCAA and cancer.” Results: Two bodies of evidence emerged: One supporting beneficial effects and the other showing adverse outcomes of BCAA supplementation in patients with cancer. Evidence of benefit was a decrease in malnourishment and unintentional weight loss during and after chemotherapy. Potential harms included the idea cancer cells may utilize BCAAs as a source of energy for growth. Conclusions: Supplementation of BCAAs in individuals with cancer should be implemented cautiously. Those who are severely malnourished due to anticancer therapy may benefit the most. BCAA supplementation may also be provided once cancer has been destroyed from the individual's body to aid with recovery.

The International Olympic Committee has identified mental health as a priority that significantly affects the physical health and safety of collegiate athletes. Interventions that improve diet quality have been shown to improve mental health in several populations. However, studies are needed to examine this relationship in female collegiate athletes, who have elevated risk of experiencing anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as dietary insufficiencies. In a quantitative, cross-sectional study, female student athletes at a U.S. university completed three mental health questionnaires: Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ), and COVID Stress Scales (CSS). Each female athlete also completed a validated, web-based Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ-III) resulting in a Healthy Eating Index (HEI). Seventy-seven participants completed all survey information. HEI scores were consistently higher for athletes with poorer mental health. HEI scores were significantly positively associated with stress (p = 0.015), performance concerns (p = 0.048), CSS components of danger (p = 0.007), contamination (p = 0.006), and traumatic stress (p = 0.003). Although findings support statistically significant associations among dietary quality and mental health indicators, including broad symptom severity or stressors specific to athletics or COVID-19, these associations were in the opposite direction hypothesized. Possible reasons for results and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The circadian rhythm of biological systems is an important consideration in developing health interventions. The immune and oxidative defense systems exhibit circadian periodicity, with an anticipatory increase in activity coincident with the onset of the active period. Spice consumption is associated with enhanced oxidative defense. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of a protocol comparing the effects of morning vs. evening consumption of turmeric on urine markers of oxidative stress in obese, middle-aged adults. Using a within-sample design, participants received each of four clock time x treatment administrations, each separated by one week: morning turmeric; evening turmeric; morning control; evening control. Participants prepared for each lab visit by consuming a low-antioxidant diet for two days and fasting for 12 h. Urine was collected in the lab at baseline and one-hour post-meal and at home for the following five hours. The results showed that the processes were successful in executing the protocol and collecting the measurements and that participants understood and adhered to the instructions. The findings also revealed that the spice treatment did not elicit the expected antioxidant effect and that the six-hour post-treatment urine collection period did not detect differences in urine endpoints across treatments. This feasibility study revealed that modifications to the spice treatment and urine sampling timeline are needed before implementing a larger study.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to compare the effects of morning vs. evening consumption of turmeric on urine markers of oxidative stress. The hypothesis stated that turmeric's action to modulate transcription of diurnally regulated genes coding for oxidative defense proteins would be influenced by the timing of turmeric consumption. METHODS: Participants prepared for each of four lab visits by consuming a low-antioxidant diet for two days and fasting for 12 hours. After providing a baseline urine sample, participants consumed one of two test meals (5 g turmeric + 180 ml egg white or egg white alone) at one of two clock times (morning or evening). A 1-week washout separated each visit. Urine was collected in the lab at 1 hour post-meal and at home for the following 5 hours. Urine biomarkers of oxidative stress were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays; values were normalized to urine creatinine concentration. General Linear Models were used to predict biomarker levels over timepoints by turmeric intake and clock time. RESULTS: Participant (n = 4, 3 male) body mass index and age (median and range) were 33.3 (31.4–34.0) and 60.5 y (53–63). Urine 8-isoprostane concentration was significantly higher following consumption of the turmeric vs. control meal and after the 2-4-hour compared to 0-2-hour post-meal timepoint. The turmeric meal was not associated with urine malondialdehyde level. There was no significant interaction between turmeric consumption and clock time on either biomarker level. CONCLUSIONS: Consuming turmeric at morning vs. evening did not differentially affect urine markers of oxidative stress. Studies of larger cohorts with measurements of oxidative stress markers over 24 hours would show whether these pilot results are generalizable. FUNDING SOURCES: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, McCormick Science Institute Research Award; Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Medical Nutrition Practice Group.

OBJECTIVES: IC/BPS is characterized by pelvic pain, pressure, or discomfort in the bladder and pelvic area coupled with urinary frequency and urgency. The cause is unknown. Dietary intake appears to exacerbate IC/BPS symptoms for many patients; however, the association is not well understood. The potential role of saturated fat and other inflammatory dietary components in provoking IC/BPS symptoms will be explored. Animal studies associate high dietary intake of saturated fats with activation of toll-like receptor (TLR4) cell signaling and pro-inflammatory responses. Saturated free fatty acids were linked to changes in the bladder on a cellular level. The goal of the AID-IC study is to investigate the efficacy of an anti-inflammatory diet (limits lipid intake and increases antioxidant intake) on symptom severity. METHODS: In a 22-week, crossover study, women with IC/BPS will be randomized into two groups. Group one will receive 10 weeks of a therapeutic anti-inflammatory diet that eliminates foods commonly bothersome for those with this condition; 5 days/week prepared, home-delivered meals were provided. Group 2 will receive counseling from a dietitian on standard IC/BPS dietary recommendations (control diet). After a two-week washout period, dietary interventions for the two groups will be switched. Primary outcomes include changes in inflammatory biomarkers (TNF-alpha and IL-1) and scores on three validated symptom severity surveys. RESULTS: We hypothesize that an anti-inflammatory diet that excludes foods commonly bothersome for individuals with IC/BPS will help manage symptomology for these patients. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the severity of symptoms will be mediated by the reduction of pro-inflammatory responses associated with the influence of a diet low in saturated fats and high in anti-inflammatory dietary components. CONCLUSIONS: The feasibility of managing IC/BPS symptoms by influencing inflammatory activity via restricting lipid intake and increasing antioxidant-rich foods has not previously been investigated. The findings may offer preliminary data on a cost-effective, noninvasive therapy. FUNDING SOURCES: Mountain West Clinical & Translational Research Infrastructure Network (National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH).

Culinary herbs and spices contribute bioactives to the diet, which act to reduce systemic inflammation and associated disease. Investigating the health effects of herb/spice consumption is hampered, however, by a scarcity of dietary assessment tools designed to collect herb/spice data. The objective of this study was to determine the relative validity of an online 28-item herb/spices intake questionnaire (HSQ). In randomized order, 62 volunteers residing in Idaho, USA, completed the online Diet History Questionnaire III + the HSQ followed one week later by one of two comparative methods: 7-day food records or three telephone-administered 24-h dietary recalls. Relative validity of the HSQ was tested two ways: (1) by comparing herb/spice intakes between the HSQ and comparator, and (2) by determining the correlation between herb/spice data and Healthy Eating Index 2015 score. The HSQ and both comparators identified black pepper, cinnamon and garlic powder as the three most commonly used herbs/spices. The HSQ captured significantly higher measures of the number and amount of herbs/spices consumed than the comparators. The number of herbs/spices consumed was significantly directly correlated with diet quality for the HSQ. These results support the ability of the HSQ to record general herb/spice use, yet suggest that further validation testing is needed.

Nutrition is a primary modifiable determinant of chronic noncommunicable disease, including osteoporosis. An etiology of osteoporosis is the stimulation of bone-resorbing osteoclasts by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Dietary polyphenols and probiotics demonstrate protective effects on bone that are associated with reduced ROS formation and suppressed osteoclast activity. This study tested the effect of dietary enrichment with powdered whole grape and probiotics (composed of equal parts Bifidobacterium bifidum, B. breve, Lactobacillus casei, L. plantarum, and L. bulgaricus) on bone microarchitecture in a mouse model of age-related osteoporosis. Groups (n = 7 each) of 10-month-old male mice were fed one of six diets for 6 months: 10% grape powder with sugar corrected to 20%; 20% grape powder; 1% probiotic with sugar corrected to 20%; 10% grape powder + 1% probiotic with sugar corrected to 20%; 20% grape powder + 1% probiotic; 20% sugar control. Femur, tibia and 4th lumbar vertebrae from 10-month-old mice served as comparator baseline samples. Bone microarchitecture was measured by micro-computed tomography and compared across diet groups using analysis of variance. Aging exerted a significant effect on tibia metaphysis trabecular bone, with baseline 10-month-old mice having significantly higher bone volume/total volume (BV/TV) and trabecular number measurements and lower trabecular spacing measurements than all 16-month-old groups (p < 0.001). Neither grape nor probiotic enrichment significantly improved bone microarchitecture during aging compared to control diet. The combination of 20% grape + 1% probiotic exerted detrimental effects on tibia metaphysis BV/TV compared to 10% grape + 1% probiotic, and trabecular number and trabecular spacing compared to 10% grape + 1% probiotic, 1% probiotic and control groups (p < 0.05). Femur metaphysis trabecular bone displayed less pronounced aging effects than tibia bone, but also showed detrimental effects of the 20% grape + 1% probiotic vs. most other diets for BV/TV, trabecular number, trabecular spacing and trabecular pattern factor (p < 0.05). Tibia and femur diaphysis cortical bone (cortical wall thickness and medullary area) displayed neither aging nor diet effects (p > 0.05). Vertebrae bone showed age-related deterioration in trabecular thickness and trabecular spacing and a trend toward preservation of trabecular thickness by grape and/or probiotic enrichment (p < 0.05). These findings demonstrate no benefit to bone of combined compared to independent supplementation with probiotics or whole grape powder and even suggest an interference of co-ingestion.

This paper reports results on exposure to simulated weightlessness that leads to a rapid decrease in bone mineral density known as spaceflight osteopenia by evaluating the effectiveness of dietary supplementation with synbiotics to counteract the effects of skeletal unloading. Forty adult male rats were studied under four different conditions in a 2 × 2 factorial design with main effects of diet (synbiotic and control) and weight condition (unloaded and control). Hindlimb unloading was performed at all times for 14 days followed by 14 days of recovery (reambulation). The synbiotic diet contained probiotic strains Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactococcus lactis lactis and prebiotic fructooligosaccharide. This paper also reports on the development of a desktop three-point bending device to measure the mechanical strength of bones from rats subjected to simulated weightlessness. The importance of quantifying bone resistance to breakage is critical when examining the effectiveness of interventions against osteopenia resulting from skeletal unloading, such as astronauts experience, disuse or disease. Mechanical strength indices provide information beyond measures of bone density and microarchitecture that enhance the overall assessment of a treatment's potency. In this study we used a newly constructed three-point bending device to measure the mechanical strength of femur and tibia bones from hindlimb-unloaded rats fed an experimental synbiotic diet enriched with probiotics and fermentable fiber. Two calculated outputs for each sample were Young's modulus of elasticity and fracture stress. Bone major elements (calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous) were quantified using ICP-MS analysis. Hindlimb unloading was associated with a significant loss of strength in the femur, and with significant reductions in major bone elements. The synbiotic diet did not protect against these unloading effects. Tibia strength and major elements were not reduced by hindlimb unloading, as was the case for femur, but tibia bone strength was negatively affected by the synbiotic diet. Thus, unexpectedly, the synbiotic diet was associated with null or detrimental effects on bone strength.

Negative attitudes toward people with high body weight have been documented in pre-professional health students, prompting concern that such feelings may manifest as poor patient care in professional practice. This study assessed weight bias in university students in the non-physician health professions. A convenience sample of 206 students completed an online survey composed of a validated 14-item scale (1-5 lowest to highest weight bias) and questions regarding personal experiences of weight bias. Respondents were grouped by discipline within graduate and undergraduate levels. Weight bias was present in a majority of respondents. Overall, the percentage of responses indicative of weight bias was 92.7%. The mean total score was 3.65. ± 0.52, and the rating exceeded 3 for all 14 scale descriptors of high-weight people. In graduate students, discipline had a significant main effect on total score (p=0.01), with lower scores in dietetics (3.17 ± 0.46) vs audiology/sign language/speech language pathology (3.84 ± 0.41) and physician assistant students (3.78 ± 0.51; p0.05). These findings show that weight bias is prevalent in health professions students at a mountain west university. Well-controlled studies that track students into professional practice would help determine whether bias-reduction interventions in college improve provider behaviors and clinical outcomes.