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Systemic chronic inflammation may be a contributing factor to many noncommunicable diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. With the rapid rise of these conditions, identifying the causes of and treatment for chronic inflammation is an important research priority, especially with regard to modifiable lifestyle factors such as diet. An emerging body of evidence indicates that consuming certain foods, including dairy foods like milk, cheese, and yogurt, may be linked to a decreased risk for inflammation. To discuss both broader research on diet and inflammation as well as research on links between individual foods and inflammation, the National Dairy Council sponsored a satellite session entitled "Exploring the Links between Diet and Inflammation: Dairy Foods as Case Studies" at the American Society for Nutrition's 2020 LIVE ONLINE Conference. This article, a review based on the topics discussed during that session, explores the links between diet and inflammation, focusing most closely on the relations between intake of dairy fat and dairy foods like milk, cheese, and yogurt, and biomarkers of inflammation from clinical trials. While there is currently insufficient evidence to prove an "anti-inflammatory" effect of dairy foods, the substantial body of clinical research discussed in this review indicates that dairy foods do not increase concentrations of biomarkers of chronic systemic inflammation.

Objective: The Healthy Mediterranean-Style Eating Pattern (HMEP) in the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommends that adults eating less than 2400 kcal a day consume only two daily servings (or cup-equivalents) of low-fat or fat-free dairy foods like milk, cheese, and yogurt, which does not provide enough calcium, potassium, and vitamin D to meet dietary reference intakes (DRIs). Our objective was to assess the impact of additional servings of dairy foods on the nutrient adequacy of the 1600, 2000, and 2400 kcal HMEP in the 2015 DGA.Methods: Using the same food pattern modeling procedures as the 2015 DGA, we assessed the nutrient composition of three alternative models of the 1600, 2000, and 2400 kcal HMEP. For Model 1, we increased servings of dairy foods (77 kcal/serving). For Model 2, we added one serving of dairy foods and removed one serving of refined grains (85 kcal/serving), and for Model 3 (2400 kcal HMEP only), we added one-half serving of dairy foods and removed one-half serving of refined grains. We then assessed these models for nutrient adequacy and compared them to the Healthy U.S.-Style Eating Pattern and the HMEP.Results: The changes to the HMEP with these models increased the amounts of several nutrients to encourage, including calcium, vitamin D, potassium, vitamin A, phosphorus, riboflavin, vitamin B12, zinc, and magnesium. For instance, Model 1 increased the calcium (by 295 mg), vitamin D (by 59.3 IU), potassium (by 235 mg), vitamin A (by 98 mcg), and phosphorus (by 232 mg) content of the original HMEP, and Model 3 increased the amounts of these nutrients by half of those amounts. Model 2 increased the calcium content by 266 mg, vitamin D by 58 IU, potassium by 202 mg, vitamin A by 88 mcg, and phosphorus by 193 mg. Notably, Models 1 and 2 increased the vitamin D content of the HMEP to about 62% of the DRI (average across all calorie levels) and the potassium content to 78% of the DRI (average across all calorie levels), from 52% and 73%, respectively, in the original HMEP. Most of our models increased the saturated fat (0.5 g in Model 1 and 0.2 g in Model 2) and sodium (202 mg in Model 1 and 101 mg in Model 2) content as well. The amounts of these nutrients to limit remained within the ranges recommended in the 2015 DGA.Conclusions: The addition of a dairy food serving to the 1600, 2000, and 2400 kcal HMEP brings their nutrient profiles closer to the DRIs for several nutrients to encourage, including calcium, vitamin D, and potassium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prebiotic dietary fiber supplements are commonly consumed to help meet fiber recommendations and improve gastrointestinal health by stimulating beneficial bacteria and the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), molecules beneficial to host health. The objective of this research project was to compare potential prebiotic effects and fermentability of five commonly consumed fibers using an in vitro fermentation system measuring changes in fecal microbiota, total gas production and formation of common SCFAs. Fecal donations were collected from three healthy volunteers. Materials analyzed included: pure beta-glucan, Oatwell (commercially available oat-bran containing 22% oat β-glucan), xylooligosaccharides (XOS), Whole Fiber (dried chicory root containing inulin, pectin, and hemi/celluloses), and pure inulin. Oatwell had the highest production of propionate at 12 h (4.76 µmol/mL) compared to inulin, Whole Fiber and XOS samples (p < 0.03). Oatwell's effect was similar to those of the pure beta-glucan samples, both samples promoted the highest mean propionate production at 24 h. XOS resulted in a significant increase in the genus Bifidobacterium after 24 h of fermentation (0 h:0.67 OTUs (operational taxonomic unit); 24 h:5.22 OTUs; p = 0.038). Inulin and Whole Fiber increased the beneficial genus Collinsella, consistent with findings in clinical studies. All analyzed compounds were fermentable and promoted the formation of beneficial SCFAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dairy foods have long been considered nutrient-dense and health-promoting products that offer many health benefits to their consumers. This review is an overview of the health benefits associated with them, drawing from recent research conducted on the associations of dairy food components with bone, cardiometabolic, cognitive, and digestive health in cross-sectional and intervention studies. Each section details the associations of dairy with a certain aspect of health and focuses on the benefits milk product consumption may have on the prevention and management of chronic health conditions such as osteoporosis, the metabolic syndrome, and dementia. Dairy food components, as well as the potential biological mechanisms responsible for their effects on health, are also addressed. Although several of the biological mechanisms warrant further research, current evidence suggests that dairy consumption confers some beneficial effects to bone, cardiometabolic, cognitive, and digestive health. Due to its nutrient profile and the current evidence of its benefits, at least 1 daily serving of a dairy item is recommended by the dietary guidelines of several countries. Yet, even in the United States, many individuals do not consume the recommended 3 cups of dairy foods a day. Therefore, this review concludes with a description of the current public health impact of dairy food research as well as recommendations for the food industry to formulate dairy foods that are both palatable and health-promoting for consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective was to convene interdisciplinary experts from government, academia, and industry to develop a Research Roadmap to identify research priorities about processed food intake and risk for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) among United States populations. We convened attendees at various career stages with diverse viewpoints in the field. We held a "Food Processing Primer" to build foundational knowledge of how and why foods are processed, followed by presentations about how processed foods may affect energy intake, obesity, and CMD risk. Breakout groups discussed potential mechanistic and confounding explanations for associations between processed foods and obesity and CMD risk. Facilitators created research questions (RQs) based on key themes from discussions. Different breakout groups convened to discuss what is known and unknown for each RQ and to develop sub-RQs to address gaps. Workshop attendees focused on ultra-processed foods (UPFs; Nova Group 4) because the preponderance of evidence is based on this classification system. Yet, heterogeneity and subjectivity in UPF classification was a challenge for RQ development. The 6 RQs were: 1) What objective methods or measures could further categorize UPFs, considering food processing, formulation, and the interaction of the two? 2) How can exposure assessment of UPF intake be improved? 3) Does UPF intake influence risk for obesity or CMDs, independent of diet quality? 4) What, if any, attributes of UPFs influence ingestive behavior and contribute to excess energy intake? 5) What, if any, attributes of UPFs contribute to clinically meaningful metabolic responses? 6) What, if any, external environmental factors lead people to consume high amounts of UPFs? Uncertainty and complexity around UPF intake warrant further complementary and interdisciplinary causal, mechanistic, and methodological research related to obesity and CMD risk to understand the utility of applying classification by degree of processing to foods in the United States., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Epidemiological studies have demonstrated an association between carotenoid intake and health. However, an accurate measurement of carotenoid intake is challenging. FFQ is the most commonly used dietary assessment method and is typically composed of 100-200 items. However, the greater participant burden that accompanies a more detailed FFQ provides only a marginal gain in accuracy. Therefore, a brief validated carotenoid intake screener is needed., Objectives: To conduct secondary analysis evaluating the validity of a newly developed 44-item carotenoid intake screener from The Juice Study: Sensitivity of Skin Carotenoid Status to Detect Change in Intake (NCT03202043) against corresponding plasma carotenoid concentrations (primary) and skin carotenoids (secondary) in nonobese Midwestern American adults., Methods: Healthy adults ( n = 83; 25 men and 58 women) aged 18-65 y (mean age, 32 ± 12 y) with a BMI (in kg/m 2 ) of 18.5-29.9 (mean BMI, 25 ± 3) were recruited between 25 April 2018 and 28 March 2019. Participants completed the carotenoid intake screener weekly during the 8-wk parent study. Plasma carotenoid concentrations were assessed at weeks 0, 4, and 8 using HPLC. Skin carotenoids were assessed weekly using pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy (RS). Correlation matrices from mixed models were used to determine the correlation between carotenoid intake and plasma and skin carotenoids over time., Results: The total carotenoid intake, as determined by the carotenoid intake screener, correlated with both the plasma total carotenoid concentration (r = 0.52; P < 0.0001) and the RS-assessed skin carotenoid concentration (r = 0.43; P < 0.0001). Correlations between reported intake and plasma concentrations of α-carotene (r = 0.40; P = 0.0002), cryptoxanthin (r = 0.28; P = 0.0113), and lycopene (r = 0.33; P = 0.0022) were also observed., Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate an acceptable relative validity of the carotenoid intake screener to assess total carotenoid intake in adults classified as those having a healthy body or those with overweight.

Background: Dairy products, especially milk, provide vital nutrients including several under consumed nutrients and nutrients of public health concern to the American diet. However, milk and dairy intake has been decreasing in recent years., Objectives: The goal of this study was to provide an update of current milk and dairy intakes across the lifespan and to stratify these data by race/ethnicity., Methods: The NHANES cycles 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 were used to determine dairy intake from foods included in USDA-defined dairy food groups as well as from "other foods," such as mixed dishes (for example, pizza) and nonmilk and dairy foods containing dairy (for example, desserts)., Results: Total dairy intake in cup equivalents per day decreased across the lifespan (2-8 y: 1.93; 14-18 y: 1.74; 19-50 y: 1.55; and 71+ y: 1.35 cup eq/d). Milk intake also decreased across the lifespan from 2 y to 51-70 and 71+ y, where milk intakes increased slightly than those of 19-50 y (0.61, 0.75, and 0.58 cup eq/d, respectively). Non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic Asian children and adults consumed the least dairy servings compared to other race/ethnic groups. "Other foods" contributed large percentages of dairy intake and accounted for more intake by adults (47.6%) than young children (25.9%) and adolescents (41.5%)., Conclusions: This study showed total dairy intake decreased across the lifespan, but "other foods" make a significant contribution to dairy intake, indicating their importance in helping Americans to meet DGA recommendations and nutrient needs. Further research is warranted to identify why these decreases and differences between ethnicities in dairy intake occur during childhood and throughout adulthood., (© 2023 The Authors.)