Weight-loss programs tailored to a person’s genome may be coming soon

Public Release: 23-Dec-2015
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/uota-wlp122115.php

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University of Texas at Austin

Some health experts predict that the next big advance in helping overweight people achieve a healthier weight will be to use an individual’s genetic data to customize diets and physical activity plans, an approach known as “precision weight loss.” A recent summary report on the genetics of weight loss, developed by some of the leading experts in this field, finds that the biggest challenge to realizing this dream is the need for better analytical tools for discovering the relationships between genetics, behavior and weight-related diseases.

 

The report, which appears in the January edition of the journal Obesity, summarizes what scientists currently know about factors that influence weight loss and weight regain, and it identifies how genetic information and data collection from noninvasive, portable devices may soon be incorporated into research and weight loss treatment.

 

“I think within five years, we’ll see people start to use a combination of genetic, behavioral and other sophisticated data to develop individualized weight management plans,” says Molly Bray, a geneticist and professor of nutritional sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, who led the working group.

 

Bray speculates that in the future, patients might submit saliva samples for gene sequencing, along with using automated sensors to collect information about factors such as their environment, diet, activity and stress. A computer algorithm would take this information and provide patients with specific recommendations to achieve their target weight.

 

Bray says the falling cost of genome sequencing, plus portable monitors (such as Fitbit) to track in real time people’s behavior and environment, mean that scientists already have the ability to collect the kinds of data they need to do the fundamental research behind precision weight loss. According to the study, the real challenge now for researchers is to develop the tools to analyze this data.

 

“We are pretty good at helping people lose weight in the short term,” says Bray. “But the stats on long-term weight loss are pretty dismal. We still don’t understand the process of weight regain very well, either from a behavioral or a biological standpoint.”

 

Scientists have uncovered some of the genetic basis for weight-related diseases, such as the discovery of a gene that appears to cause energy from food to be stored as fat rather than be burned. Some reporters have dubbed it the “obesity gene,” but Bray cautions that it’s not so simple.

 

“When you go back and see how much of the variation in this gene accounts for the variation in body size in the general population, it’s really small,” says Bray. “So that highlights that there are going to be several genes involved with obesity, and they’re going to interact with each other in complicated ways. And that’s certainly true of weight loss and maintenance too.”

 

Obesity puts a large burden on the health care system and increases an individual’s risk for a number of diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. It’s also rising at an alarming rate around the world.

 

“Obesity is one of the gravest problems of our times,” says Bray. “Obviously prevention would be the best approach, but there are literally millions of individuals who are currently obese and are in dire need of more effective strategies for long-term weight loss that will ultimately improve overall health.”

 

Multiple research projects have shown that about half of the variation in people’s body mass index can be attributed to genetic factors, while the rest is due to environmental factors, including diet and exercise. For example, depending on a person’s specific genetic makeup, exercise might be less effective at reducing weight for some people compared with others.

 

“When people hear that genes may be playing a role in their weight loss success, they don’t say, ‘Oh great, I just won’t exercise any more,’” says Bray. “They actually say ‘Oh thank you. Finally someone acknowledges that it’s harder work for me than it is for others.’ And then I think they’re a little more forgiving of themselves, and they’re more motivated to make a change.”

 

This report grew out of a workshop convened by the National Institutes of Health in 2014 titled “Genes, Behaviors, and Response to Weight Loss Interventions.” It synthesizes a broad range of research from institutions around the world.

 

“We’ve made great strides in our understanding of what drives eating behavior, how fat cells are formed and how metabolism is altered before and after the onset of obesity,” says Bray. “The time is ripe to take this wealth of data and find ways to utilize it more effectively to treat people in need.”

Original Article released: 
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/uota-wlp122115.php

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Vegetables fried with olive oil have more healthy properties than boiled ones

Public Release: 20 JAN 2016
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uog-vfw012016.php
UNIVERSITY of GRANADA

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Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have proven that frying in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is the cooking method that increases the phenolic fraction present in raw vegetables used in Mediterranean diet (potato, pumpkin, tomato and eggplant) the most. This means an improvement to this foods in the cooking process.

 

In an article published in Food Chemistry magazine, researchers have proven that vegetables fried in EVOO improved their antioxidant capacity and the amount of phenolic compounds, which prevent chronic degenerative pathologies such as cancer, diabetes or macular degeneration.

 

The aim of this research was to determine the effect of applying various cooking methods on the antioxidant capacity and the amount of phenolic compounds (total and individual concentrations) present in vegetables consumed in the Mediterranean diet.

 

The Mediterranean diet of the Spanish population is characterized by a high intake of vegetables and EVOO. These are both an important source of dietary phenols, whose consumption has been associated with the prevention of chronic degenerative pathologies. This kind of antioxidants can be modified during the processing of the foods, increasing or decreasing their concentrations.

 

With this goal in mind, the researchers conceived an experiment in which they cooked 120 grams cubes of potato (Solanumtuberosum), pumpkin (Cucurbitamoschata), tomato (Licopersicumesculentum) and eggplant (Solanummelongena), all of them without seeds or skin.

 

Fried, boiled, or with a mix of water and EVOO

 

The vegetables were fried and sautéed in EVOO, boiled in water, and boiled in a mix of water and EVOO. The experiments were controlled so the processing conditions were guaranteed. The ratio between vegetable and cooking element was constant, following traditional Spanish recipes.

 

Processed vegetables were kept in right conditions for the measurement of moisture, fat, dry matter and total number of phenols, as well as the measurement of the antioxidant capacity, by various methods. Parallel to this, the research was completed with the determination of the content in individual phenolic compounds typical of each vegetable, using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

 

The results showed that using EVOO for frying vegetables increases their fat content and reduces their moisture, while this is not observed in other cooking methods.

 

“Comparing the content of phenols with that of raw vegetables we found increases and reductions alike, depending on the chosen method. Oil as a mean of heat transfer increases the amount of phenolic compounds in vegetables, opposite to other cooking methods such as boiling, where heat transfer is done through the water”, explains one of the authors of this paper, professor Cristina Samaniego Sánchez fom UGR.

 

EVOO transfers phenols to the vegetables

 

This is due to a transfer of phenols from EVOO to the vegetables, enhancing the latter with oil-exclusive phenolic compounds which are not naturally present in raw vegetables.

 

“Therefore, we can confirm that frying is the method that produces the greatest associated increases in the phenolic fraction, which means an improvement in the cooking process although it increases the energy density by means of the absorbed oil”, says Samaniego.

 

All the cooking methods increased the antioxidant capacity of all four vegetables. It was a reduction of it or an absence of significant changes after boiling them in water, in certain cases.

 

Samaniego stresses that each cooked vegetable developed a specific profile of phenols, moisture, fat, dry matter and antioxidant activity determined by the original characteristics of the raw vegetables and the cooking method applied.

 

“When the phenolic content of the raw vegetable is high, the total content of phenols is increased even more if EVOO is used in the process, and boiling doesn’t affect the final concentration. Therefore, we must stress that frying and sautéing conserve and enhance the phenolic composition. Hydrothermal cooking methods can be recommended when the food is consumed together with the cooking water, as the addition of EVOO improves the phenolic profile and compensates for the deficiencies of the raw food”, the researcher stresses.

 

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The results of this research are part of Jessica del Pilar Ramírez Anaya’s doctoral thesis, done under the direction of UGR professors Cristina Samaniego Sánchez, Marina Villalón Mir and Herminia López-García de la Serrana, from the Department of Nutrition and Bromatology of the Faculty of Pharmacy (UGR), and also with support from the programme PROMEP/SEP, Mexico UDG-598.

Original Article released: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uog-vfw012016.php

 

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