Science shorts: Probiotics and exercise, seaweed on asthma risk, and more
Centenarians and their microbiota: Metabolites and personalisation ripe for further exploration
The crucial role of microbiota metabolites, and the potential for new technology to create personalised solutions based on scientists understanding of them, has been highlighted by a leading academic from Japan.
This is according to Dr. Bejit Ideas, president at the Japanese Society of Anti-Ageing Nutrition, who spoke at our recent Probiota Asia Summit held in Singapore.
He began by explaining how his interest in metabolites stemmed from work on the microbiota of elderly Japanese subjects.
Probiotic from pickled cabbage improves aerobic endurance in non-athletes: Taiwan study
A probiotic isolated from Taiwanese pickled cabbage, Lactobacillus plantarum TWK10 (TWK10), has been demonstrated to improve exercise performance and fatigue-associated features in non-athletes.
The study also found that at higher doses of TWK10 administered, body fat decreased and muscle mass increased.
Probiotics have been studied extensively for health promotion, but clinical validation on its effects on exercise physiology is sparse, and mostly studied on athletes.
China’s yingyangbao improves weight, height, and anaemia amongst young children: Meta-analysis
The consumption of yingyangbao (YYB) amongst infants and young children living in rural China has improved their weight and height, according to a meta-analysis.
Made from full fat soybean powder and micronutrients such as calcium, iron, and vitamins, YYB was introduced to improve nutritional status of rural infants and children who are six to 36 months old.
The meta-analysis, carried out by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, and Peking University, was published in scientific journal Nutrients.
Morinaga research reveals key immunity-boosting metabolite produced from infant gut
Research from Morinaga Milk Industry has found that the infant-type human-residential bifidobacteria (HRB) could produce a key metabolite, the immunity-boosting indole-3-lactic acid (ILA), moving one step closer to understanding its benefits on infant health.
This mean that, “Strains of infant-type HRB could be better probiotic candidates for infant use,” said Dr Chyn Boon Wong, research associate at Morinaga Milk Industry told NutraIngredients-Asia.
The firm said infant-type HRB was compatible with breast milk, because it is capable of utilising human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), and was highly tolerant to lysozyme, a natural antibacterial factor present in the human body.
Omega-3 and asthma: Why seaweed intake may reduce risk - Korean study
A higher consumption of seaweed may be associated with a lower prevalence of asthma among Korean adults, according to a new cross sectional study.
The findings were revealed after researchers examined the relationship between asthma and dietary intake of fish, seaweeds, and fatty acids.
They found that a high ratio of n-3 to n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and high seaweed consumption were inversely associated with asthma prevalence.
