Prevalence and correlates of highly caffeinated beverage consumption among Korean adolescents

Objectives@#The purposes of this study were to (1) examine the multi-year prevalence of highly caffeinated beverage (HCB) consumption, (2) identify sex differences in the prevalence, and (3) investigate relationships between HCB consumption and behavioral characteristics in a nationally representative sample of Korean adolescents. @*Methods@#Data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (2014–2017) were analyzed. @*Results@#HCB consumption was higher in 2017 than 2014 (23.9% vs. 12.0%), and higher among boys than girls (17.2% vs. 13.1%). HCB drinkers were more likely to (1) be boys, (2) be overweight or obese, (3) use alcohol and tobacco, (4) consume soda at least once per week, (5) consume sweetened beverages at least once per week, (6) have seriously considered suicide during the past 12 months, and (7) have attempted suicide during the past 12 months (p<0.05 for all). @*Conclusion@#Effective programs to curb HCB consumption among Korean adolescents need to be established.

Effects of cranberry powder on biomarkers of oxidative stress and glucose control in db/db mice

Increased oxidative stress in obese diabetes may have causal effects on diabetic complications, including dyslipidemia. Lipopolysccharides (LPS) along with an atherogenic diet have been found to increase oxidative stress and insulin resistance. Cranberry has been recognized as having beneficial effects on diseases related to oxidative stress. Therefore, we employed obese diabetic animals treated with an atherogenic diet and LPS, with the aim of examining the effects of cranberry powder (CP) on diabetic related metabolic conditions, including lipid profiles, serum insulin and glucose, and biomarkers of oxidative stress. Forty C57BL/KsJ-db/db mice were divided into the following five groups: normal diet + saline, atherogenic diet + saline, atherogenic diet + LPS, atherogenic diet + 5% CP + LPS, and atherogenic diet + 10% CP + LPS. Consumption of an atherogenic diet resulted in elevation of serum total cholesterol and atherogenic index (AI) and reduction of high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol. However, with 10% CP, the increase in mean HDL-cholesterol level was close to that of the group with a normal diet, whereas AI was maintained at a higher level than that of the group with a normal diet. LPS induced elevated serum insulin level was lowered by greater than 60% with CP (P 0.05). Mean activity of liver cytosolic glutathione peroxidase was significantly increased by LPS injection, however it was reduced back to the value without LPS when the diet was fortified with 10% CP (P 0.05). Overall results suggest that fortification of the atherogenic diet with CP may have potential health benefits for obese diabetes with high oxidative stress, by modulation of physical conditions, including some biomarkers of oxidative stress.

Effects of freeze-dried cranberry powder on serum lipids and inflammatory markers in lipopolysaccharide treated rats fed an atherogenic diet

This study investigated the effects of freeze-dried cranberry powder on anti-inflammation and lipid profiles of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated rats fed an atherogenic diet for 6 weeks. Forty Sprague-Dawley male rats (6-weeks-old) were equally divided into the following five groups: 1) normal diet group + saline (NC); 2) atherogenic diet + saline (HFC); 3) atherogenic diet + LPS (HL); 4) atherogenic diet with 5% cranberry power + LPS (C5); 5) atherogenic diet with 10% cranberry power + LPS (C10). LPS (0.5 mg/kg) was injected into the abdominal cavities of rats 18 hours prior to sacrifice. At the end of the experimental period, we measured serum lipid profiles as well as levels of serum C-reactive protein (CRP), nitric oxide (NO), and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and IL-10 as an anti-inflammatory cytokine. The mean serum high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol level in C5 rats was significantly higher than that in NC and HL rats (P < 0.05). The mean serum levels of CRP and IL-1beta were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the cranberry powder groups compared to those in HL rats. Additionally, mean serum IL-6 levels tended to be lower in the cranberry groups than that in the HL group, whereas serum IL-10 and NO showed 29% and 88% higher mean values in the C5 group and 49% and 24% higher in the C10 group than those in the HL group, respectively. These results suggest that freeze-dried cranberry powder may have beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases by modifying serum lipids and the early inflammatory response.

Comparisons of Body Image Perception, Health Related Lifestyle and Dietary Behavior Based on the Self-Rated Health of University Students in Seoul / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study was conducted to examine the differences in perceived body weight and image and various lifestyles based on the self-rated health of university students when gender was adjusted. Five hundred fifty-five participants were asked their perceived health condition, and 58, 289, 160 and 48 students answered themselves as "very healthy", "healthy", "normal", and "unhealthy", respectively. As compared to the other 3 groups, "unhealthy" group showed higher proportions in dissatisfaction of body weight and negative perception of body image (P < 0.01). As health related lifestyles, "very healthy" group reported longer sleeping time than "unhealthy" group (P < 0.05), and had a higher proportion of people with regular exercise. Among the dietary behaviors, the frequencies of followings significantly different among the groups: "Regularity of meal time" (P < 0.01), "Eat protein foods more than twice a day" (P < 0.001), "Eat vegetables" (P < 0.01), "Eat fruit and fruit juice" (P < 0.01), "Eat vegetable oil added foods" (P < 0.01), "Eat seaweed" (P < 0.01), "Eat breakfast" (P < 0.01), "Modulation in animal fat and high in cholesterol intake" (P < 0.01). Particularly, higher proportion of subjects answered "very healthy" had higher frequencies (6-7 times/week) of these dietary behaviors. Overall results suggest that healthy lifestyle including adequate sleeping time, regular exercise, and good dietary behaviors might be potential factors affecting positive perception of health. In addition, positive perception of body weight and image were related with positive perception of health.

Age-related Circulating Inflammatory Markers and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Korean Women / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study was to investigate the age-related changes of cardiovascular disease risk factors and inflammatory markers in non-obese Korean women. Subjects were 112 women over 20 years old with body mass index (BMI) less than 30 kg/m2 and were divided into 3 groups ( or = 60 years). Mean weight and BMI in the oldest group were significantly higher than those in the other 2 younger groups (P <0.05). Mean total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A1 ratio (BAR) in the oldest group were significantly higher than those in the youngest group (P <0.05), and mean HDL-cholesterol of the oldest group was significantly lower than that of the youngest group (P <0.05). The older-aged group showed significantly higher mean values of atherogenic index (AI) and LDL/HDL ratio (P <0.05) than the respective younger-aged group, and AI was significantly correlated with age, nitric oxide and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (P <0.01). In addition, mean vascular cell adhesion molecule-l (VCAM-1) tended to be higher in the older-aged group than the younger group. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha, a proinflammatory maker, was significantly positively correlated with serum homocysteine, a cardiovascular disease risk factor (P <0.01). In addition, a significantly positive correlation was observed between C-reactive protein and BAR (P <0.01). Overall results suggested that the aging might affect the increase of cardiovascular disease risk factors including the serum lipid profiles, weight and BMI, and age-related increases of weight and BMI might play a role in changes in certain biomarkers of inflammation.

Effects of cranberry powder on serum lipid profiles and biomarkers of oxidative stress in rats fed an atherogenic diet

This study investigated that the antioxidative effect of freeze-dried cranberry powder against protein and lipid oxidation and ameliorative effect of serum lipid profile in rat fed atherogenic diet. Six weeks old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into the following four groups: normal diet group with 5% corn oil (control), atherogenic diet group with 5% corn oil, 10% lard, 1% cholesterol, and 0.5% sodium cholate (HFC), atherogenic plus 2% cranberry powder diet group (HFC + C2), and atherogenic plus 5% cranberry powder diet group (HFC + C5), and respective diet and water were fed daily for 6 weeks. After the experimental period, the serum lipid profile, such as total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride, ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), plasma phenolics content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, serum protein carbonyl and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels were examined. Total phenolic compound and total flavonoid levels in freeze-dried cranberry powder were 9.94 mg/g and 8.12 mg/g, respectively. Serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels were not significantly different for cranberry powder treatment, but serum HDL-cholesterol level was significantly increased in HFC + C5 group compared with HFC group. Plasma FRAP value tended to be increased by cranberry powder treatment though there was no significant difference. Plasma total phenol concentrations and SOD activities were not significantly different among all groups. Serum protein carbonyl and TBARS levels were significantly decreased in HFC + C5 group compared with HFC group. Overall results suggested that freeze-dried cranberry powder might have the serum lipid improving effect, as well as antioxidative effect demonstrated by its protective effect against protein and lipid oxidation.

Dietary behaviors and body image recognition of college students according to the self-rated health condition

This study was done to investigate the relationship between the perception of body image, body weight satisfaction or dietary behavior and self-rated health status in Korean college students. Subjects, 285 college students, were divided into three groups (healthy, normal, and unhealthy) according to the answer for the self-rated health question. Information about demographic status, self-rated health condition, height and weight, perception of body image, satisfaction of body weight, concern for body weight control, dietary behavior, nutritional knowledge, and health-related characteristics collected by a self-reported questionnaire. The proportion of men and women in each group was not significantly different. The academic year, major, experience of nutritional education, and type of residence were not significantly related with self-rated health but the pocket money range was significantly associated (p<0.05) with self-rated health. The proportion of subjects rated their health as unhealthy was the lowest in 210-300 thousand won pocket money range and was increased in less than 210 thousand won or over 300 thousand won pocket money ranges. There were no significant differences for age, height, weight and BMI between the groups. The body image perception and body weight satisfaction levels of healthy group was significantly higher than those of unhealthy group (p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively), but the level of concern for body weight control in healthy subjects was significantly lower than that in unhealthy subjects (p<0.05). The proportion of subjects reported as healthy was significantly increased with increased frequencies of following food behaviors; weekly use of protein foods (p<0.01), vegetables (p<0.05) and dairy products (p<0.01), and food habits such as "regularity of meal time" (p<0.01), "eating in moderation" (p<0.05), and "eating breakfast" (p<0.001). Overall results suggested that the college students have tended to have a better perception of health when they have better body image perception, body weight satisfaction and dietary behaviors.

Relationship between Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power and Metabolic Risk Factors in Korean Women Living in Seoul / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The present study was conducted to examine metabolic risk factors and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of Korean females living in Seoul and to investigate the relationship between the metabolic risk factors and serum TAC. A total of 353 females aged between 20 and 64 participated in the study. Obesity indicators, blood pressure, serum lipid profile and fasting blood glucose were measured as metabolic risk factors. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay was employed to determine serum TAC of subjects. Obesity indicators such as body mass index, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio were significantly higher in the participants aged > or = 50 y (older group) than in the participants aged 20-49 y (younger group) (p < 0.001). Blood pressure, serum total cholesterol (TC), riglyceride (TG) and fasting blood glucose were also significantly higher in the older group than in the younger group (p < 0.001), demonstrating significant positive correlations between age and MS risk factors. The association between FRAP and MS risk factors were also investigated. FRAP values showed significant positive correlations with age (p = 0.001), serum TG (p = 0.002) and TC (p = 0.03). A tendency of positive association between FRAP and waist circumference was observed without any significant difference (p = 0.06). Increased serum FRAP with central obesity and serum lipids may be interpreted as results of activation of antioxidant defense system against oxidative stress induced by metabolic syndrome (MS) constituent factors. However, to verify the function of FRAP as a potential biomarker of susceptibility to MS various contributors to the plasma antioxidant capacity and their biological relevance related to MS should be elucidated further.

Relation of serum total antioxidant status with metabolic risk factors in Korean adults

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of total antioxidant status (TAS) to metabolic risk factors in Korean adults. Anthropometric measures, blood pressure, serum lipids and fasting glucose were determined in 406 men and women. TAS was measured by using commercially available Randox kit. Serum TAS was significantly positively correlated with body weight (p=0.004), body mass index (BMI) (p=0.033), waist circumference (p=0.017), total cholesterol (p=0.038) and triglyceride (TG) (p or =150 mg/dl) was significantly higher than that of subjects whose TG was lower than 150 mg/dl (p=0.001). When central obesity, TG, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting glucose and blood pressure were considered as metabolic risk factors, TAS was shown to be elevated with increased number of metabolic risk factors (p=0.004). The positive association between TAS and a number of metabolic risk factors suggests that increased TAS may not always indicate one's healthier condition. In order to help understand TAS as a marker of total antioxidant capacity in humans with various metabolic conditions, it is needed to clarify the factors affecting TAS in relation to changes in metabolic risk factors.

Obesity Indices and Plasma Total Antioxidant Status in Hypertensive Elderly Living in Ulsan Area / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The role of free radicals in the progression of many diseases and aging has been given a great attention and total antioxidant status (TAS) has shown to be reduced with aging. The incidence of hypertension has shown to be relatively high in the aged population, and it is known to be associated with increased obesity and oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to examine the obesity indices and the total antioxidant status in hypertensive elderly (64y